Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin, Barre Mayor Thom Lauzon, and public safety and emergency management officials today provided an update on last night’s flooding affecting parts of eastern and central Vermont, including Barre and Plainfield. The fast-moving storm dropped between four and six inches of rain last night. Barre and Plainfield appear to be the hardest hit by the storm and flooding with both communities reporting widespread road closures during the storm. Those towns and others in central and eastern Vermont are doing assessments today with VTrans district technicians to determine the current status of roads and what repairs need to be made. A number of local roads remain closed and motorists are cautioned to respect all detours.

Early this morning, VTrans activated loaders and dump trucks to help dig out and move dirt in Barre. Crews are still working with City officials and more resources are at the ready if required.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas on Friday submitted its latest quarterly filing regarding its Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project (ARNGP) with the Vermont Public Service Board. The company reports no material change in overall cost for the project since its last filing in April 2015. Vermont Gas submits quarterly reports to the Public Service Board regarding budget projections and expenses related to the project. The latest filing reflects the project’s economic picture through June 30, 2015.

“We are very pleased to report to the Board that the project remains on budget and on time as significant construction is set to begin this month,” said Don Rendall, President and CEO of Vermont Gas. “We are entering a very exciting phase of the project and our team continues to monitor project economics closely.”

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Friday joined officials and researchers at the University of Vermont Miller Farm to announce that more than $15 million in grants and funding has been awarded to the university in the year-and-a-half since the 2014 Farm Bill was signed into law. The funding, awarded through a wide array of Farm Bill programs, supports new agricultural research and extension projects throughout the state.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin along with music legend and activist Neil Young on Sunday urged support for the Vermont Food Fight Fund, which was established to protect Vermont’s mandatory GMO labeling law from those waging a legal battle to overturn it. Young announced a $100,000 donation to the fund, bringing the total raised so far to $550,000. Young gave a concert at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction Sunday night.

Governor Shumlin and Neil Yound Sunday evening. Courtesy photo.

by Governor Peter Shumlin Last week I traveled to Toronto to attend the Climate Summit of the Americas, which brought together Pan-American governmental, advocacy, energy, and climate change leaders to share ideas on how we can work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and capitalize on a cleaner energy economy to grow jobs and opportunity. I was so proud to represent Vermont at this summit because when it comes to combating climate change and finding opportunity in a green energy future, our state is world leader.

Vermont Business Magazine A retirement incentive program passed in the recently concluded Vermont State legislative session will give 300 executive branch employees the opportunity to retire this year and receive as much as $15,000 in cash. The State Treasurer’s Office Friday mailed over 900 letters and program applications to eligible employees.

The program was proposed as a way to reduce both the State’s labor costs and the need to lay-off employees to address a multi-million dollar budget deficit. The Vermont State Employees Association, Treasurer’s office and the Administration worked together to craft a plan that would secure general fund savings and protect the financial integrity of the pension plan.

Beth Pearce May 2015. VBM file photo.

by Erin Mansfield vtdigger.org A plan for a large development off I-89 in Randolph drew stiff criticism in a preliminary environmental review hearing Friday. Jesse “Sam” Sammis wants to build a 1.15-million-square-foot, 173-acre project on farmland just off the Exit 4 ramp of Interstate 89. The Green Mountain Center project would include a visitors center, a store for showcasing Vermont products, a hotel and more than a dozen single-family homes and buildings for light industrial companies.

Critics of Green Mountain Center complain that Jesse “Sam” Sammis did not come to an environmental hearing on Friday with enough information to prove that the project would meet two key criteria under Act 250, the state’s land use development law. The hearing took place before the District 3 Environmental Commission, which reviews projects under the auspices of the state’s Natural Resources Board.

Vermont Business Magazine The winners of Vermont's 2015 moose hunting permits were determined Thursday, July 16, at a lottery drawing in Barre. Governor Peter Shumlin, standing alongside Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter, started the computer-generated selection process that randomly picked 265 winners from more than 9,500 lottery applicants. The drawing is done by a random sort of applications that were submitted by a June 17, 2015 deadline. As part of the regular lottery drawing, a "special priority drawing" was held for five permits to go to applicants who have received, or are eligible to receive, a Campaign Ribbon for Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The unsuccessful applicants from the Iraqi-Afghanistan drawing were included in the larger regular drawing that followed.

Vermont Business Magazine The Rural Community Transportation has a new home in the St Johnsbury/Lyndon Industrial Park. The public transportation agency recently moved its offices from Portland Street in St Johnsbury to its new Industrial Parkway location. Executive Director Mary Grant and RCT representatives invited the community to tour its new digs at a recent open house and ribbon cutting, and about 50 community leaders and residents were welcomed to the open house, which also included a building dedication and barbecue.

Vermont Business Magazine According to the Vermont Attorney General's office, Carmen Gross, age 40, of East Corinth was arraigned on two felony counts of Financial Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult on July 8, 2015, in the Vermont Superior Court, Orange Criminal Division, in Chelsea. According to court documents, in 2012-13, while acting as power of attorney for a vulnerable adult, Gross spent more than $40,000 of the vulnerable adult’s US Treasury and Social Security income and funds held in two bank accounts for her own personal benefit.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims in Vermont were up slightly last week after a big decline last week. Claims are typically low during the summer. There were 496 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont, an increase of 31 from the previous week's total and 88 fewer than they were a year ago. Generally, claims have been running below last year's totals.

Altogether 4,590 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 243 from a week ago, and 593 fewer than a year ago. The Department processed 0 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08). The total for all programs was 4,590 claims, 243 more than last week, and 601 fewer than the same time last year.

Vermont Business Magazine People's United Financial, Inc (NASDAQ: PBCT), the parent company of People's United Bank with branches throughout Vermont, on Thursday reported net income of $61.7 million, or $0.20 per share, for the second quarter of 2015 (Return on Assets .70 percent), compared to $72.3 million, or $0.24 per share, for the second quarter of 2014 (ROA .72 percent), and $59.2 million, or $0.20 per share, for the first quarter of 2015. Included in the results for the second quarter of 2014 is a net after-tax gain of $13.4 million ($0.04 per share) resulting from the formation of a merchant services joint venture. Operating earnings were $63.7 million, or $0.21 per share, for the second quarter of 2015, compared to $59.9 million, or $0.20 per share, for the second quarter of 2014, and $63.2 million, or $0.21 per share, for the first quarter of 2015.