Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Health Connect announced today that its Customer Support Center will offer special hours this weekend, the final weekend of open enrollment, to accept new applications and to assist with plan changes. Wait times may be long as the Sunday deadline approaches. Vermonters who do not sign up for coverage or request a plan change by Sunday may have to wait until next January to do so. The toll-free number (855-899-9600) will be open:

·         Saturday, January 30: 8am to 4:30pm

·         Sunday, January 31: 10am to 5pm

Customers with questions that are not urgent or related to open enrollment deadlines are asked to wait until next week to call.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims have settled back into a more usual pattern and were unchanged from last week. Claims in 2015 generally were lower than in 2014, but since the holiday season they have been generally running ahead of the prior year. For the week of January 23, 2016, there were 753 claims, same as the previous week's total and 137 more than they were a year ago. By industry, claims were down for most categories but increased for Construction (40 percent of all claims and typical for this time of year) and Manufacturing (19 percent). 

Altogether 7,505 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 30 from a week ago, and 479 fewer than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Foundation, in partnership with some of its fundholders, awarded a total of $93,148 in Small and Inspiring grants to 41 organizations for local projects in communities across the state during the fall of 2015. One of a number of competitive grant rounds at the Community Foundation, the Small and Inspiring grants program funds work that helps connect people to their neighbors, their land, and their history in ways that strengthen community.

“These projects remind us of the importance of community,” says Jen Peterson, vice president for program and grants. “As we are confronted daily with news stories that incite feelings of fear and distrust, we are honored to support work that brings us together and nourishes the social fabric of our Vermont communities.”

Vermont Business Magazine ECFiber located in Royalton, Vermont announced Thursday plans to increase its speeds by 40-500 percent, but not its prices. “Our Basic plan will increase from 7 to 10 Mbps; our Standard plan from 20 to 25 Mbps; our Ultra plan will double from 50 to 100, and our new 'Wicked' plan will increase by a factor of 5 from 100 to 500” said Corey Klinck, ECFiber’s Chief Technical Officer. ECFiber’s current Wicked customers will see an increase from 400 to 500 and a price decrease. ECFiber’s speeds are symmetrical, meaning that download and upload speeds are equal. Symmetrical service is becoming essential for interactive internet applications and for home businesses depending on cloud computing solutions.

by Robert Smith, Vermont Business Magazine Stuart Savel, of Brattleboro, ran a design/build and furniture making business in Westminster and then Chester, Vermont, for many years. He grew up in New Jersey and moved to Vermont in the winter of 1969-70. A back injury resulting from a car accident a few years ago made it impossible, even after surgeries, to continue that kind of work.

“I was basically in chronic pain,” Savel said. “I was prescribed pain killers like Oxycodin and a number of opiates, and really didn’t like them. They didn‘t work for me, and I found that cannabis strains did.”

Savel said that he’s used medical marijuana for some time.

Vermont Business Magazine The Northern Border Regional Commission, a federal-state partnership for economic and community development, has announced the availability of $1.7 million in grant funds for projects in Essex, Orleans, Caledonia, Lamoille, and Franklin counties and the towns of Alburgh, Isle La Motte, and South Hero in Grand Isle County. The commission seeks applications from public bodies, non-profit organizations, or Native American tribes for projects that will directly or indirectly result in job creation and positive economic impact.

Information sessions for interested applicants will be held on:

Vermont Business Magazine Between 2007 and 2013, American motorists significantly reduced the amount they drive, lowering their per capita vehicles miles traveled (VMT) from 10,050 annually to 9,452, a 6 percent decline. This downward trend was even more pronounced in Vermont, where it has fallen by 8.4 percent. Nevertheless, Vermont residents drive significantly more miles than their national counterparts and have fewer public transportation options, likely due to the state’s rural nature. Ranked 10th highest in the nation, Vermonters drove an average of 11,356 miles per capita in 2013 compared to the national average of just 9,452. But despite this need to drive 20 percent more than the national average, Vermonters since 2007 have curtailed their driving habits more than the average American. This decline in local driving is significantly more pronounced in Vermont than the drop seen in other rural states.

Vermont Business Magazine (WARNING: THIS ARTICLE INCLUDES HARSH LANGUAGE) The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has completed a review of a Vermont State Police investigation of a police officer involved shooting incident that occurred on December 22, 2015, in Burlington, Vermont. The Office has concluded, in a statement released today, as a matter of law, that Vermont State Police (VSP) Detective Trooper Matthew Cannon and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Agent Timothy Hoffmann were legally justified in the use of deadly force when they discharged their firearms at Kenneth Stephens (DOB: 12/5/59) while executing a search warrant at Mr Stephens’ apartment in Burlington. The legal standard for the use of deadly force is whether the officer reasonably believed that he or a third party was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, and that deadly force was necessary to respond to that threat.

Vermont Business Magazine Middlebury College has been named winner of the inaugural Charles H.W. Foster Award for Exemplary Academic Leadership in Land Conservation, presented by Academics for Land Protection in New England (ALPINE), a program of Harvard University’s Harvard Forest. Middlebury earned the award for the conservation of its Bread Loaf campus in Ripton, Vermont. President Laurie Patton will accept the award on behalf of Middlebury in a ceremony on February 22 at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“We are deeply honored for this recognition from an organization that shares our concern about protecting important lands for future generations,” said Patton. “Colleges and universities are some of the largest private landholders in the U.S., and it is important for us to lead by example in the area of land conservation."

Vermont Business Magazine Paid sick leave in Vermont took another step toward being achieved, as the Senate Economic Development Committee voted the bill out Thursday with a 5-0 unanimous vote. The Healthy Workplaces bill (H187) passed the House last year with a vote of 72-63. Governor Peter Shumlin (D-Vermont) has called for the bill to pass and be sent to him for signature. Businesses have been concerned about the cost of the program and about how the plan rectifies differences between existing plans, which most employers have, and the new law. Many Vermonters work for companies that are based out-of-state.

Vermont Business Magazine Increases in local food consumption, jobs, and overall economic activity in the farm and food sector over the past five years are highlighted in the 2015 Farm to Plate Annual Report, released by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. 2016 marks the halfway point of the release of the Farm to Plate Strategic Plan and the Farm to Plate Network is entering its 5th year implementing Vermont’s food system plan. 

Vermont Business Magazine Customers of Green Mountain Power are incredibly pleased with their energy company, a new study concluded, with 92 percent saying they are satisfied with the service they received from GMP. The customer study shows an improvement of four percentage points over the last year.  In addition, 90 percent rated their trust in GMP as high, up four percentage points from the previous year. Reliability, especially in the wake of recent intense storms over the past several years, is critically important to customers and 97 percent say GMP provides reliable electric service. This annual survey from 400 telephone interviews is required by the Vermont Public Service Department to measure quality levels and customer satisfaction.