Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office entered into an Assurance of Discontinuance with Aspen Marketing Services, LLC after the attorney general’s investigation revealed that over 81,000 letters Aspen sent on behalf of five GM motor vehicle dealers misrepresented that the consumers had been specially selected to participate in an exclusive motor vehicle buyback program. The letters sent to consumers misrepresented that certain car dealers had been selected as a “host location” for a “unique Buyback Event,” and that the dealers were in “desperate need” of their particular vehicles to “fulfill special used vehicle requests.” Consumers were told that “due to the nature of the event,” they must bring the letter to be admitted because the Buyback event would “not be advertised to the general public.”

Vermont Business Magazine With the 2015/2016 ski and snowboard season officially underway, Okemo Mountain Resort continues to receive media accolades from some of the nation’s top publications: SKI, TransWorld SNOWboarding, Outside and others. Okemo was ranked among the East’s Top Ten in SKI Magazine’s highly anticipated Resort Guide issue. Okemo made the list with an overall ranking of ninth place. Most noteworthy was Okemo’s first-place ranking in lifts. Once again, Okemo scored high marks in other categories as well: third for snow, fourth for grooming, fourth for on-mountain food, fourth for being kid friendly, seventh for dining and access, eighth for service, lodging and terrain parks.

Vermont Business Magazine A new report released today from the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) finds that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as Food Stamps, is highly effective at reducing food insecurity—the government’s measure for whether households lack the resources for consistent and dependable access to food. In Vermont, nearly a quarter of SNAP recipients have income that is less than half the poverty level. The report highlights a growing body of research that finds that children who receive food assistance see improvements in health and academic performance and that these benefits are mirrored by long-run improvements in health, educational attainment, and economic self-sufficiency.

Tobacco Companies Spend $5 to Market Products for Every $1 Vermont Spends on Prevention

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont ranks 10th in the country in funding programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit, according to a national report released today by a coalition of public health organizations. Vermont is spending $3.7 million this year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which is 44 percent of the $8.4 million recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today announced the completion of a 500 kilowatt solar net metering project at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, the fifth of seven state correctional facilities to be powered by solar. The project is part of an initiative the governor announced in September of 2013 to deploy 5 megawatts of solar power that will increase the state’s use of renewable energy while saving taxpayers on state energy costs.

“This is a perfect example of how we do renewable energy in Vermont,” Shumlin said. “Local solar that powers our public buildings all while creating and supporting local jobs. I’m so proud of the state for leading by example.”

Vermont Business Magazine David Rees Evans, PhD, was formally inaugurated as the ninth president of Southern Vermont College on Friday, December 4. The ceremony began at 3:30 pm at the Bennington Center for the Arts (BCA) in Bennington and was followed by a reception at the BCA. President Evans came to SVC earlier this year from Buena Vista University in Iowa where he was Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty. He was selected from a field of over 100 applicants for the position of president at the private, liberal arts College, according to SVC Board of Trustee Chair and alumnus Ira Wagner, class of 1983.

by Carolyn Shapiro Veena Graff, MD, loves music; it relaxes her and can boost her mood. The University of Vermont Health Network anesthesiologist – who’s classically trained in piano and violin and is also a DJ – recognized that music could do the same for patients undergoing surgery. Graff first dug up studies and data that supported her theory that music can reduce anxiety pre-operatively and can reduce medication consumption throughout the surgical period. Therefore, she decided to launch a project that allows patients to listen to music during their surgical period.

“It improves the patient’s experience considerably,” she says.

Veena Graff, M.D., Pain Medicine Fellow, UVM Department of Anesthesiology (Photo: COM Design & Photography)

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public Radio is teaming with 105.9FM The Radiator to bring full versions of the VPR-produced concert series ‘Live From The Fort’ to Chittenden County airwaves. The “Live From The Fort” music video series hosts Vermont-based bands in VPR’s Colchester studios. Performances are featured online at VPR.net and on VPR’s daily public affairs program Vermont Edition. VPR will provide full-length Live From The Fort performance recordings to 105.9FM The Radiator for broadcastto its Chittenden County audience.

“VPR has always been supported by listeners who care deeply about the world around them and the arts that make Vermont a vibrant home,” said Robin Turnau, VPR President and CEO. “Live From The Fort gives listeners the opportunity to see and hear the great musical talent that we have throughout the region.”

by John McClaughry On November 19 Vermont Senator and Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a self-described “socialist” for fifty years, delivered his long-awaited address on the subject of his political ideology, “democratic socialism.” To put this in some context, there have been hundreds of interpretations of “socialism” by its advocates, not including those who used the word as an epithet. A crucial date in “socialism” was the publication of The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the 1848 “year of revolution.”

Vermont Business Magazine Seventy-five years to the day after Bove’s Café opened its doors on Pearl Street in Burlington, Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott joined members of the Bove family at the Italian restaurant as they announced plans to open a new 15,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Milton in 2016. Bove’s makes premium pasta sauces, frozen meatballs and lasagna, available for sale around the country. This new facility will allow the Vermont-based company to bring all of its manufacturing back into the state, as well as offer factory tours.

Vermont Business Magazine Shopping for groceries? Now you can charge your car while you get your dinner fixings at the Hannaford Supermarket & Pharmacy in Williston, thanks to a partnership between Green Mountain Power, Hannaford Supermarkets and Taft Corners Associates. The charging station is located at the Williston Hannaford, 78 Marshall Avenue. “The new charging station at Hannaford is part of our effort to build a comprehensive EV charging network across Vermont,” said Dorothy Schnure, Green Mountain Power spokesperson. “More and more people are driving electric vehicles, saving money and reducing their use of fossil fuels, and we are pleased as Vermont’s energy company of the future to help them charge up conveniently.”

JAB Holding to pay total of $13.9 billion, also controls Peet's and Caribou coffee companies

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR), a personal beverage system company that has revolutionized the way consumers create and enjoy beverages, and JAB Holding Company today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which a JAB-led investor group will acquire Keurig Green Mountain for $92 per share in cash, or a total equity value of approximately $13.9 billion. The agreement, which has been unanimously approved by Keurig Green Mountain's Board of Directors, represents a premium of approximately 77.9 percent over Keurig Green Mountain's closing stock price on December 4, 2015. Keurig Green Mountain will remain headquartered in Waterbury. Governor Peter Shumlin said that Keurig has told him that there are no plans for a reduction in workforce as a result of the acquisition. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016.