Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Idaho is the best state for drivers, according to new research from Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE). Vermont is ranked second. The worst state for drivers is Louisiana. Bankrate.com ranked all 50 states according to several factors such as fatal crashes, car thefts, average commute times, gasoline spending, repair costs and insurance premiums. Idaho topped the list due to its low gas and insurance expenses, below-average thefts and short commute times. Vermont was particularly low in insurance premiums and car thefts. Wyoming, Wisconsin and Minnesota rounded out the five best states for drivers.

Louisiana placed last on the list in large part because of the nation's highest car insurance costs and an above-average fatal crash rate. California, Texas, Maryland and New Jersey comprise the rest of the bottom five.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC) has received a grant from the Working Lands Enterprise Board that will be used to help significantly underwrite the costs for hosting and local companies to attend a special “Innovation Engineering Experience” event. The Innovation Engineering Experience is a concentrated learning experience in how to create a culture of never-ending innovation, with increased speed to market and decreased risk. Because of the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative grant, up to 150 participants from 25 or more working lands agricultural, food production, forest products and wood products businesses will be able to participate in this high energy, fast-paced, learn-and-apply experience at a reduced cost.

Vermont Business Magazine Officials from the US Department of Labor and the Vermont Department of Labor have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding intended to protect employees’ rights by preventing their misclassification as independent contractors or other non-employee statuses. Under the agreement, both agencies may share information and coordinate law enforcement. Vermont Auditor Doug Hoffer issued a report earlier this week indicating that Vermont agencies, including the Vermont DOL, was not doing enough to properly classify workers as employees rather than as contractors.

Vermont Business Magazine The IRS has ruled that an owner of solar panels in a community-shared array is eligible for the 30 percent federal residential income tax credit known as the "residential ITC." The IRS ruling applies only to a specific solar panel owner in Vermont, but it is a positive development for community-shared solar participants and project developers. Community-shared solar allows electric customers to buy an interest in an offsite solar array and to receive credit on their electricity bills for their ownership interest. While the IRS’s ruling is only legally applicable to the individual taxpayer in question — a solar panel owner in Boardman Hill Solar Farm, a member-managed 150 kW off-site solar array in Vermont — the ruling may open up project opportunities for direct ownership of community-shared solar systems by multiple individuals.

Vermont Business Magazine Ben & Jerry’s has joined other Vermont businesses and consumer groups in defending Vermont’s new labeling requirements for genetically engineered (GE or GMO) foods – one of the first such labeling laws in the country – against a federal court challenge brought by the food industry. The groups submitted a brief yesterday supporting the disclosure of GE ingredients so people have more information about the health, safety and environmental impacts of the foods they consume. “We’re joining this fight because we believe strongly that consumers have a right to know what’s in the food they eat.”

by Mike Faher The Commons It’s safe to say there’s no love lost between the state of Vermont and Entergy, owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. But when the time came to weigh in on Entergy’s attempts to build a second spent fuel storage facility at the Vernon property, it wasn’t the state raising the most ruckus — it was the local planning commission. The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) last week aired detailed concerns about how the company chose the proposed site for long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel. Planners also say the site location could affect the cost and schedule for the decommissioning of the nuclear power plant.

Vermont Business Magazine Americans hitting the road this weekend stand to see the cheapest Labor Day prices at the pump in over a decade, leading to huge savings - $1.4 billion - over the four-day weekend. Vermont gasoline prices are 4 cents lower than the national average and more than a dollar lower than they were a year ago ($2.399 vs $3.563). The lowest prices in Vermont are found in the Rutland area, down to $2.21. “August gasoline prices plummeted by 18 cents per gallon, the greatest decrease since 2008, and as a result we have a national average that’s 99 cents lower than a year ago ($2.44 vs $3.43). I’m sure motorists will have plenty of company on the nation’s thoroughfares this weekend,” said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) Thursday announced two federal grants totaling more than $8.3 million to make critical improvements to Newport State Airport as it expands to accommodate a continued increase of economic growth in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Leahy, Sanders and Welch said: “These grants are an investment in the economic growth of the Northeast Kingdom. By making these improvements to the Newport State Airport, we are facilitating the growing tourism industry, bringing new business and encouraging job growth in the region that is filled with promise.”

Vermont Business Magazine As headlines across the country declare that “small colleges are in trouble” and highlight dire predictions for small, private higher education institutions, Sterling College in Craftsbury Common is once again setting records for enrollment and fundraising. Enrollment for the environmental stewardship college will be 128 students when the fall semester starts, the college’s largest student body in its history, and up nearly 25 percent from three years ago. “We believe, and have for more than a half century, that small institutions hold an important place in the landscape of higher education—particularly colleges that have a critical mission for the 21st century,” said President Matthew Derr.

Vermont Business Magazine It can't be all about how much the sun shines. New York is worst and Vermont 37th, right between California and Texas. In a continued effort to help consumers better understand aging skin, RoC Skincare, an anti-aging pioneer, has partnered with independent research firm, Sperling's Best Places, to release the second annual Wrinkle Ranking. The 2015 RoC Wrinkle Ranking determines the U.S. states where the residents' skin are most at risk from damage caused by lifestyle, occupational and environment factors.

Vermont Business Magazine Comfort Colors in Northfield will be closing by the end of October, according to a story on WCAX.com. Comfort Colors (previously known as Barry T Chouinard) was bought by Montreal-based Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL; TSX and NYSE) for $100 million last February. At the time, it stated that no changes were planned. But WCAX reported that all 60 emplloyees at the plant would lose their jobs as Gildan is consolidating the upscale t-shirt and sweat shirt company's operations at other plants. Gildan has several brands beyond its own, including Gold Toe socks.

Vermont Business Magazine Johnson State College has hired two new full-time faculty members: social psychologist Leslie Johnson and longtime actor, artist and writer Isaac Littlejohn Eddy. Johnson is teaching undergraduate psychology courses in the Behavioral Sciences Department. Eddy is teaching acting classes as a visiting assistant professor in JSC’s Department of Fine & Performing Arts.

Johnson most recently served as an assistant professor of psychology at Finlandia University in Michigan. She holds both a Ph.D. and an M.A. in general/experimental psychology from the University of Vermont.