Current News

Vermont Business Magazine EPA is awarding a total of $2 million in Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup Grant dollars to municipalities and organizations across the state of Vermont. Additionally, three communities have been selected by the State of Vermont for inclusion in the Brownfield Economic Revitalization Alliance (BERA) program.

The EPA Brownfields grants, funded by EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, and Cleanup grant program, provide communities with funding necessary to assess, clean up and ultimately redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin and Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz today announced that Waterbury Representative Rebecca Ellis will join ANR’s Department of Environmental Conservation as Senior Counsel for Government Affairs on August 10. Ellis resigned her seat as state representative for the Washington-Chittenden District yesterday. Gov. Shumlin will appoint a replacement before the start of the next legislative session in January.

Ellis has served as a legislator since 2011, most recently as vice chair of the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee. Prior to her tenure in the Vermont Legislature, Ellis worked from 1997 to 2011 as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Vermont, where her practice focused on environmental issues.

Vermont Business Magazine Saint Michael’s College is one of the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education according to the Princeton Review. The education services company features Saint Michael’s again in the new 2016 edition of its flagship college guide, The Best 380 Colleges, released August 4. The latest guide places the Colchester liberal arts college in “top 20” rankings for “Town-Gown Relations are Great” (#11), “College City Gets High Marks,” (#12) and “Best College Radio Station” (#13).

“If you’re genuine and true to who you are, you’re bound to do well at Saint Mike’s,” the guide quotes a student as saying.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) Wednesday announced $291,965 in Land and Water Conservation Fund grants to six communities across Vermont. The grants are awarded by the National Park Service and will be used to restore and grow parks and build community playgrounds.

In a joint statement, Leahy, Sanders and Welch said: “These grants are an investment in our communities and help ensure that Vermonters will have access to public reserves that are iconic of our Green Mountain State tradition of exquisite outdoor spaces and superb recreation. We were proud to support these grants and look forward to seeing these projects completed.”

Vermont Business Magazine Community Capital of Vermont (CCVT), New England’s highest volume SBA micro-lender, has received a grant from the US Small Business Administration to offer consulting services to CCVT borrowers in the areas of marketing, advertising, sales, and financial management. “I commend CCVT for the well-deserved award of $120,000 in resources from the Small Business Administration to continue the important work they are doing in communities all across our state,” noted Congressman Peter Welch. “Supporting Vermont start-ups, underserved businesses, and first-generation entrepreneurs who are creating jobs and spurring the state’s economy is an important service, and I’m pleased CCVT will be able to continue and expand upon their current operations.”

Vermont Business Magazine FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP),Vermont's largest telecom, today announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2015. After several quarters and years of reporting a net loss, FairPoint reported a net income of $40.3 million for the quarter and net loss of $4.9 million year-to-date. FairPoint shares were up $0.91 (5.42%) to $17.70 in trading early Wednesday, or near the middle of its 52-week range ($13.30 - $20.98).

Vermont Business Magazine KSV, the Burlington, Vermont-based integrated agency, has joined forces with Canopy Brand Group in New York City to expand its depth of services for clients in the Northeast and throughout the country. The merged agency – which will do business as KSV – strengthens KSV’s already robust marketing firepower while bringing together senior leadership and a team of 55 passionate thinkers with impressive branding, creative, media, and activation credentials.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that he will appoint attorney Kirstin Schoonover, presently of Vermont Legal Aid, Inc, to the Vermont trial bench. Schoonover fills the seat left open by the appointment of Judge Harold “Duke” Eaton, Jr, to serve on the Vermont Supreme Court. Schoonover has advocated on behalf of low-income Vermonters at Legal Aid since 2007. Previously she worked as a public defender in the Chittenden County Public Defender’s Office and as an Assistant Attorney General handling appellate and trial court cases for the Department for Children and Families.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College, based in Burlington, is included in the 2016 edition of the Princeton Review's annual college guide, "The Best 380 Colleges," published Tuesday, August 4. "We are very pleased that The Princeton Review and other publications continue to include Champlain College as one of the top colleges in the nation," noted Catherine O'Rourke, vice president of Enrollment Management at Champlain.

Vermont Business Magazine Employment in Vermont’s only large county, Chittenden, increased 1.3 percent from December 2013 to December 2014, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. All 13 smaller counties in Vermont had average weekly wages below the national average. Regional Commissioner Deborah A Brown noted that the average weekly wage in Chittenden County rose 3.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013 to the fourth quarter of 2014, to $1,032. The US average was 3.5 percent. Nationally, employment increased 2.2 percent from December 2013 to December 2014, as 319 of the 339 largest counties registered increases.

Employment in Chittenden County was 101,554 in December 2014, accounting for 32.6 percent of employment statewide. Nationwide, the 339 largest counties accounted for 72.1 percent of total US employment.

by Bill Schubart I’m not one to spoil a party but I remain puzzled by Castleton’s decision to become a university. It’s a fine school and President Wolk deserves kudos for making it so, but times are changing and so must higher ed. Aspirational renaming won’t make this happen. If the goal is to attract full-tuition payers from the Mid- and Far-East, that ship has sailed. Yes, foreign elites still clamor to get into our best colleges and do, but China is now building more than a hundred colleges on the Stanford and MIT model and if we don’t address our own high ed issues, our grandchildren may be going to college over there.

Vermont Business Magazine The City of Rutland Vermont was just awarded a national prize from the US Small Business Administration (SBA) in recognition of the City’s recent pledge to streamline and automate its business licensing and permitting process, thus making it simpler and more efficient for a new business to begin operations within the City. Burlington was the only other winner from Vermont. They were among 27 municipalities selected nationally to receive the $50,000 cash prize award. Many of the other award recipients were much larger cities such as Atlanta, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, DC. The total prize money was $1.6 million.