Current News

Vermont Business Magazine A wildlife management area in southern Vermont recently underwent a major expansion, according to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. The Turner Hill Wildlife Management Area located in Grafton and Athens has nearly doubled in size, adding 460 acres to bring the property total more than 1,000 acres. The wildlife management area contains numerous beaver-influenced wetlands providing vital habitat for the federally endangered Northeastern bulrush, as well as amphibians, turtles, and waterfowl. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department has certified four new all-time state record fish, all caught in 2015. New state records were set for the species of yellow perch, redhorse sucker, cisco and bowfin (taken by bow and arrow). “2015 was another great year for record fish catches in Vermont,” said Shawn Good, fisheries biologist with Vermont Fish & Wildlife. “And, what’s even more exciting is the fact that anglers are really starting to understand the wide diversity of fishing opportunities we have throughout the state. Three of the four species that had records set this past year are not what most anglers typically think of as sport fish. Fishing in Vermont can go way beyond bass, trout and some of the other more commonly targeted species.” 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VT DEC) Environmental Careers and Opportunities (ECO) AmeriCorps program is seeking  members and program partners to build on the success of its inaugural year. Applications are currently being accepted for both roles. The deadline for service sites to apply is March 7. Member applications are accepted through April 18. Applications are available at: http://ecoamericorps.vermont.gov.

by C.B. Hall Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Railway has offered the town of Shelburne the alternative of relocating the railroad's planned salt shed and to a South Burlington location as a means of resolving protests over constructing the facility in Shelburne at a point just north of the village center. The railway (VTR) is expected however to continue clearing the site, armed with a just-issued authorization from the Department of Environmental Conservation.

The Shelburne selectboard and numerous residents have cried foul over the VTR plans, citing traffic and noise issues and environmental dangers to the LaPlatte River, which runs alongside the site.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Senate gave its initial approval today (16-13) to a bill that would end marijuana prohibition in the state and regulate the cultivation and sale of marijuana for adult use. It must approve the measure a second time in order to send it over to the House of Representatives. A second vote is expected sometime this week. S241 would make it legal for adults 21 years of age and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and establish a tightly controlled system of licensed marijuana cultivation sites, testing facilities, and retail stores. It would also create a study commission to examine issues such as edible marijuana products and home cultivation, which would not be allowed under the bill. It would remain illegal to consume marijuana in public or drive under the influence of marijuana. If approved, rulemaking would begin this summer, but the new law would not take effect until January 2018.

Vermont Business Magazine Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR) announced that at a special meeting today, Keurig’s stockholders formally approved the previously announced merger agreement between Keurig and a JAB-led investor group. The shareholder vote was 102,536,858 (68.72% of the outstanding shares) in favor, 9,520,275 opposed and 682,732 abstained. Subject to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement, at the effective time of the merger, each share of Keurig common stock will be cancelled and converted into the right to receive $92 in cash, or $13.9 billion. This represents a 78 percent increase in the stock price from its close before the deal was struck. The transaction remains subject to various closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of March. The acquisition by European investor JAB Holdings was agreed to December 6.

Vermont Business Magazine ​Secretary of State of State Jim Condos today applauds the House Government Operations committee for its strong and unanimous bi-partisan vote to pass out H.458 - Automatic Voter Registration introduced by Representative Chris Pearson. “AVR saves time and money by making voter registration easy for eligible voters.  It will increase the accuracy of our statewide voter checklist and curb the potential for fraud, protecting the integrity of our elections,” says Secretary Condos. This proposal is poised to streamline the federally mandated voter registration at the DMV with a new process in which the state identifies and automatically provides the data for eligible Vermonters to be added to the voter checklist electronically with confirmation from the local town clerk.

This will add more eligible voters to the Vermont rolls, cementing Vermont’s ranking as a state with one of the highest registration rates in the country.

Public Assets Institute, Montpelier Health care costs account for almost half of the increase from the fiscal 2016 budget passed by the Legislature last spring to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s proposed 2017 budget. The governor’s total proposed increase is 3.8 percent, or a little more than $213 million, which includes an adjustment to the current fiscal year’s budget and an additional increase for next year, fiscal 2017. Before the Legislature adjourned last May, it approved $5.60 billion¹ in total spending for the current fiscal year, which runs from July 2015 through June 2016. For the next fiscal year, the governor is proposing a budget of $5.81 billion.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont is near the very bottom in charitable giving, accord to a report released Tuesday by the Urban Institute. Vermonters gave an average of $831 in actual charitable contributions. When adjusted by the state's average adjusted gross income per return (Vermont ranks 34th at $54,284), Vermont ranks 49th in the nation for charitable giving. This yearly publication reviews the individual charitable contributions reported on itemized tax returns published by the Internal Revenue Service from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This brief finds that total itemized charitable contributions and the average itemized charitable contribution per tax return in the United States increased from 2008 to 2013 ($1,339).

Vermont Business Magazine FreshTracks Capital announces the return of Peak Pitch Vermont on Thursday March 3rd.  Now in its eleventh year, Peak Pitch gives entrepreneurs and investors a wonderful opportunity to network on the slopes of the Sugarbush Resort.  Peak Pitch brings entrepreneurs and investors together for a unique version of the classic "elevator pitch." In the traditional elevator pitch, entrepreneurs take advantage of an opportunity to share an elevator ride with a potential investor or adviser and present their business idea.  At Peak Pitch, a shared chairlift ride gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch and tune their business plans to a variety of venture capitalists, angel investors, commercial bank officers, and other entrepreneurial advisors as they ride up the mountain on a chair lift.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resource’s Department of Environmental Conservation today announced that it formally settled environmental violations involving the Burlington International Airport (BTV). The City of Burlington operates the airport. The settlement includes a $37,754 penalty. The airport, located in South Burlington, is subject to three underground injection control (UIC) permits, issued by the Department. The permits authorize BTV to discharge stormwater containing aircraft de-icing fluid to the groundwater via four injection wells. Under the UIC permits BTV is required to perform annual inspections of each injection well system, and biannual monitoring of the groundwater with submission of the required reports to the Department’s Underground Injection Control Program. After reviewing information provided by BTV, the Department determined that BTV had failed to comply with the conditions of the UIC permits for a period of four years. 

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) has released a second draft of the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) for public review.  This draft, to be presented to the legislature and the public over the coming weeks, has been substantially revised to incorporate public input. As a result of Act 64—the Vermont Clean Water Act—signed into law in June 2015, the Agency of Agriculture was tasked with updating the Accepted Agricultural Practices (AAPs) to further reduce the impact of agriculture on water quality across the state. The RAPs are an updated version of the AAPs, the rules which regulate farms in order to protect water quality, re-written to a higher level of performance.  The Agency sought public input on its first draft of the new regulations, to ensure the RAPs reflected the realities of farming and the legislative intent of Act 64.