Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Redevelopment would create and preserve hundreds of downtown jobs and homes and completely rebuild and modernize mall’s downtown retail; Agreement commits owner to restoring public streets lost during Urban Renewal, paying construction workers livable wages, developing more than 50 permanently affordable homes; City will build up to $21.89 million of long-sought public infrastructure improvements using future property tax revenue generated by the project; Agreement carefully protects City from financial risks; Agreement is product of 18 months of public process and negotiation; City Council approval sought at May 2, 2016 meeting

Vermont Business Magazine A year after establishing a commitment to end family homelessness in Vermont by 2020, Governor Peter Shumlin today announced a 28 percent decline in homelessness in the last year and issued a new Executive Order to increase access to affordable housing. The Order calls for owners of housing that receive state funds to make available at least 15 percent of their portfolio of housing units to Vermonters experiencing homelessness. By aligning supportive services, rental subsidies, and state investments in affordable housing, the State and private partners are working to ensure a continued focus on assisting vulnerable Vermonters.

Vermont Business Magazine Robert (Bob) W Allen, President and CEO of The Windham Foundation of Grafton, and an experienced leader of academic and business institutions, has been named the eighth President of Green Mountain College in Poultney, Vermont. He will succeed Dr. Paul Fonteyn, the College’s president for the past eight years, who is retiring. Allen will assume the presidency on July 1. Windham Foundation Board Chair Elizabeth Bankowski will serve as that organization's interim president.

Bob Allen. Above, the GMC campus.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Wednesday hailed the House Judiciary Committee for overwhelmingly approving his legislation to reauthorize the lifesaving Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program, a federal grant program whose charter has long been expired and needs to be renewed. Following the committee’s action on Wednesday, Leahy called for the full House to quickly pass the bill so that it can be sent to the President for signature.  The Senate passed the bipartisan measure, coauthored with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), last year.

Vermont Business Magazine A $100,000 grant to COTS from the National Life Group Foundation will support the state’s largest homeless agency as it redevelops its flagship building in Burlington and continues to expand its services. The Committee on Temporary Shelter’s construction project at 95 North Avenue in Burlington will offer 14 affordable apartments when it’s completed, along with a new permanent home for the COTS Daystation program. COTS will also move its administrative offices and program space for family services and homelessness prevention back into the building.

Vermont Business Magazine On Thursday, April 21, Norwich University will kick off a celebration and symposium marking 100 years of Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). As the birthplace of ROTC, Norwich University will celebrate ROTC’s centennial anniversary with the “ROTC Centennial Symposium: Preparing the Next Generation Leaders in a Complex World” April 21-23, 2016. The symposium kicks off on Thursday, April 21, at the Vermont Statehouse with a morning event and reading of a State of Vermont proclamation by Governor Peter Shumlin marking the milestone. That evening U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley will deliver a keynote Todd Lecture at 7 p.m., which is free and open to the public.

by Tom Pelham Just two months following Governor Shumlin’s first inauguration, I penned this scenario in a commentary: “For Shumlin, a perfect storm hits the Fifth Floor, should he allow the Legislature to raise taxes rather than trim spending; to raise property taxes rather than contain education spending; and to pass and commit Vermonters to a “trust me now, I’ll bill you later” approach to health care reform. Shumlin need look no further than recent history as to the probable outcome.”

Vermont Business Magazine According to a statement released Monday by the Town of Essex, on April 7 & 8, 2016, an unknown person sent fraudulent emails to the Town of Essex, pretending to be an Essex Town Official. This email requested payroll records for all Essex Town personnel. Mistakenly, town staff did not confirm the identity of the sender and sent the requested payroll records in response to the fraudulent emails. On April 12, 2016, the Town discovered this fraud when several Town employees tried to file their taxes and found their accounts had been compromised. On April 13, 2016 the Town confirmed that the suspect emails were indeed fraudulent and that the records provided contained PII (personally identifying information) of 262 current and past staff members.

Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center’s Safe Recovery Program received a $25,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation. Safe Recovery is a full-time, professionally-staffed recovery center for people living with addiction to opioids. Specifically, the grant will enable the program to provide additional drug treatment options counseling sessions and increased outreach to veterans. The award comes at a crucial time as Safe Recovery has recently been forced to lay off staff, even while the demand for recovery services increases.

“We are very proud to support Howard Center and the essential work they are doing to provide drug treatment options,” said Jason Klipa Walmart Director of Public Affairs. “Through its Safe Recovery program, Howard Center is keeping individuals safe during their counseling and treatment. Their work will help save lives.”

Vermont Business Magazine Community College of Vermont (CCV) is partnering with G.S. Precision to offer a Certified Production Technician (CPT) course in Brattleboro, beginning May 18. This course is the first step in establishing a manufacturing pathway to help G.S. Precision close a skills gap at its Brattleboro facility, and to help workers receive the necessary training to fill open positions. Courses like the CPT help workers advance their careers by developing specialized skills that G.S. Precision and other Vermont manufacturers are looking for in their new employees.

“GS Precision is excited to work with CCV to provide the local community opportunities to build careers in the Precision Machining Field,” said G.S. Precision President and CEO Norm Schneeberger.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today announced two positive developments in the State’s continued response to PFOA contamination in Southern Vermont. The potentially-responsible party for the former Warren Wire manufacturing facility in Pownal, APU, has agreed to step forward and cover costs related to releases from that facility, including costs for drinking water sampling, bottled water, a filtration system for the impacted municipal water supply (Fire District #2), and point-of-entry water filtration systems on private wells impacted by PFOA. The governor also announced today that test results from South Hero municipal water supply show no PFOA contamination. That well was tested as part of the expanded statewide testing announced earlier in April.

by Patrick Leahy Years ago when I began working to reform the national EB-5 program, the problems we saw seemed far removed from the many promising EB-5 development projects in Vermont. It is heartbreaking, and it is maddening, to see such problems here at home. It is now painfully clear to all Vermonters that the EB-5 Regional Center program is flawed. The program once promised to transform the Northeast Kingdom and other underserved communities through millions of dollars of investment at no cost to taxpayers. Yet it has become mired in fraud and abuse across the country, and unfortunately such allegations have now reached our state.