Current News

Vermont Business Magazine US Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Ranking Member on the Judiciary Committee, released the following statements after the Senate passed the FOIA Improvement Act of 2015 to reform the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA): “Our very democracy is built on the idea that our government should not operate in secret. The FOIA Improvement Act will help open the government to the 300 million Americans it serves and ensure that future administrations place an emphasis on openness and transparency,” Leahy said.  “The Senate unanimously passed this legislation last Congress, but the House failed to act.  Senator Cornyn and I moved quickly to reintroduce our legislation last year, and I am glad the Senate has once again passed it with unanimous support.  The House must act to pass the FOIA Improvement Act so that it can be enacted this year.”

by Senator Patrick Leahy I want to set the record straight. Contrary to the remarks of the Senate Majority Leader yesterday, Vermont has not recently passed a GE (genetically engineered or modified, aka GMO) food labeling law. Let’s be clear and accurate in our words in this chamber.  It was in May 2014 – nearly two years ago – that, after two years of debate and more than 50 committee hearings featuring testimony from more than 130 representatives on all sides of the issue, Vermont’s Governor signed into law a disclosure requirement for genetically engineered ingredients in foods. Now, after one hearing five months ago tangentially related to the issue, without any open debate on the floor, the Republican leadership has decided that it knows better than Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Small Business Administration announced the 2016 Vermont small business award winners today. The top prize, the Vermont Small Business Person of the Year, is awarded to Tom Stearns, High Mowing Organic Seeds founder and owner. He is being recognized for growing his company, increasing sales, employee growth and contributing to the local community. High Mowing Organic Seeds is a farm-based company located in Wolcott that produces and distributes vegetable, flower and herb seeds throughout the US and Canada. High Mowing Organic Seeds is the first organic company guaranteeing all of its seeds are non-genetically modified organism verified.

Tom Stearns, High Mowing Organic Seeds founder and owner.

Vermont Business Magazine A woman-owned business based in Burlington is competing in the final pitch of the InnovateHER Business Challenge Thursday in Washington D.C. InnovateHER is a national competition highlighting products and services created by female entrepreneurs. Mamava was selected as a finalist after the company was awarded the $10,000 top prize at the InnovateHER Vermont Challenge at the Hotel Vermont in October. The cash prize was provided by Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies and the University of Vermont’s Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. Mamava, cofounded by Sascha Mayer and Christine Dodson, designs freestanding lactation suites providing a private space for women to nurse or pump.  Mamava introduced its first suite in the Burlington International Airport in August 2013 and now has units in schools, airports, malls throughout the US.

Vermont Business Magazine As Entergy Vermont Yankee is decommissioned, Vermont's congressional delegation is working to ensure a transparent process and prompt return to local use. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vermont),  joined by 12 House and Senate colleagues, today asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to give local stakeholders a seat at the table in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Entergy’s Vermont Yankee located in Vernon is the first of several merchant nuclear power plants expected to be decommissioned in the next several years.

Vermont Business Magazine The number of contaminated wells has grown to 52, as testing has expanded in the area around the former Chemfab plant in North Bennington. Additional testing of the North Bennington public water system, including samples from the elementary school, have confirmed no PFOA contamination. Governor Peter Shumlin today provided the following update on the situation in North Bennington. The location of the community meeting scheduled for tomorrow has been moved. The meeting will be held at 6pm, Wednesday, March 16 in the Tishman Lecture Hall at Bennington College, 1 College Drive, Bennington.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin celebrated Vermont's 2016 maple sugar season Monday with a ceremonial tree tapping event at Sugartree Maple Farm in Williston.  The Governor was joined by Vermont Agriculture Secretary Chuck Ross, Consumer Protection Chief and state maple expert, Henry Marckres, Executive Director of the Vermont Sugar Makers Association (VSMA) Matthew Gordon, as well as 3rd and 4th graders from Williston Central Elementary school who aided the governor in the tree-tapping process, and accompanied him on an educational tour of the Sugartree Maple Farm facility.

Vermont Business Magazine For decades Merchants Bank and Merchants Bank employees have been pledging to United Way throughout Vermont. This year, Merchants Bank continued its tradition of running a successful campaign, with individual employee pledges of $55,000 and a corporate pledge of $35,000.  Merchants Bank employee pledges combined with the Merchants Bank donation, contributed to over $90,000 to United Way throughout Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA), announced the winners of its Third Annual Judging of Craft Spirits on March 3, 2016. Caledonia Spirits, the Hardwick-based producer of Barr Hill, submitted three products to the competition. All three products earned awards. The leader of the pack, Barr Hill Gin, was awarded a gold medal with an additional “Best in Category” designation. Barr Hill Vodka received a silver medal, and a bronze medal was awarded for the category-bending Tom Cat Barrel-Aged Gin. The event was hosted at the Palmer House Hotel, in downtown Chicago. Winners were hand-selected among a record-breaking pool of nearly 450 entrants – up more than 30 percent over last year.

Vermont Business Magazine Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (ACPHS), with campuses in Colchester, Vermont, and Albany, NY,  announced Monday that it has received approval from the New York State Education Department to offer a Bachelor's Degree program in Public Health. Students will be eligible to enroll in the new program beginning in fall 2016. The Bachelor of Public Health represents the evolution of the College's current B.S. program in Health and Human Sciences. Whereas that program placed an emphasis on the basic sciences, the Public Health program will expand the focus to integrate a greater variety of coursework in areas that include social science, applied science, epidemiology, statistics, and research.

by John McClaughry Alert viewers of WCAX may have noticed a March 4 segment calling attention to my completion of fifty years’ service as Kirby Town Moderator. Please allow me to use those four minutes of media fame as a springboard for defending the merits of Vermont’s tradition of town meeting government. Early settlers from Massachusetts and Connecticut brought town meeting to the New Hampshire Grants before they created the Republic of Vermont in 1777. Unlike in most of the rest of the country, in Vermont – never a royal colony - the towns came together and created the state.

Both Federalist John Adams and Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson believed that Town Meeting ought to be the foundation of any democratic republic.  When asked the reason for the political strength of New England, Adams replied “town, school, congregation, and militia”, the institutions of civil society at the local level.

Vermont Business Magazine Popular New England Sports Network (NESN) Sportscaster and St Michael's College graduate Tom Caron will speak at Southern Vermont College (SVC) on Wednesday, March 30. His talk on life in one of sports hottest media markets and the perspective he found after a run-in with cancer will take place in the Everett Mansion Theatre at 6 p.m. for the general public and at 7:30 p.m. for students. The event is co-sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.

Tom Caron