Current News

Vermont Business Magazine While Burlington International Airport relies too heavily on non-air service revenue, primarily parking, and while enplanements are down, cash flow and debt service have improved, leading to stability in its bond rating and ability to raise capital. Fitch Ratings has affirmed the ratings for Burlington International Airport's (BTV) approximately $42.7 million of outstanding airport revenue bonds at 'BBB-'. Fitch's Rating Outlook is Stable. The 'BBB-' rating, which importantly is above "junk bond" status, reflects a volatile enplanement base serving a small regional market at BTV combined with limited operating and financial flexibility. BTV has a history of weak cash flow but recent strides have enhanced their financial profile as seen in recent improvement of net revenue generation, debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) and days cash on hand (DCOH).

Revenue Risk - Volume: Weaker

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Colleges (VSC) Board of Trustees voted today to support a focused effort to position the Vermont State Colleges as a more comprehensive, cohesive, and interconnected system comprising multiple distinct institutions. This decision is seen as essential to expanding educational opportunities, achieving operational efficiencies, and ensuring long term viability.

“A higher level of collaboration will result in more opportunities for our students and greater cost efficiencies, ensuring a bright future for all of our institutions,” said Board Chair Martha O’Connor.

In support of the Castleton’s strategic plan to continue to grow opportunities for enrollment and funding, the approved resolution included the renaming of Castleton State College to Castleton University.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today announced a $5.7 million federal grant to expand and allow for year-round operation of the Vermont Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Randolph Center near Vermont Technical College. The cemetery is currently open only from May through the first week in December each year. The US Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration grant will fund the addition of 1,640 burial plots, including 410 pre-placed crypts for in-ground casket burials, 390 in-ground cremains plots, and 840 columbarium niches. The grant will also fund the construction of a main entrance, public information center, maintenance facility, landscaping, memorial walkway, and supporting infrastructure. A new road system will also be constructed to more directly connect visitors to the Chapel and allow a secondary exit from the site. The total expansion will include the development of approximately 12 acres.

Vermont Business Magazine Disadvantaged women begin smoking at an earlier age, are heavier smokers and are more likely to be nicotine dependent and to fail at smoking cessation. When they become pregnant and have children, the behavior doesn’t change. In fact, almost 85 percent of US children from low-income families are chronically exposed to secondhand smoke – especially from maternal smoking. A new five-year, $3.6 million grant from the National Institute on Child Health and Human Development awarded to the Vermont Center on Behavior and Health (VCBH) at the University of Vermont hopes to change that.

Vermont Business Magazine Lake Sunapee Bank Group (NASDAQ: LSBG), the holding company for Lake Sunapee Bank, fsb, with branches through central Vermont, on Wednsday announced results for the quarter ended June 30, 2015. Consolidated net income for the second quarter of 2015 was $2.4 million, or $0.29 per diluted common share, compared to $2.3 million, or $0.28 per diluted common share, for the same period in 2014, and $4.7 million, or $0.56 per diluted common share, for the six months ended June 30, 2015, compared to $4.5 million, or $0.53 per diluted common share, for the same period in 2014.

Vermont Business Magazine Three Vermont-based business owners have been named America’s Retail Champions by the National Retail Federation and are in the running to be chosen as one of five national finalists as well as America’s Retail Champion of the Year. State champions, nominated by the Vermont Retail & Grocers Association, include Andrew Brewer, owner of Onion River Sports in Montpelier, Marc Sherman, owner of Stowe Mercantile in Stowe, and Todd Keyworth, owner of Harborside Market in North Hero. The Vermont-based champions were chosen from a pool of nationwide nominees for the 2015 America’s Retail Champions awards. Retail Champions are Main Street business owners who are strong industry advocates at all levels of government.

Vermont Business Magazine Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Northern Plan, Pierre Arcand, announced in June the appointment of Éric Martel as a member of the Board of Directors and President and CEO of Hydro-Québec, the provincial utility company and largest single electric supplier to Vermont. The former Bombardier executive began work on July 6.

Vermont Business Magazine Addressing hundreds of low-wage workers in Washington who have gone on strike for a living wage, US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said legislation he introduced Wednesday would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Sanders said he was proud to stand with Good Jobs Nation and the Fight for 15 organizations, groups which have put a spotlight on the need to raise the minimum wage and helped make the push for better pay a cause that most Americans support. The Vermont state minimum wage rate increased to $9.15 per hour - from $8.73 per hour - on January 1, 2015. Vermont has the third highest state rate. Washington is first at $9.47.

Vermont Business Magazine Illegal telemarketing calls continue to be a major source of consumer fraud scams and are also a major source of anxiety and annoyance to consumers, particularly Vermont seniors. In the last year, the Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) received over 3,200 reports of robocalls (pre-recorded calls) and other illegal telemarketing calls – and that is a small percentage of the calls actually received by Vermont consumers.

Today, Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell joined other state attorneys general urging the five major phone companies to offer call-blocking technology to their customers. This request follows a July 2015 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule clarification that verifies that federal law does not prohibit offering call-blocking services.

Vermont Business Magazine A coalition of State and City Treasurers and Comptrollers, including Vermont Treasurer Beth Pearce, sent a letter yesterday to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairwoman Mary Jo White asking the Commission to adopt new rules requiring greater transparency from private equity managers when disclosing fees and expenses to limited partners.

The bipartisan group, which represents 13 public pension funds overseeing approximately $1 trillion in assets, asked the SEC to require the clear and consistent disclosure of fees and expenses which are often hidden in complicated, and even opaque, reporting systems. The letter also requested that the SEC require private equity firms to disclose information relating to fees and expenses quarterly, rather than on an annual basis, and called for an industry-wide standard for reporting.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont-based publisher Chelsea Green in White River Junction will bring out the first major book chronicling the issues being raised by US Senator Bernie Sanders in his campaign for president of the United States. The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America is what the publishier says is the only book that outlines, in Sanders’ own words and actions, his presidential agenda for America. The book draws heavily from Sanders himself, including excerpts from the Congressional record, public speeches, and media interviews.

Vermont Business Magazine Hartland Democrat Matt Dunne is not declaring he's running for Vermont governor, but he's done everything short of saying so. This morning he sent out a detailed letter to potential supporters asking them for their feedback as he continues the process toward making a decision. As of the July 15, 2015, election reporting cycle, he filed a contribution report with the Vermont Secretary of State that lists $115,000 in donations and only $1,600 in expenditures. With Governor Shumlin already announcing he is not seeking re-election, the field is relatively wide open without a clear favorite, now that Congressman Peter Welch has decided to stay put in Washington.