Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The following is being released by the Notice Provider, Kinsella Media, LLC, about the lawsuit In re Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation, MDL No.

by Vermont Senators Richard Mazza, Robert Starr, and Peg Flory In recent years, the political winds of promised change have blown in and out of Vermont like a nor’easter. But as the dust has settled, we seem to be falling short, in some important areas, of the open, pragmatic, good governing Vermont that we all know and love. Recent issuances from Vermont’s government have overridden fiduciary responsibility and due process in favor of special interest campaigns and political gestures.

For instance, in 2010 the Senate led by then-Senate Pro Tem Peter Shumlin prevented the Vermont Public Service Board from ruling on Vermont Yankee's application to continue to operate. We three, along with then-Senator Phil Scott, alone voted to let the PSB rule. Then as now, we believed in the importance of due process.

Vermont Business Magazine Carey Watermark Investors Incorporated (CWI 1) announced today that it has acquired The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa, part of Starwood's The Luxury Collection brand. The expansive, historic resort is located on 1,300 acres between the Green and Taconic Mountains in Manchester and includes 195 guestrooms, 18,500 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, an 18-hole championship golf course, a 13,000-square-foot spa, five food and beverage outlets and a range of unique guest amenities and experiences. Terms were not disclosed.

Key Facts

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont’s one-year MBA in Sustainable Entrepreneurship (SEMBA) in the Grossman School of Business has been named one of the top MBA programs in North America by CEO Magazine. The fledgling SEMBA program, now in its second year, was listed among the London-based magazine’s Tier I schools in its "2016 Global MBA Rankings." A number of criteria were considered including learning environment, class sizes, tuition fees, faculty, delivery methods, international diversity, and gender make-up, among other factors. Overall, the publication sought to find MBA programs that "combine exceptional quality with great return on investment."

CEO Magazine, aimed at upwardly mobile professionals, managers and those interested in furthering their education, considered 300 business schools across North America, Europe and Australia in their rankings with SEMBA being ranked among the top 75 schools in North America.

Vermont Business Magazine National Life Group is featured in a new book by Jackie and Kevin Freiberg, authors of the international best-seller Nuts, as a company that is so driven by its mission to do good through the products it sells and the causes it supports that it stands “out in a sea of sameness.” The book is available from Freibergs.com or Amazon.com. Cause! documents a fresh approach to leadership and collaboration that drives business success in companies as diverse as TOMS Shoes, Lululemon, Virgin, Southwest Airlines and PepsiCo. But the book is centered on Vermont-based financial services firm National Life Group.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin stood with business, community, and education leaders today to make the case for state funding of a college savings account for every child born in Vermont. In his State of the State Address, the Governor proposed funding Child Savings Accounts (CSAs) by increasing Vermont’s mutual fund registration fee – which is currently the lowest in New England.

Vermont Business Magazine A Renewable Energy Vermont sponsored poll indicates that Vermonters across the state want more solar in the state and also in their own towns. Three-quarters of Vermonters surveyed support building more solar farms in Vermont (76%). Additionally, Vermonters are just as supportive of building more solar farms in their own towns (75%). Support for more solar farms extends across party lines, with Democrats (87%), Independents (65%) and Republicans (58%) all supporting building more solar farms in their towns, according to the poll results.

Vermont Business Magazine Housing Vermont’s first net metered solar energy facilities are online and generating electricity for the grid as well as long term reductions in energy costs for 354 apartments owned by the state’s largest nonprofit developer of affordable housing. Two photovoltaic (PV) systems, located in Ferrisburgh, consist of a 500kW (AC) system located on an otherwise undevelopable parcel off Route 7 and a 150kW (AC) system located off Greenbush Road.  Under an agreement with Green Mountain Power, 11 properties in northwest Vermont will benefit from net metering credits generated by the two facilities. 

Vermont’s innovative group net metering program allows small power producers to set up their own renewable energy facilities and receive monetary value for their production in the form of net metering credits.   These net metering credits can then be allocated to the members of the net metering group.

Vermont Business Magazine Since its inception in 2012, the Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) has invested over $3.1 million dollars in 112 projects impacting every county of the state, leveraging just under $5 million in additional funds. On Thursday, February 4th, 2015 the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative annual report was submitted to the Vermont Legislature accompanied by a two hour presentation featuring a new 6-minute video and testimonials from four 2015 working lands grant recipients: Joe Buley of Screamin’ Ridge Farm in Montpelier; Karen Caron of Peaslee’s Vermont Potatoes in Guildhall; Parker Nichols of Vermont Wildwoods in Marshfield; and Andy Harper of Winterwood Timber Frames in East Montpelier.

Impacts to date include:

·         106 new jobs created by working lands grantees

·         $12 million+ increase in gross income across all working lands grantees

Vermont Business Magazine Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) reported fourth quarter 2015 earnings per share of 56 cents on an as-reported basis and $1.58 on an operational basis. For the full year, the company realized a loss of 99 cents per share on an as-reported basis and operational EPS of $6.00 per share. The as-reported loss resulted from asset impairments in the third and fourth quarters reflecting the effects of strategic decisions in the Entergy Wholesale Commodities business to reduce the company's exposure to volatile and poorly structured wholesale power markets. Entergy owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon, which shutdown in December 2014. Entergy will hold a conference call at 11 am Thursday (see information below).

by Mike Faher/The Commons Six months after Vermont officials filed suit to stop a controversial use of Vermont Yankee’s decommissioning trust fund, a federal court has dismissed the complaint on procedural grounds. The US Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit, in an order dated February 8, ruled that Vermont’s legal complaint against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is “incurably premature.” Ironically, that’s because the state also has filed a similar, but separate, administrative challenge with the NRC on the same issue. The appeals court, however, left the door open for the state to re-file its complaint once the NRC addresses the matter.

“Once the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has resolved [state officials’] pending request for commission review [...] they may file a petition for judicial review,” the court wrote.

Battle over trust fund use

by Mike Faher/The Commons Federal regulators have announced that they’re satisfied with security changes implemented since Vermont Yankee’s shutdown. But it’s not clear exactly what those changes are, and officials say that’s by design. Radioactive material, including spent nuclear fuel, remains on site, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has expressed concern about publicly disclosing too many details of the Vernon plant’s protection scheme.

“We are letting the public know we took a close look at whether the new plan is consistent with our security requirements for a permanently shut down nuclear power plant,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said.

“However, we are not providing any details of the changes, [including] number of security officers post-shutdown, weaponry needed, etc.”