Current News

by Elizabeth Hewitt vtdigger.org Social workers with the Department for Children and Families will soon have a new office in Barre. Secretary of the Administration Justin Johnson announced Friday that some 30 employees of the family services division will move to office space on the fourth floor of the courthouse — two buildings up Barre’s main street from their current location. The move comes three months after social worker Lara Sobel was shot and killed while leaving her DCF office in City Place in Barre. Sobel’s accused killer, Jody Herring, has pleaded not guilty to charges related to Sobel’s killing and the deaths of three of Herring’s relatives.

Vermont Business Magazine “Farm in nature’s image” was the takeaway message shared by Ray Archuleta, Conservation Agronomist at the USDA Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) and keynote speaker at the fifth annual Farm to Plate Annual Gathering. Held annually at the end of October, the Gathering is the one time each year when the entire Farm to Plate Network comes together to reflect on what has been accomplished and plan for the challenges that lie ahead implementing Vermont’s food system plan.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office and the Bristol Police Department are warning Vermont businesses about an out of state company operating a scam that solicits local businesses to donate money to support their area school. The scam company hires a salesperson to ask local businesses to pay for an advertisement that will be placed on an educational folder, typically on a subject like drug prevention, that it says will be provided to students free of charge. This is a scheme that allows the out of state company to collect money from local businesses far in excess of the cost of the “folders” that it may actually deliver to the school. Businesses are advised not to contribute to this type of promotional scheme.

Vermont Business Magazine President Obama rejected the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline today. The extension of the existing Keystone Pipeline was intended to bring Canadian tar sands oil from Alberta to gasoline refineries in Texas. See statements from President Obama, Senator Leahy and Governor Shumlin below. Opposition has come from those who say the building of the pipeline itself would do environmental harm, while others say that tar sands oil is an especially dirty form of oil and its excavation also creates unnecessary carbon emissions. Proponents have urged its construction saying that it will lower energy costs and reduce the need for petroleum products from outside North America.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General William H Sorrell, the Department of Public Service, and two utilities filed a Petition Wednesday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), asking the NRC to undertake a comprehensive review of Entergy’s planned uses of the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund. Under NRC regulations, the Vermont Yankee trust fund can be used only for decommissioning expenses. “This trust fund is for cleaning up the Vermont Yankee site,” said Attorney General Sorrell. “We think the NRC needs to hold Entergy to that promise. The NRC should look at withdrawals from the fund holistically and with public participation in the decision-making process. This trust fund must be protected to ensure the site is cleaned up.”

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org The general contractor in charge of building a resort hotel in the Northeast Kingdom said he’s caught in the crossfire between the project’s developers and state regulators, resulting in payment delays that might force him to abandon the $120 million project. Jerry Davis, president of PeakCM, the construction firm managing the 180,000-square-foot development at Q Burke Resort, blames the state. “I’m at my breaking point,” Davis says. “I’m thinking of stopping the job. It’s delayed the hotel because when subs don’t get paid they slow down."

“Ninety percent of the issue is caused by the state’s inability to manage the (payment) approvals,” Davis says. “We don’t want to shut it down. All we want to do is finish the project under budget and on schedule.”

Vermont Business Magazine Increased reliance on natural gas combined with infrastructure constraints could once again lead to price spikes in regional electricity costs this winter. Meanwhile, growing solar capacity, in particular, will help offset increases in summer peak load. ISO New England Inc, the operator of the New England power system and wholesale electricity markets, today issued its 2015 Regional System Plan (RSP15), the annual report that provides the foundation for long-term power-system planning in New England. RSP15 was approved by the ISO New England board of directors today.

The comprehensive report details power system needs for the next 10 years, through 2024, and how these needs can be addressed. RSP15 discusses:

Vermont Business Magazine Merchants Bancshares, Inc (NASDAQ: MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank, and NUVO Bank & Trust Company, Springfield, MA, today announced that they have received approval from the Massachusetts Division of Banks for the planned merger of NUVO with and into Merchants Bank, and that they now have received all required regulatory and shareholder approvals necessary to complete the merger. The transaction is expected to close on or about December 4, 2015.

"We are pleased to have received the approval of state and federal regulators and NUVO's shareholders and look forward to expanding our franchise into the Springfield market," said Michael R Tuttle, President and CEO of Merchants.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, has reported quarterly earnings for the third quarter of 2015. Net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2015, was $1,032,884 or $1.01 per share compared to $1,069,538 or $1.05 per share for the same period in 2014, a decrease of $36,654 or 3%. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2015 was $3,174,165 or $3.11 per share compared to $2,995,493 or $2.95 per share for the same period in 2014, an increase of $178,671 or 6%. The strength of our core businesses continues to drive improvement in our operating results and returns to our shareholders.

Vermont Business Magazine A small Texas private equity firm has announced that it is dropping its proxy challenge involving Casella Waste Systems, Inc (Nasdaq:CWST). Casella, a Rutland-based regional solid waste, recycling, and resource management services company, has issued the following statement in response to JCP Investment Management’s press release issued Wednesday, before Casella’s 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders Friday. JCP has decided to withdraw its notice of nomination and concede the proxy contest that it had been pursuing against Casella to seek the election of two nominees to Casella’s Board. Chairman John Casella is one of the directors up for re-election.

Casella statement:

Vermont Business Magazine The arrival of crisp, colder weather means many things to Vermonters – like the start of ski season and the coming holidays. But to many Vermonters, it means worrying about how to keep their families warm over the long winter months. Green Mountain Power is helping with a $130,000 donation to WARMTH, a program that helps Vermonters with heating emergencies. GMP encourages others to get involved and support this critical program. Last winter the WARMTH program helped families with heating emergencies more than 5,000 times. Funds are paid directly to the fuel or energy supplier, and each household receives no more than $225 in assistance per year.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and Governor Peter Shumlin have announced a federal grant to help Vermont businesses reliant on defense contracts diversify into new markets as defense spending declines. The $386,325 Department of Defense (DOD) grant was awarded to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development to work directly with Vermont businesses looking to adjust their business plans. The announcement was made Monday at Revision, based in Essex, which makes military eyewear.

Peter Welch inside the Revision plant in Essex. Courtesy photo.