Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Sugarbush Resort announced this past Tuesday that it is 100% open. With 111 trails and 484 acres of skiable terrain, Sugarbush has the most open terrain in the East. The resort has received a combination of steady snowfall and cold snow-making temperatures over the last few weeks which has allowed ropes to continue dropping. The resort received over a foot of natural snow in the last week alone.

Castlerock Chair at Lincoln Peak, which accesses an area offering all-natural snow terrain for experts only, began spinning for the publicon Tuesday. And Slide Brook Express, the chairlift that connects Lincoln Peak and Mt. Ellen, will open to the public Friday, Jan. 22^nd.  The opening of Castlerock and Slide Brook Express are emblematic of good natural snow conditions.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas is celebrating 50 years of bringing clean, affordable natural gas service to families, businesses and institutions in Chittenden and Franklin counties.  The company first began serving customers in 1966 and today provides service to 18 Vermont towns, with expansion planned to several more communities in 2016.

“For the past 50 years, this company has provided a clean, safe, affordable and reliable heating option that now serves 50,000 customers,” said Don Rendall, President and CEO of Vermont Gas. “As we look forward, this company is committed to bringing energy choice and opportunity to Vermont families and businesses to reduce emissions, increase energy efficiency, and expand alternatives such as renewable gas from landfills and dairies. We will do all this while maintaining affordable and competitive rates.”

Vermont Business Magazine Merchants Bancshares, Inc (NASDAQ: MBVT), the  parent  company of Merchants Bank, today announced net income  of $2.31 million, or $0.36 per basic and diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2015. The fourth quarter of 2015 included $1.6 million of merger-related expenses, net of tax, related to the acquisition of NUVO Bank & Trust Company, which closed onDecember 4, 2015, and retirement costs net of tax. Excluding these items, the Company's core net income was $3.94 million or $0.61 per basic and diluted share. This compares to net income of $2.50 million, or $0.40 per basic and $0.39 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2014. For the year ended December 31, 2015, net income totaled $12.62 million, or $1.98 per basic and diluted share, compared to net income of $12.13 million, or $1.92 per basic and $1.91 per diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2014.

Vermont Business Magazine People's United Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: PBCT), parent of People's United Bank, today reported net income of $70.8 million, or $0.23 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to $64.7 million, or $0.22 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2014, and $68.4 million, or $0.23 per shar

Vermont Business Magazine In his annual, and final, Budget Address, Governor Peter Shumlin delivered to the Vermont Legislature today his sixth balanced budget. He told legislators that the fiscal year 2017, $5.8 billion spending plan does not raise income, sales, or rooms and meals tax rates. The fiscal year begins July 1, 2016. The budget includes $1.53 billion for the General Fund. Expected General Fund revenues were lowered by economists on Tuesday by $9.1 million. The governor’s proposed budget closes a $68 million budget gap and is the first since 2009 that does not rely on the use of one-time funds to pay for on-going state expenses. The most noticeable tax increase is an expansion to physicians and dentists of the provider tax that is already paid by hospitals and nursing homes. Under his proposal, hospitals and nursing homes would continue to pay 6 percent, while dentists and physicians would pay less than half of that, or 2.35 percent.

by Mike Faher/The Commons Three states are joining Vermont’s quest for a “robust” federal review of trust-fund spending at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon. In new federal filings, attorneys general for Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire voice support for Vermont’s stance — outlined in a November petition — that decommissioning funds are being drained improperly.

Vermont Business Magazine Over the past four months, Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (VAAFM) has embarked on an extensive outreach effort to solicit feedback on the new draft Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs). The response from the farming community and the public-at-large has been significant. Nearly 800 people attended more than 30 meetings across the state to voice their opinions, and 169 Vermonters submitted written comments. The Agency is now in the process of consolidating this feedback and re-drafting the RAPs to reflect the community’s input.

Vermont Business Magazine The Senate Agriculture Committee Wednesday advanced bipartisan legislation authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) to double funding for the federal Farm To School grant program as part of a larger package reauthorizing child nutrition programs through 2020. The Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act includes the Leahy-Cochran Farm To School Act of 2015, which builds on earlier Leahy legislation that chartered the grant program.  Leahy’s chief Republican cosponsor is Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.). The Leahy-authored provision increases funding for the Farm To School program from its current level of $5 million to $10 million annually, leveraging local funds investing in community agriculture and nutrition education.

Vermont Business Magazine With an eye toward the revitalization of the greater-Rutland County economy, Rutland Economic Development Corporation has adopted a new mission and vision and signed a partnership agreement with the Castleton University Center for Entrepreneurial Programs. Executive Director Jamie Stewart left REDC in December. The long-serving Stewart previously held a similar position in Addison County. Under the agreement, Lyle Jepson, dean of entrepreneurial programs at Castleton, will lead REDC’s operations under a three-year contract between REDC and the University.

Vermont Business Magazine The Orvis Company, Inc of Manchester has announced the three recipients of its annual Customer Matching Grant program. Targeted to raise more than a third of a million dollars, these grants are the cornerstone of Orvis's annual commitment of 5% of its pre-tax profits to protecting nature.

Orvis has awarded cash grants to the following organizations:

Vermont Business Magazine Outdoor Journal, Vermont PBS’ venerable outdoor program, kicks off its 14^th season on Tuesday, January 26, with stories that take viewers across the length and breadth of the northeast region. As always, hosts Lawrence Pyne and Gina Bullard explore the outdoors with an infectious sense of curiosity as they introduce us to an array of outdoor adventures – from way down under to way up yonder. On tap for the new season: we’ll get a fish-eye view as we snorkel Vermont’s White River in Rochester; and Lawrence hooks into largemouth bass in Berlin Pond and chases world-class brown trout in upstate New York. Gina takes to the skies on a hang gliding adventure over the Connecticut River Valley, goes skeet shooting in Morrisville and goes on a geocaching treasure hunt in central Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Yale University is number one and the University of Vermont is number 27 in a national ranking of campus-based natural history museums. Best College Reviews, a ranking service for American colleges and universities, has released a list of the top 30 College Natural History Museums. Statistics and definitions were gathered from The American Alliance of Museums and school websites. The top universities generally were either elite and older schools in the East, small colleges with special collections or state universities out West.