Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced the ranking of the top thirty eight Best Places to Work in Vermont 2016 Thursday evening at a sold out awards ceremony at the Echo Lake Aquarium and Science Center. More than 300 attendees participated in the festivities. Vermont Housing Finance Agency and Edward Jones were the top recipients. All the companies represented last night have the honor of saying they are a Best Place to Work in Vermont. See the full list below.

Vermont Business Magazine The post-winter recreation layoffs appear to be subsiding, if a little earlier than usual, and weekly unemployment claims are back to about where they were in January. Claims fell last week, but are still slightly ahead of numbers from the same time last year, as the disappointing winter tourism season ended sooner due to a historically warm winter. For the week of March 26, 2016, there were 639 claims, down 155 from the previous week's total and 71 more than they were a year ago. By industry, claims fell evenly across most sectors. 

by Representative Paul Dame Last week the State House was consumed with the most important work of the year: passing a budget. All of the current tax polices gave us $33 Million more in revenue than we had last year, due to normal inflation and economic growth. But that wasn’t enough, and so the budget that passed required an additional $48,000,000 in new taxes & fees to be raised in order to pay the bills. This happens because our general fund spending grows at nearly 4% while the revenues are growing at roughly 2.2%. It has happened every year for the last six years, and mark my words, it will happen again next year.  Our spending continues to grow faster than the Vermont economy, and nothing was done this week to change that pattern. If the composition of the legislature does not change substantially, neither will these budget or tax increase trends.

Vermont Business Magazine VSECU, a member-owned cooperative and not for profit credit union for everybody in Vermont, has donated $23,000 to Vermont charities. More than 4,300 credit union members directed the earmarked funds through VSECU’s annual We Care 2 program, by casting votes for charitable organizations that impact issues of food, shelter, heat, or financial education for Vermonters. 

“At VSECU we work to foster financial, environmental and social prosperity for Vermont by employing our scale, resources, and cooperative spirit to make an impact on our members and their communities,” said Rob Miller, CEO of VSECU. “The We Care 2 program empowers all of our nearly 60,000 members with the opportunity to direct that impact toward the organizations they value most.”

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today provided an update on surface water testing from Bennington and North Bennington. Ten water samples were taken for testing from local creeks and ponds at locations around the former Chemfab facilities to help determine the source and extent of PFOA contamination. Surface water concentrations of PFOA ranged from no detection (less than 7 parts per trillion) to 79 parts per trillion. The highest PFOA concentration was the surface water sample from the pond on the Bennington College Campus. PFOA concentrations in the four water samples from Paran Creek ranged from 16 to 38 parts per trillion.  PFOA concentrations between 8 and 9 parts per trillion were detected in the water samples collected from the Walloomsac River just upstream and downstream of Paran Creek.

Vermont Business Magazine For the 2^nd time in recent years, the ECRI Institute has recognized The University of Vermont Health Network for excellence in supply chain management that improves health care quality while reducing costs. Effective management has led to savings or cost avoidance across the Health Network totaling $38.1 million over the past five years. Supply chain involves buying and distributing all clinical and non-clinical items at the lowest possible cost. Among other functions, the supply chain operation makes sure doctors and other providers have the items they need at the time they need them to provide the best care for patients.

Vermont Business Magazine Teens' views on politics offer some of the best insights into their psyche and perspective. With the upcoming presidential election dominating the news, it is the perfect time to gauge teens' opinions on the political landscape. Burlington-based Fuse conducted its Teen Presidential Election Survey in March 2016 with a representative sample of the 21 million teens between the ages of 13-17. The survey's questions followed the format of Gallup, Pew, Quinnipiac and other respected polls. Fuse's survey has a margin of error of 4%.

Vermont Business Magazine At its final seminar of 2016, LaunchVT, Vermont’s business pitch competition, announced the seven finalists for the 2016 competition. After viewing 50 applications, the LaunchVT Advisory Board Selection Committee chose six to continue as finalists in the competition. A seventh finalist enters the competition as a result of the LaunchVT Collegiate Competition, held in February. The winner of that competition received prize money as well as an automatic finalist spot in LaunchVT. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation has agreed to pay $5,000 in civil penalties to the State of Vermont, to settle claims that the Department violated its environmental permits concerning the maintenance of sewage treatment and disposal systems at two state parks (Button Bay State Park and Lake Carmi State Park).

by Deb Markowitz, Secretary, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources As a parent, and as the head of Vermont’s environmental agency, I often ask myself, what will be our generation’s environmental legacy?  We strive to keep our families healthy and safe, our communities prosperous, and our natural environment free from the effects of harmful pollution. That is why it was so disturbing when we discovered that private drinking wells of over a hundred North Bennington residents were contaminated with a potentially harmful chemical, PFOA(perfluorooctanoic acid), and that a public drinking water supply in Pownal serving 450 families also exceeded the recommended limits for this chemical. 

by Michael Bielawski and Bruce Parker Vermont Watchdog The Vermont Senate on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a renewable energy bill aimed at giving towns more input on the siting of wind and solar projects. After failing to resolve thorny issues ranging from town veto power to costs for ratepayers, the Vermont Senate voted 25-3 to advance S230 to a final reading and consideration of amendments to be debated on Thursday.

The discussion on the Senate floor was a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism. Supporters expressed hope that the bill would quiet a rebellion by towns against poorly sited renewable energy projects, but some senators questioned why the body was voting to advance the bill without first resolving its problems.

On the issue of who should pay the $400,000 appropriated in S230 for town and regional planning efforts, state Sen. Kevin Mullin, R-Rutland, rejected placing the costs on utilities, and therefore on ratepayers.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Smoke & Cure, maker of delicious smoked meats and meat snacks since 1962, is teaming up again with AllEarth Renewables of Williston to source local renewable solar to power the company’s electrical needs. With the addition of a third solar project for the Vermont company, now nearly two-thirds of Vermont Smoke & Cure’s electric demand is being supplied by solar. A 150kW orchard in Hinesburg, 156kW project in Essex and 88kW in Marshfield will produce approximately 610,000-kilowatt hours annually of emissions-free solar electricity for the specialty food company, which employs around 70 people.