Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Former Vermont First Lady, State Senator, and Lieutenant Governor Barbara W Snelling died today, surrounded by her family at home in South Burlington. She was the wife of the late Governor Richard A Snelling. Dick Snelling served two separate terms as governor, from 1977 to 1985 and from January 1991 to his death that August at age 64. Barbara Snelling was elected the state's 76th lieutenant governor in 1992 and presided over the state Senate from 1993 to 1997 during the Dean Administration. See obituary below.

Barbara Snelling in 2006. VBM file photo.

Vermont Business Magazine A construction contractor, a mason, and a hauler have been awarded loans from Community Capital of Vermont (CCVT) to help grow their operations. Red Rooster Construction of South Strafford, Stonewall Hardscapes of Wolcott, and JSK Transport of Sutton received a total of $179,000 to purchase equipment and for working capital.

“With our small business loans, these rural entrepreneurs will grow their business and create jobs. Our loans are helping to propel Vermont’s trades and service economy,” said Martin Hahn, executive director of Community Capital of Vermont.

Shawn Kincaid, owner of JSK Transport, used his loan to buy his own tractor-trailer and cover start-up costs. Now an owner-operator, he can work as a leased operator with established trucking companies to haul freight. “As an owner operator, I have greater flexibility, independence, and the opportunity to map out my own expansion,” said Kincaid.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University continues its Todd Lecture Series with “An Evening with Madeleine Albright,’’ a presentation by the former United States Secretary of State on Tuesday, November 3, 2015, at 7 pm in Plumley Armory. This lecture is free and open to the public. Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State. President Bill Clinton named her to the post in 1997, making her at the time both the first female Secretary of State and the highest ranking woman ever to serve in U.S. government. As Secretary of State, Albright reinforced America’s alliances, advocated democracy and human rights and promoted American trade and business, labor and environmental standards abroad.

Vermont Business Magazine State and local leaders today announced a major financial boost to improve housing stock in Rutland County. Vermont State Treasurer Beth Pearce was joined by Rutland Mayor Chris Louras and Ludy Biddle of NeighborWorks of Western Vermont in announcing the availability of $1.75 million in lending capital for home rehabilitation loans and home purchasing assistance financing. The funding of local investments is part of an ongoing process managed through the State Treasurer’s Office. The local investments initiative aims to invest a significant portion of Vermont’s short-term operating funds in Vermont communities, while earning a competitive rate of return. The initiative redirects funds that were invested primarily in out-of-state government agency securities and money market accounts at large financial institutions to local investments.

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.