Current News

by Adam Grinold, Executive Director, Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation On October 6, Southern Vermont will host the Vermont Council on Rural Development’s Regional Public Forum on Advancing Vermont’s Climate Change Economy. It takes place at the Latchis Theater from 7-9pm. I encourage everyone to participate in this timely discussion which will directly impact the recommendations that will be presented to the Governor and Legislature in February.

The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) is leading the Vermont Climate Change Economy Initiative with the premise that confronting climate change through innovative economic development can be a competitive strategy, one that will build national reputation, create jobs and attract youth and entrepreneurism.

by Mike Faher/The Commons, Brattleboro In a town hit hard by the shutdown of Vermont Yankee, officials say a natural-gas plant — with development costs estimated at $750 million — may be in the works. The optimism in Vernon is carefully qualified, however. For one thing, the plant is far from a sure bet, and it’s not yet been disclosed which sites are under consideration. Also, there have been a few recent hints of opposition from the general public, though the town government has been generally supportive of the concept so far.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today joined with the Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) to highlight survey results focused on the perception of Vermont’s economy and job market by recent graduates and incoming seniors at St Michael’s College in Colchester. One concerning finding from the survey is that almost 40 percent of students who left or plan to leave Vermont following graduation cited a “reported lack of job availability,” contradicting the fact that Vermont has thousands of job openings and the nation’s fourth lowest unemployment rate.

Vermont Business Magazine State Agency officials, representatives from the Vermont Foodbank, and local grocers joined together Tuesday at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf to recognize the contribution of food rescue to hunger relief. Since July 2015, when requirements for food diversion took effect for medium-sized institutions under Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law, the Vermont Foodbank has seen a 24% increase in food donations from retailers over last year. Food shelves are fuller, and less waste is going to the landfill.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Environmental Conservation approved a new plan to improve water quality in Lake Champlain. The Northern Lake Champlain Direct Drainages Tactical Basin Plan Plan compiles over two years of work focused on the health of the basin and development of targeted actions to remediate and protect surface waters. High levels of sediment and pollutants, invasive aquatic species and potentially toxic algal blooms threaten many lakes, rivers, and streams in the Lake Champlain Basin. The new tactical basin plan, one of many water quality improvement plans throughout the state, addresses the smaller watersheds that drain directly to the northern half of Lake Champlain, but excludes the larger northern watersheds such as the Missisquoi, Lamoille, and Winooski Rivers.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has approved a new plan to improve water quality and acquatic habitat in the Stevens, Wells, Waits, and Ompompanoosuc river watersheds, as well as those of several direct tributaries to the middle Connecticut River. The Tactical Water Management Plan was presents the recommendations of ANR in collaboration with other State and Federal resource agencies, watershed partner organizations, regional planning commissions, municipalities, and individual citizens.

by Mike Faher/The Commons, Brattleboro Not surprisingly, most scrutiny of the Vermont Yankee site in Vernon revolves around radiological concerns. But, as indicated by a recent, months-long process of violation notices and responses, state officials also are deeply interested in what plant owner Entergy is doing with its non-radiological waste — so much so that the state has threatened a civil complaint and associated, unspecified penalties in connection with an inspection earlier this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Within weeks after Attorney General William H. Sorrell and the Department of Public Service won a victory in a ruling by a three-judge Licensing Board of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on a request by Entergy to amend its license, Entergy seeks to abandon its request for a license amendment altogether. If the license amendment had been granted, Entergy would have stopped providing notification of withdrawals from the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund. Entergy’s motion to withdraw, if approved, means that it must continue to provide notice to the State and others 30 days before it withdraws any money from the fund.

Vermont Business Magazine Castleton University's Castleton Polling Institute released its "Vermont Issues Poll" today. As is generally the case, jobs and the economy are seen as the most important problem facing the state of Vermont. The recent Castleton Poll found one-third of all respondents citing the economy as the most important issue facing the state. This is the issue most on Vermonter’s minds. The Poll also asked questions about a possible Ethics Commission, legalizing marijuana, and school district consolidation.

Figure 1 illustrates the range of responses to this open-ended question.

Figure 1. Vermonters views on the most important issue facing their state

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Volkswagen car owners headed by Charlotte resident Robert Turnau have sued Volkswagen companies in Germany and the United States over damages they suffered as a result of the company’s falsification of emissions testing equipment. The suit was filed today in Chittenden Superior Court by former federal prosecutor Tristram J Coffin of the firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC (See Complaint below).

Vermont Business Magazine Manor Resources, LLC (also known as “Turbo Title Loans”), an Illinois company that provides high-interest loans over the internet by requiring borrowers to assign their vehicle titles, will pay over $16,000 to five Vermont consumers and pay the State of Vermont $12,000 to settle claims that the company violated Vermont consumer protection and lending laws. “Vehicle title loans are a particularly harmful form of predatory lending,” said Attorney General William H. Sorrell. “These loans threaten an essential asset of consumers—their vehicles. We will continue to protect Vermonters from unlicensed lenders doing business over the internet.” More information on the Attorney General’s crackdown on illegal lending can be found here.

Vermont Business Magazine Merchants Bank announced today the anticipated consolidation of their Malletts Bay branch in Colchester, Vermont, as of January 15, 2016. Customers will continue to have access to their accounts across the bank’s branch network, including three nearby branches (North Avenue and College Street in Burlington as well as a branch in Winooski) in addition to an ATM located within Costco, in Colchester. The consolidation follows an evaluation of their retail branch infrastructure in the face of consumers’ ongoing migration to online and mobile banking technology. With 32 branches and 38 ATMs state-wide, Merchants Bank continues to maintain one of the largest branch networks in Vermont.