Current News

Vermont Business Magazine This Martin Luther King Day, when members of the college and local communities gather in Middlebury College’s Mead Chapel to celebrate King’s legacy, they will also celebrate the return of guest director Keith McCutchen and his powerhouse MLK Today Choir. The event on January 18 will mark McCutchen’s second appearance at Middlebury as conductor of the group, a community choir of students and townspeople. Last year’s performance featured a five piece jazz combo, which – together with the choir and fiery words from Dr King’s Selma speech – had the audience leaping to its feet several times. This year McCutchen, who is director of the Appalachian State University Gospel Choir, will present a brand new selection of spirituals, gospel tunes, jazz and contemporary music.

by Bill Schubart As the new legislative session ramps up, I’d like to offer some thoughts. Don’t micromanage complex issues. We already have too many laws and administrative statutes, many poorly drafted, ambiguous, or conflicting. Some actually confound good behavior. Our problems can’t be enacted away. They’re substantial and demand clarity of vision, courage, and leadership. A good captain looks over the bow of his ship, not the stern, and our two-year terms for governor and legislators confine us to short-term fixes for long-term issues. Senator Snelling is introducing legislation to move to a four-year term like the rest of the country —  except New Hampshire, which shares our fealty to the past and insouciance about the future. This issue surfaces every few years and ends up being torpedoed by nostalgic reasoning.

Vermont Business Magazine The Orchard has acquired all worldwide media rights to the documentary, The State of Marriage, from Floating World Pictures. The film will be available on iTunes and On Demand beginning May 31, 2016. The film chronicles the epic, two-decade struggle in Vermont that built the foundation for the entire marriage equality movement. Three extraordinary lawyers featured in the film - Susan Murray, Beth Robinson and Mary Bonauto – forged the legal, social, and political path in the 1990's that ultimately led to the US Supreme Court establishing the freedom to marry for same-sex couples nationwide.

Vermont Business Magazine Ten Johnson State College students completed internships and field experiences with area businesses, schools and nonprofit organizations during the fall 2015 semester with financial support from the Union Bank of Morrisville. The students received grants of $200 to $500 each from the JSC Student Internship Fund, which was launched one year ago with a $3,000 grant from Union Bank. Funds were allocated to students with financial need to cover expenses associated with these experiences due to the expenses associated with them, including transportation to and from work sites, fees for background checks and conferences, and the cost of necessary equipment.

Grant recipients included students majoring in biology, education, professional studies, psychology, sociology, and wellness and alternative medicine.  Intern job titles and host sites associated with the Union Bank grant this fall were:

Vermont Business Magazine AM Best Company has affirmed its A (Excellent) financial strength ratings for National Life Insurance Company and Life Insurance Company of the Southwest, the two insurance companies of National Life Group, based in Montpelier. This is the third highest of AM Best’s 16 ratings. “Our mission is to deliver on our promises,” said Mehran Assadi, president and CEO of National Life Group. “I am very pleased that AM Best has reaffirmed our excellent rating, which reflects our financial strength.”

In a news release (see below) announcing the ratings, AM Best cited a number of factors, including National Life Group's competitive strength in the marketplace.

Vermont Business Magazine At its 29^th Annual Membership Meeting held at The Essex Resort and Spa, the Vermont Business Roundtable elected eight new directors to their first three-year term, including: John Brumsted, The University of Vermont Health Network; Dimitri Garder, Global-Z International; Scott Giles, Vermont Student Assistance Corporation; John Killacky, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts; Stephanie Mapes, Paul Frank + Collins; Paul Ode, Downs Rachlin and Martin; Tom Sullivan, The University of Vermont; and Larry Williams, Redstone.   Elected to their second three-year term were the following directors: Renee  Bourget-Place, KPMG; Pierre LeBlanc, Engelberth Construction; Leslee MacKenzie, Coldwell Banker Hickok Boardman Realty; Paul Millman, Chroma Technology; and Michael Seaver, People’s United Bank.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) has released its statutorily-required report on the impact of the Vermont Enterprise Fund, showing that in addition to creating hundreds of direct and indirect jobs, the $1.7 million in investments will more than pay for themselves by returning $3.5 million in state revenues over the next five years. According to the report, the allocation of funding from the Enterprise Fund for three projects will help retain Vermont’s largest private sector employer and one of Central Vermont’s largest employer’s, as well as recruit a new employer to the Northeast Kingdom.  

Vermont Business Magazine After historic highs and spikes and dips, weekly unemployment claims held steady last week but remained at a relatively high level. In recent weeks claims also are running higher than for the same time last year. In contrast, claims in 2015 generally were lower than in 2014. For the week of January 9, 2016, there were 1,155 claims, three more than the previous week's total and 134 more than they were a year ago. By industry, claims were down slightly for most categories except for Construction, which were up for the week, but lower than last year. Construction claims (38 percent) also surpassed Services (29 percent), which nearly always leads all categories. 

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today announced the winners of his annual State of the Union essay contest for Vermont high school students. Nearly 800 students, a record number, from 39 high schools participated in the contest this year. A panel of five Vermont teachers served as volunteer judges and selected Meredith Holbrook, a senior at Milton High School, as the winner of the contest. In her essay, Holbrook focused on the need to address domestic economic issues, such as hunger, homelessness and strengthening Social Security in the United States. See winning essay below.

“We have many issues we must address, domestic and foreign. We cannot expect to properly address issues overseas, until we fix the home we live in. We must fix America from within,” Holbrook wrote in her winning essay. “Once we do this, we will truly be able to call ourselves the greatest nation in the world.”

Vermont Business Magazine Ben & Jerry's has chosen Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort, in Cancun, Mexico to host their annual Global Franchise Meeting of 2016 from January 14th-17th. Ben & Jerry's said that the Palace Resorts aligns perfectly with Ben & Jerry's mission and was chosen as the location to host over 400 Ben & Jerry's franchisees and staff due in part to the company's foundation, Fundacion Palace. The Palace Foundation's efforts are a testament of the company's commitment to positively impact the communities the properties are located in throughout Mexico and the Caribbean. Both businesses believe in more than simply making a profit, they support a sustainable business model, and strive to make an impact on addressing social needs.

Vermont Business Magazine The Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center, organizers of the annual Burlington Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Remembrance, have announced that Ilyasah Shabazz – civil right activist, author, and 3rd daughter of Malcolm X – will deliver the 2016 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day keynote address on Sunday, January 17, at 3PM at the First Unitarian Universalist Church at 152 Pearl Street in Burlington. Shabazz is known for her memoir, Growing up X for which she won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Nonfiction Literary Work. At the event, the Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center with honor this year’s recipients of the 2016 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Vermont Business Magazine Lake Sunapee Bank Group (NASDAQ: LSBG) has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of fourteen cents ($0.14) per share payable January 29, 2016, to stockholders of record as of January 25, 2016. Lake Sunapee Bank Group is the holding company of Lake Sunapee Bank, fsb, a federally chartered savings bank that provides a wide range of life-cycle banking and financial services. Lake Sunapee Bank Group, through its direct and indirect subsidiaries, operates 30 offices in New Hampshire in Grafton, Hillsborough, Merrimack and Sullivan counties and 16 offices in Vermont in Orange, Rutland and Windsor counties.