Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Should Vermont reduce its reliance on incarceration as a response to criminal conduct? Attorney General Bill Sorrell invites the public to join him and others at one of three forums across Vermont to offer their thoughts and ideas. “Vermont leaders and legislators have taken many steps during the past two decades, both through policy and legislation, to ease prison overcrowding and minimize the need to send Vermont prisoners out of state,” said Sorrell. “In particular, I would like to hear whether Vermonters are ready to ask the Legislature to commit to a statewide policy regarding sentencing and release decisions that reduces reliance on incarceration or lengthy incarceration in response to criminal conduct.”

As the attached Fact Shhet shows, the costs of incarceration – both human and financial – continue to be high.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont's weekly unemployment claims, which have been steadily increasing since the end of the summer, jumped to over 1,200 for the week, but remain below figures from the same time last year. For the week of November 28, there were 1,257 claims, an increase of 462 from the previous week's total and 171 fewer than they were a year ago. Generally, claims in 2015 have been running below last year's totals. Total claims were down in all regions of the state year-to-year. By industry, claims increased slightly for Manufacturing, and fell for Construction. As has been the trend, Services led all categories with 54 percent of all claims, which was up significantly for the week.

Vermont Business Magazine The Middle Grades Collaborative have partnered with Protean, a Vermont based education software company, in the development of a personalized learning platform free of charge for Vermont students, teachers and schools. Protean offers students a way to set personalized learning goals, manage learning within and outside of school, reflect on that learning, and convey it to teachers, families, and mentors in accessible ways.

Protean was co-developed with leadership and expertise from the Middle Grades Collaborative to respond to the changing needs of Vermont’s students and educators. The platform will be beta tested in Vermont schools this winter by teachers, students, administrators and leaders active in the use of personalized learning pathways.

Vermont Business Magazine In response to the urgent and growing demand for child protection services largely driven by the opiate addiction crisis affecting Vermont and other states, Governor Peter Shumlin today outlined a comprehensive proposal to enhance Vermont’s child welfare system. The package will add a total of 35 staff at the Department for Children and Families (DCF) and one additional Superior Court Judge, as well as provide increased resources for the Defender General and State’s Attorneys Offices to support the increased child abuse and neglect caseload.

Vermont Business Magazine Lake Sunapee Bank Group (NASDAQ: LSBG), the holding company for Lake Sunapee Bank, fsb, today announced that it has redeemed the remaining $8.0 million of its outstanding preferred securities issued under the US Treasury's Small Business Lending Fund program. The redemption was funded with retained earnings. Following the redemption, the Company has no preferred securities outstanding under the SBLF program.

Vermont Business Magazine After adding Hunter Mountain to its portfolio on Monday, Peak Resorts acted swiftly to ensure season passholders at the Catskills resort felt welcome to the family. The company announced Tuesday that all Hunter Mountain season passes would be valid at its flagship resort, Mount Snow in southern Vermont, every day but Saturdays through Sunday, Dec. 18, 2015.

“The proximity of these two resorts and the overlapping markets provide a huge opportunity for us to offer some wonderful benefits to the season passholders of both Hunter and Mount Snow,” said Jesse Boyd, vice president of operations for Peak Resorts.

Mount Snow season passholders will also be able to visit Hunter Mountain during the same time period.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermonters donate millions of dollars to charitable causes each year, aiding members of their local community and supporting causes with nation-wide impact. But paid fundraisers keep most of it. According to data on over 1,100 campaigns run in Vermont, Vermonters gave close to $8 million to charitable causes through paid fundraisers. Of this total, however, 70 percent, or more than $5.4 million, stayed with the paid fundraisers. The charities, meanwhile, received less than a third of the total donations.

Vermont State Police St. Johnsbury - At approximately 7:32 pm Wednesday, December 2, Northeast Kingdom Human Services located at 2225 Portland Street received a threat of gun violence against the facility through its answering service. Vermont State Police were alerted and responded from the Derby and St. Johnsbury barracks, with assistance from the St. Johnsbury Police Department. At that time, all staff and patients were escorted from the building and a search of the facility was conducted. No suspicious individuals or items were discovered in or around the building. Following the search, all staff and patients were allowed back in the facility. Investigators have determined the call originated from outside the country.

Vermont Business Magazine MyWebGrocer, a leading provider of digital marketing and e-commerce solutions to the grocery and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industries, has named Eric Healy its new president. Healy brings nearly two decades of experience working on leading consumer brands at worldwide advertising, marketing and technology organizations. Healy joins MyWebGrocer from Publicis Groupe-owned Rosetta, where he served as chief executive officer and was charged with accelerating Rosetta’s position as a leading customer engagement agency that provides a wide range of personalized content, global e-commerce and marketing platform solutions to Fortune 1000 clients.

Vermont Business Magazine The First National Bank of Orwell, a community bank serving Orwell and Shoreham, Vermont and surrounding communities since 1863, today announced the appointment of Bryan S Young, age 38, as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2016. He succeeds his father, Mark S Young, age 62, who has served as the chief executive since 1979. Mark will continue as President, Loan Officer, and member of the Board of Directors. Bryan’s role in management extends the tradition of family leadership of The First National Bank of Orwell to the fifth generation, following in the footsteps of his great-great grandfather, Davis L Wells, his great-grandmother, Mabel Wells Young, his grandfather, Robert D Young, and his father, Mark.

by Mike Faher/The Commons In 2012, the Vermont Public Service Department argued that meteorological-testing (MET) towers should not be installed in the town of Widham because they were “wholly contrary” to town regulations. Three years later, those testing towers are in place, and a developer is making controversial plans for Vermont’s biggest wind-turbine facility on the site. And when those plans are submitted for state review, it appears the department — now under the leadership of Commissioner Chris Recchia — won’t be deferring so wholeheartedly to Windham’s prohibition against big turbines.

In a recent interview, Recchia said Iberdrola Renewables’ proposal will be reviewed with the big picture in mind — a picture that includes the state’s vision of a “successful, stable, renewable-energy future.”

by Mike Faher/The Commons In some ways, it’s easy to measure the losses caused by Vermont Yankee’s December 2014 shutdown: There are hundreds of fewer jobs in Windham County, and the nuclear plant’s tax payments already have dwindled, with more reductions to come. But nonprofit organizations around Windham County are making new calculations as administrators try to figure out how to replace the firm’s charitable giving and its employees’ reliable volunteerism. Nearly all of the company’s annual donations have ended, and far fewer plant staffers remain to give their time in the community. The impacts are many and varied.

Youth Services is missing the corporate financial help with its Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

Harris Hill Ski Jump organizers are coping with the absence of a longtime sponsor.

Rescue Inc. has lost an important contributor to its ever-more-costly ambulance purchases.