Current News

by Joshua Brown University of Vermont Undergraduate engineering students at the University of Vermont have teamed up with a professor to find a technique that could help performance skiers select the ultimate pair of skis. It all started last fall, when UVM senior Elli Terwiel was in professor Eric Hernandez’s course, Advanced Structural Analysis, learning about how beams bend under a load—“and I started to think about my skis,” she says. She wasn’t daydreaming. Instead, she was seeing a connection between her two passions. Terwiel is majoring in civil engineering—and she’s a World Cup skier who raced in the 2014 Olympics for Canada and for UVM’s ski team for several years.

Vermont Business Magazine Merchants Bank partnered with WARMTH again this year to help prevent low-income Vermonters across the state from going without heat this winter.  Merchants Bank matched dollar-for-dollar donations raised for WARMTH throughout the month of December.  Coupled with the Merchants Bank match of $40,000, the Vermont community raised $107,087. The $40,000 challenge grant was distributed by CVOEO for use by all five community action agencies statewide for the emergency-based WARMTH program to help offset home heating bills. 

“When people see that their donation is matched they tend to LEAP on board! Thank you, it truly makes a difference”, said Joan White, Development Director at CVOEO.

by Mike Smith Last week Vermont Public Radio released a poll conducted by the Castleton Polling Institute. If you read only the news headlines about this poll, you might conclude that the race for governor is all but settled with Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott winning handedly. After all, 66 percent of those respondents who said they had already made up their mind about who they would vote for in the governor’s race indicate they would support Scott. His nearest competitor is Democrat Matt Dunne, who trails by a massive margin at just 15 percent. There’s no doubt at this stage of the race this news is encouraging for Scott. However, it’s a long way to November 8^th and as a Republican in a deep blue state, with a senior US Senator up for reelection and a junior US Senator rocking the political establishment, Scott’s path to being Vermont’s next governor will be filled with challenges. To win, he must navigate this path with precision and resolve. 

Vermont Business Magazine The People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, has announced that it has awarded $5,000 to the Intervale Center; $7,500 to Vermont Works for Women in Winooski; $10,000 to Spectrum Youth and Family Services; and $10,000 to the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) of Burlington.. 

The Intervale Center, which manages over 350 acres of farm fields, wetlands, trails and wildlife corridors, is home to 12 independent farm enterprises employing around 60 people and grossing more than $1.2 million in sales of fresh foods each year. Through the Center’s agricultural development programs, the staff work with 80 farms throughout Vermont each year, strengthening their economic, social and environmental impact.

Vermont Business Magazine The Made in Vermont Marketplace is an extraordinary opportunity for Vermont companies to showcase their Made in Vermont products to an audience of thousands of prospective customers all in one weekend. The trade show is dedicated to showcasing the great variety of Vermont made products, from furniture, specialty foods, clothing, wines and so much more! Only Vermont companies that made their products in Vermont will be allowed to exhibit. 

Vermont Business Magazine Fill up your car using 21st century technology at the new Waterbury Municipal Center, where Green Mountain Power and Waterbury have partnered to bring residents and visitors a new electric vehicle charging station. The new Municipal Center, located at 28 North Main Street, includes municipal offices combined with a new expanded Library and History Center, all with state-of-the-art heating, cooling and energy efficiency. Significant funding came through a bond vote from the Waterbury voters, several Vermont Community Development Programs, and private donations to the Friends of the Waterbury Library and Historical Society. Waterbury received funding for the charging station from the Downtown Development Board through a partnership with the Department of Housing and Community Development and the Agency of Natural Resources.

Vermont Business Magazine The Stern Center for Language and Learning recently received a grant from the Windham Foundation to bring their BUILDING BLOCKS FOR LITERACY© (Building Blocks) training to the southern Windsor and northern Windham counties of Vermont. The $6,000 grant will be used to provide professional learning and materials to early care and education providers and pre-K teachers to foster early literacy skills in children. This training will be delivered through a 6-hour live training on Saturday, April 30 in the Springfield area and a follow-up 12-hour online course.

by John Wagner The Washington Post The Washington Post's John Wagner was the print pool reporter at campaign events in Hibbing, Minnesota, Friday. Here is the complete, unedited report.

Vermont Business Magazine A total of 135 regular firearms moose season permits and 25 archery moose season permits would be issued for Vermont's 2016 October moose hunt under a proposed regulation approved by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board at their February 24 monthly meeting in Montpelier. The 160 permits proposed by the department represent a 40 percent decrease from the number of permits approved last year. Under the proposal, hunters are expected to harvest close to 70 moose. The board voted on a proposal by the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department to allocate permits in 16 of the state's 21 Wildlife Management Units (WMUs). The proposed permit numbers must be voted on at one more board meeting in April.

Vermont Business Magazine Susan L Donegan, commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation announced today that Continental Indemnity Co., a subsidiary of Applied Underwriters Inc., has paid Vermont $335,000 and owes 16 Vermont businesses an additional $352,000. An investigation conducted by the department revealed that between 2007 and 2015, Continental had overcharged a number of small businesses for workers’ compensation insurance policy premiums. Those Vermont companies are entitled to refunds ranging from just over $900 to almost $56,000. An administrative penalty of $300,000 was paid to DFR and an additional $35,000 was assessed to reimburse the department for costs incurred during the examination.

Continental has acknowledged the errors and has agreed to conduct an internal audit to ensure future compliance with Vermont laws.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont House Speaker Shap Smith today praised the passage of a resolution that urges the State’s pension managers to remove from their portfolio risky ExxonMobil and coal investments that could pose a threat to the state’s investment returns. The House-backed resolution urges the committee that oversees retiree pension funds (VPIC) to develop a responsible strategy to eliminate ExxonMobil and coal stocks from its investment portfolio. The measure asks VPIC to study alternative investment opportunities including socially responsible and renewable energy stocks. State Treasurer Beth Pearce opposes the plan because the first goal for her and VPIC is their fiduciary responsibility to the fund and the pensioners. There is also wide debate about how much money would actually be divested.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims increased by more than 300 claims last week. Claims in 2015 generally were lower than in 2014, but since the holiday season they have been generally running slightly ahead of the prior year, but were slightly lower last week year-to-year. The winter tourism hiring season was delayed by warm, wet weather until earlier this month. For the week of February 20, 2016, there were 843 claims, up 312 from the previous week's total and 30 fewer than they were a year ago. By industry, claims were mostly up for most categories, but remained about the same in total claims for Construction. 

Altogether 7,459 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 174 from a week ago, and 691 fewer than a year ago.