Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Fill up your bellies with a burger, fill your mind with information, and fill up your car with clean electricity! It’s all possible at Zoey’s Double Hex Restaurant in Manchester Center and the Northshire Bookstore, thanks to a partnership between Green Mountain Power and the two Manchester businesses. GMP’s commitment to a comprehensive statewide EV charging network will help increase Vermont’s energy independence and contribute to cleaner air and lower carbon emissions. GMP has installed charging stations in 22 locations, eight of which have a DC Fast Charger.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources has launched its new Web site, anr.vermont.gov. Aimed to better serve the public, the new site features intuitive links to existing programs within each of the Agency’s three departments in addition to expanded content on available maps, planning tools, permitting requirements, grants, loans, and internship opportunities. Working in close communication with the Departments of Environmental Conservation, Fish & Wildlife, and Forests, Parks and Recreation, and the Offices of Planning and General Counsel, the ANR web team has created a central hub where visitors can expect complete and current information about state-funded environmental initiatives.

Wall Street pleased with results, shares up 25 percent

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR), the Waterbury, Vermont-based personal beverage system company known for its single-serve coffee brewers, on Wednesday announced that both its quarterly and year-end results were down from the same period last year, as net income was off by double digits for both reporting segments. While single-serve pod sales were up slightly up, brewers, which have been struggling to maintain sales for a year, were down 23 percent for the year. However, national analysts were generally happy with the results, which exceeded Wall Street expectations (pushing shares up 25 percent by noon Thursday to $56.60), and which included a hike in the firm's dividend.

Vermont Business Magazine As budget negotiations in Washington, DC, intensify, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin and four other New England governors have united across party lines to support a critical federal housing program. The HOME Investment Partnerships Program funds the development of affordable homes and is threatened to be nearly eliminated under congressional budget proposals. Governors Baker (R-MA), Hassan (D-NH), Malloy (C-CT), and Raimondo (D-RI) have joined Shumlin in sending a letter to the New England delegation in the US Senate supporting restored funding for the HOME Program.

Vermont home sales have been steadily rising over the last several months, but prices have actually gone down. In October, prices rebounded somewhat and were up over the same time last year. Meanwhile across the region, the residential market in New England year-over-year sales increased by 3.8 percent, according to The RE/MAX INTEGRA, New England October Monthly Housing Report. Pending sales were up 12.3 percent over October 2014 (Vermont 11.7 percent) while average days on market decreased by nearly 11 percent (Vermont nearly 14 percent). Vermont still had the highest DOM at 153. On a year-to-year basis, Vermont median homes sale prices were up $6,500 to $196,500 (3.4 percent).

Vermont Business Magazine Lyndon State College President Joe Bertolino has been appointed to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Board of Directors for a three-year term. The appointment took place at the association’s annual meeting on October 27, 2015. The AASCU is a Washington, D.C.-based higher education association of more than 400 public colleges, universities, and systems whose members share a learning- and teaching-centered culture, a historic commitment to underserved student populations, and a dedication to research and creativity that advances their regions’ economic progress and cultural development.

Vermont Business Magazine Waterbury, Vermont-based Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR), a personal beverage system company that has revolutionized the way consumers create and enjoy beverages, expands its Keurig KOLD beverage lineup with two new cocktail mixer brands, just in time for holiday family and friend gatherings and drop-in visitors - Rita's & Tina's and Union St Lounge - both available in KOLD pods beginning today on Keurig.com. These two new brands deliver a whole new level of in-home entertaining flexibility with premium margarita and mojito beverage mixers, all fresh-made cold, on demand and ready to enjoy with the addition of your choice of spirits.

Vermont Business Magazine A program long championed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) will invest $125,000 in bolstering efforts to bring local agriculture into the classrooms and cafeterias of schools across Vermont. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the Farm to School grants Tuesday to connect child nutrition programs with local farmers.

Leahy said: “Tying local agriculture to our schools not only provides our children with healthy meals and improved nutrition, it encourages a long standing connection to the farms that are so iconic of our Green Mountain State. Every student deserves equal access to healthy meals, and I am proud that our school nutrition leaders will use these funds to help all children gain a better understand about where their food comes from. Today’s announcement is another example of how Vermont continues to lead the nation in implementing this winning strategy.”

Vermont Business Magazine Gifford Medical Center’s Auxiliary announced a million dollar gift to the Randolph hospital’s "Vision for the Future" campaign at the organizations quarterly membership luncheon on November 15, 2015. Funds for the generous gift were raised through sales at the popular volunteer-staffed Thrift Shop in Randolph. The Vison for the Future campaign is raising funds to support a multi-phased project that built the new Menig Nursing Home in Randolph Center (which opened last spring), 25 private inpatient rooms (which will open mid-December), and an updated and more centrally located Birthing Center in the hospital (planned to open next spring). The campaign needs just $800,000 to close the $5 million campaign, and hopes the Auxiliary’s gift—created through hard work and small-dollar sales—will inspire others to invest in the hospital’s future.

Vermont Business Magazine Speaker of the House Shap Smith announced today that he is withdrawing from the race for governor of Vermont because his wife has been diagnosed with breast cancer. On his campaign Web site and at a press conference this afternoon in Montpelier, Smith said he and his wife, Dr Melissa Volansky, are optimistic of a full recovery. Smith, partner in the Burlington law firm Dinse Knapp McAndrew and a resident of Morrisville, was a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination. Smith will have served eight years as Speaker. Ralph Wright was the longest serving Speaker at 10 years.

Shap Smith and Melissa Volansky from campaign Web site.

Shap Smith's statement:

Vermont Business Magazine Two weeks into the third annual open enrollment period for Vermont Health Connect, Governor Peter Shumlin and top health care officials today provided an update and pointed to the long road the state has traveled to improve the health care marketplace since its launch in 2013. So far this open enrollment period, more than 18,000 individuals are completely through the renewal process, having had their 2016 plans confirmed with Vermont Health Connect’s payment processor and insurance carrier partners. It is expected that all customers will be processed into their 2016 plans by the end of November in time for their January invoice, which mails in early December. There are approximately 30,000 individuals currently enrolled in qualified health plans through Vermont Health Connect.

Vermont Business Magazine November 19, 2015 marks the date of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, when cigarette smokers are asked to refrain from smoking for one day in hopes that the effort will lead to quitting forever. Most people know a smoker they would like to see stop, but wonder if making that request is appropriate. Research from the University of Vermont (UVM) says “yes” – smokers who are exposed to cues to stop are twice as likely to try to quit.