Current News

by Bill Schubart There are many actors in the Jay Peak/Q-Burke tragedy playing out on our Northern Vermont stage. The unfortunate investors whose investments were by law “at risk,” have been clearly deceived and may never see their promised green cards or any return on their investments. For some, the half-million-dollars will be missed but well worth the cost of entry to the U.S. for them and their families. Others will be badly hurt by the financial loss. Hopefully, the appointed “recovery attorney” will be able to recover some of their losses.

Then there are the business principals, Bill Stenger – liked by those who know him, including this observer – and the mysterious Ariel Quiros, whom few know. The stinging civil charges brought by Vermont’s Attorney General and the S.E.C. against the two are pervasive and well documented. Naiveté will not play as a defense, even as both are innocent until proven otherwise.

Vermont Business Magazine Our biggest hit is back! Last year, just when consumers thought a burrito couldn't get any better, Ben & Jerry's delivered the BRRR-ito: a chewy crepe-like wrap surrounding your choice of ice cream flavors, drizzled in hot fudge and topped with cookie crumbles. Beginning on April 20th, the scoop shop fan favorite, BRRR-ito, will return, but hurry as it is only making a limited appearance at participating scoop shops.

Vermont Business Magazine The Recycling Partnership has announced that Keurig Green Mountain, Inc is joining its diverse circle of members. Both organizations share a vision to enact system-wide solutions to the recycling challenges of today, working across materials and the supply chain for a bright, sustainable recovery future. Keurig, based in Waterbury, Vermont, is a personal beverage system company that has revolutionized the way consumers create and enjoy beverages.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health announced Friday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed the state's first case of Zika virus in a Vermont resident, an adult who traveled to a Zika affected area before developing symptoms.  

Zika is a virus spread by the bite of certain Aedes species of mosquitoes. Illness is usually mild, with the most common symptoms of fever, rash, joint pain, and pink eye (conjunctivitis), although often a person infected with Zika has no symptoms.

Zika virus has caused microcephaly, a serious birth defect of the brain, in babies of mothers who had the virus while pregnant, and may cause other severe fetal brain defects..

Vermont Business Magazine In an effort to help prospective parents find hospitals that deliver quality maternity care, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont announced that Brattleboro Memorial Hospital is one of the first hospitals to receive the Blue Distinction Center for Maternity Care designation, a new designation under the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.

Vermont Business Magazine NBT Bank President of Wealth Management Timothy Brenner announced that NBT Bank, based in Norwich, NY, was named 2015 Financial Institution of the Year  at the 12th Annual LPL Financial Institution Services Program Leadership Conference held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. NBT has branches in western Vermont. NBT Bank was nominated by LPL growth consultants and selected from more than 750 financial institutions based on quantitative and qualitative factors, including year over year growth, thought leadership and innovation.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Division of Fire Safety Director Michael Desrochers is again kindly reminding Vermonters to have properly installed and maintained smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in their homes. So far in 2016 five Vermonters have been killed in fires and two more have died as a result of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. “Smoke alarms, when properly installed and maintained can provide you the necessary early warning needed to escape a life threatening situation,” Desrochers said.  A fire that starts while you sleep immediately becomes a deadly hazard for you and your family, so early detection absolutely critical.”

Smoke alarms should be installed outside the immediate vicinity of sleeping rooms, in each sleeping room, and on each floor of the home – including the basement.  Never re-enter a burning home – get out, stay out, and call 911.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that Saint-Gobain has agreed to cover costs for two engineering studies in Bennington and North Bennington. The engineering studies will determine the feasibility and costs of expanding municipal water supply infrastructure to service residences impacted by PFOA in the two towns. Additionally, the Governor announced that the preliminary soil testing results from around the former Chemfab facility in North Bennington show PFOA levels that do not pose significant risk of PFOA uptake into plants and vegetables from garden soils.

Vermont Business Magazine Van Jones, a CNN political contributor, attorney, author, and environmental and human rights activist, will deliver the 2016 Middlebury College commencement address on Sunday, May 29. Jones is the president and co-founder of Dream Corps, whose current initiatives, including #cut50, #YesWeCode, and Green For All, work to bring economic opportunity to disenfranchised communities.

Van Jones.

Vermont Business Magazine What makes some parts of the Lake Champlain Basin and its watersheds resilient in the face of  extreme weather events, increasingly common in a warming Vermont, while other parts fail to recover and rebound? A $20 million award from the National Science Foundation to Vermont EPSCoR will help answer that question, providing much needed information to decision-makers as they govern the basin and develop policies that reach far into the future.

Vermont Business Magazine Commissioner Christopher Recchia announced that the Department of Public Service (DPS) has awarded $913,054 from the Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) to increase the demand and supply for local wood heat. The CEDF awarded 11 grants to schools and affordable housing projects across the State to install advanced wood heating systems and five grants to increase the supply infrastructure of wood pellets. The heating systems are projected to eliminate the use of roughly 124 thousand gallons of fossil fuel annually, bringing the state closer to its goal of meeting 30% of Vermont’s space heating needs with renewable energy by 2025.

Vermont Business Magazine Dr. Ruth Seeler earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont in 1958 and her M.D. from UVM's College of Medicine in 1962 and is currently emerita professor of pediatric hematology-oncology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. In 2000, Dr. Seeler endowed a scholarship at UVM to help students meet the cost of their medical education. The scholarship is awarded annually to a third- or fourth-year student specializing in primary care. To date, 18 students have been awarded some $145,000 from the fund.

To ensure that the fund meets that need into the future, Seeler has committed $2 million in her estate plan to be added to the Ruth Andrea Seeler M.D.’62 Scholarship in the UVM College of Medicine. The college estimates the bequest will enable it to increase scholarship awards to primary care students by approximately $90,000 annually.