Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) announced today that it will close the James A FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Scriba, NY, near Oswego, in late 2016 or early 2017. As first reported by Vermont Business Magazine October 13, Entergy was expected to close the FitzPatrick plant for the same reasons it closed Vermont Yankee in December 2014 and will close the Pilgrim plant in Massachusetts: The plants lose money. The key drivers cited by the company include significantly reduced plant revenues due to low natural gas prices, a poor market design that fails to properly compensate nuclear generators like FitzPatrick for their benefits, as well as high operational costs.

FitzPatrick nuclear power plant on Lake Ontario.

Vermont Business Magazine Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) reported today a third quarter 2015 as-reported loss of $4.04 per share, including $5.93 per share of non-cash asset impairments for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station and James A FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant. Entergy previously announced plans to close Pilgrim and today announced the closing of FitzPatrick. On an operational basis, earnings were $1.90 per share in third quarter 2015. These results compare to third quarter 2014 as-reported earnings of $1.27 per share and operational earnings of $1.68 per share. Entergy closed its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in December 2014.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin is in Montreal pitching Vermont as an ideal for place for Canadian companies to do business in the US, meeting today with leaders of the Quebec government and business community to discuss increased opportunities for investment, trade, and job growth on both sides of the border. The Governor and Quebec Premier Phillipe Couillard were also on hand to witness the signing of a new partnership agreement between the Federation of Chambers of Commerce of Quebec (FCCQ) and the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Vermont Quebec Enterprise Initiative (VQEI).

Tom Torti, President of the LCRCC, signs the agreement as Governor Shumlin looks on. Courtesy photo.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will assist a projected 77 Vermont and New Hampshire households perform necessary repairs and upgrades on their homes through its Housing Preservation Grant program. The USDA announced that it awarded $450,000 in grants to seven organizations which will use the funds to support low-income households undertake projects to increase the safety and quality of their homes.

by Rebecca Holcombe and Scott Giles Fifty years ago, on November 8, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Higher Education Act of 1965 into law. This historic act marked our first commitment to universal access to higher education, and represented one of the great achievements of the Civil Rights movement. Reflecting on the momentous occasion, President Johnson proclaimed, “This legislation passed by this Congress will swing open a new door for the young people of America. For them, and for this entire land of ours, it is the most important door that will ever open - the door to education. And this legislation is the key which unlocks it. To thousands of young men and women, this act means the path of knowledge is open to all that have the determination to walk it.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Cancer Center Community Crusaders, a grassroots community organization that works to fund local cancer research and the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center’s Patient Resource Fund, raised more than $44K in their last fiscal year. The Patient Resource Fund decreases the financial burden of cancer by helping patients with non-clinical expenses. Funds have been used, for example, to pay for gas that allows patients to travel to and from their treatments as well as to support patients who needed costly dental work done before their treatment could begin.

by Mike Faher vtdigger.org Less than seven months after Vermont Yankee ceased producing power, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s resident inspector office at the plant went dark. But even after pulling inspectors from the Vernon nuclear facility, the NRC pledged that “periodic and targeted” monitoring would continue. Proof of that is in the NRC’s newest inspection report, a product of visiting decommissioning specialists poring over details, including operations of Vermont Yankee’s spent fuel pool; plans for a massive water-storage facility; and the proposed design of the plant’s second spent fuel pad.

From an operational standpoint, the NRC’s overall conclusion for Vermont Yankee was simple: “No findings of safety significance were identified.”

Vermont Business Magazine In recognition of the exceptional leaders who have built and sustained the Vermont State Colleges (VSC) since 1961, the Board of Trustees will confer its first Award for Extraordinary Contribution as part of the new Vermont State Colleges Hall of Fame. This awardee will be inducted to the Hall of Fame along with five accomplished alumni from each of the member colleges. The Vermont State Colleges Hall of Fame will highlight the accomplishments of the VSC’s many talented alumni and shine a spotlight on the positive impact the VSC has on the economic, intellectual, and civic wellbeing of Vermont. The winner of the Award for Extraordinary Contribution and the five alumni inductees will be recognized at the Vermont State Colleges Hall of Fame celebration on March 9, 2016 at the Capitol Plaza in Montpelier. Proceeds from the event will fund scholarships for Vermont students.

Vermont Business Magazine This is the most spotless dairy barn you've ever seen. Of course, it hasn't opened yet and won't be open until November 9, but even after that it should be as tidy as any place where cows milk might ever be. After nine months of construction, the University of Vermont officially dedicated new dairy science teaching and research facilities at the Paul R Miller Agricultural Research Farm with a ribbon cutting ceremony and speeches on Thursday afternoon. The $4.1 million complex consists of a 13,176 square-foot teaching barn and milking parlor and an 8,764 square-foot dairy research barn. The new structures have been designed and built with an emphasis on energy-efficient ventilation, animal welfare and sophisticated dairy management information systems for use by faculty researchers and students.

Vermont Business Magazine The people of Vermont will now forever have access to one of the state’s most popular and well-loved recreation areas in Central Vermont—the Molly’s Falls Pond property, known by many as the “Marshfield Reservoir”. The Vermont Land Trust today announced the sale of 1,029 acres to the Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation. Now called Molly’s Falls Pond State Park, the property boasts a 402-acre reservoir, roughly 35,000 feet of undeveloped shoreline, and over 600 acres of forestland. It is a popular spot for boaters and anglers and has a fishing access area and wheelchair-accessible fishing platforms managed by the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Vermont Business Magazine The ground floor at 101 Main Street in the Armory Building in downtown Burlington, VT may still be under construction, but Vermont Comedy Club has announced upcoming their winter season. The venue, which will feature standup and improv comedy shows and classes, will open on November 18 with the annual Vermont’s Funniest Comedian contest, a battle of 60 local standup comedians. December classes are registering, headliners have been announced and tickets are now on sale for shows through January. (The space is also available for meetings and private events.)

by Vijay Desai Businesses typically ask consultants to help them improve what they do and how they do it. When the consultant in turn asks them how they do business today, a wide variety of answers are possible. Most often, businesses can’t describe or show documentation, because it's all in their head, or incomplete, or out of date. The consultant’s value is in helping them to understand, define / refine, document and maintain their processes, enabling them to execute, monitor and control their business to improve overall performance, reduce costs, increase revenue, or improve overall efficiency and effectiveness.