Current News

Yonder, the leading outdoor recreation mobile app and platform for outdoor enthusiasts based in Woodstock, Vermont, has closed $2 million in seed funding, with the company's Board approving an additional $1 million to be raised. The company, Green Mountain Digital LLC, is now focused exclusively on expanding the Yonder platform to become the social infrastructure for the outdoor and adventure travel industries.

Montpelier rado station WNCS-FM and the Colchester-based Mt. Mansfield Media took home the coveted “Best in Show” honors May 28 at the Vermont Association of Broadcasters annual Commercial of the Year Awards luncheon in Montpelier. More than 200 radio and television commercials were entered for this year’s competetion by Vermont radio and television stations, and by Vermont advertising agencies. Entries were judged by a panel assembled by the Communications Department at Champlain College.

The Cause Marketing Forum presented its 2015 Halo Awards today in Chicago, IL. Widely considered cause marketing’s highest honor in North America, the Halo Awards recognize overall excellence in cause marketing in eight categories. The 2015 Gold Halo for Best Environmental or Animal Campaign was awarded to The Orvis Company, Inc, the famous fly-fishing company based in Manchester, Vermont, in partnership with the Morris Animal Foundation, for the Orvis Cover Dog Photo Contest campaign. Since its inception in 2009, the Cover Dog Contest has raised in excess of $1.1 million dollars to support the Morris Animal Foundation’s canine cancer research initiatives.

by Tom Pelham It is important that Vermonters understand the realities and weaknesses of the so called “budget gap” approach to the state budget. Unfortunately, the “budget gap” has replaced the concept of “sustainable spending” that reliably guided Governor’s Snelling, Dean and Douglas. The “budget gap” clears a path for higher taxes while “sustainable spending” points toward living within our means. The Joint Fiscal Office, the Administration and the media should abandon this unreliable and unrealistic portrayal of the state budget process.

To profile the flaws in the “budget gap” approach, only three documents need to be referenced. Readers should take the time to understand these documents in order to prepare for the 2017 “budget gap…..OMG what can be done?” onslaught by the legislature, Governor and too often, the media.

The three key documents are:

Doc # 1 – FY 2016 Budget Gap:

On Tuesday, May 19, GS Precision, Inc and Vermont Tech celebrated the completion of the Manufacturing Technician Apprentice Program with a graduation ceremony for six participating employees. The ceremony included student project presentations and remarks from GSP’s CEO, Norm Schneeberger. Over 30 people from the plant, as well as family members, were in attendance to mark the occasion.

“These projects have thoughtfully and methodically solved the problems that are unique to G.S.,” said GSP’s CEO, Norm Schneeberger to the graduating class. “You have already realized the return on investment of this program.”

Vermont Tech continues its commitment to being an asset and partner for Vermont industry, including energy, agriculture, healthcare, construction and engineering.

The St Albans Rotary Club has announced that it has raised a record $59,000 with over 4,500 visitors to the Club’s Annual Home and Recreation EXPO, held this past Spring. “It was a tremendously successful weekend for our local vendors and our community” said Carrie Johnson, co-chair of the expo organizing committee. This is the St. Albans Area Rotary Club’s only large fundraiser. In addition to selling booth space at the expo, the club offers a silent auction, grab bags and a raffle all sponsored by local businesses.

Proceeds from the expo will be used to fund Rotary’s numerous charitable and community
activities. Rotary provides financial support to area organizations including Martha’s Kitchen, Little
League and operation of the Ski Bus, providing access to Smugglers Notch for local children and
teens. The Club has also recently taken on the challenge of restoring the fountain in Taylor Park.

In March, a series of milestones were outlined for improved customer service for Vermonters using Vermont Health Connect. The first of these milestones occurs on June 1 when systems updates are scheduled to go live, allowing customer service staff to process consumer requests more quickly. The deployment of this upgrade will require the Vermont Health Connect health insurance application and user accounts to be unavailable starting this evening and running through the weekend.

The following information is intended to help Vermonters understand what to expect during that time period.

The Transition

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin remains “cautiously optimistic” the state and its contractors will complete the needed functionality for Vermont Health Connect, the state’s troubled health care exchange, by the May 31 (Sunday) deadline. Shumlin said he receives daily, sometimes multiple, updates on VHC and the progress of its primary contractor, Optum, in automating the process for changing personal or plan information online.

“As you know, with any major technology project you can hit a glitch at any time, but we’re cautiously optimistic” that the state will meet a self-imposed May 31 deadline for completing the function, the governor said at a Wednesday news conference in Waterbury Center.

Public Assets Institute Vermont’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent in April, its lowest level in nearly nine years. But while joblessness hit a low last seen in June 2006, the number of Vermonters working still lags. The spring and summer of 2006 marked Vermont’s all-time employment peak, when more than 344,000 people were working. Last month, the number of employed stood at 335,673.

Lingering recession

The City of Burlington will implement the public outreach phase of a plan to improve water quality through a new, integrated planning approach for wastewater and stormwater management in Burlington. The City’s Water Resource Division will be seeking public input on its upcoming water quality efforts by attending Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (NPAs) and meeting with nonprofit organizations and other public agencies to learn how Burlingtonians would like to see their stormwater and wastewater utility fees spent in the fight for improved water quality.

“We need to be very strategic in how we proceed from here,” said Laurie Adams, Department of Public Works (DPW) Assistant Director for Water Quality. “We must ensure that each project we pursue – wastewater, stormwater, stream improvement, or other – will give us the best results, the biggest bang for the buck.”

AirShark, LLC has been granted the first exemption in Vermont that permits commercial operations of small unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly called "drones". Under the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012, this Section 333 exemption permits AirShark to offer commercial aerial inspection services to clients in multiple industries.

“Our nation’s infrastructure is incredibly complex, aging, and often difficult or dangerous to assess. Small drones offer a faster and safer way to inspect bridges, power lines, and other hard to reach locations." said AirShark's co-founder Ian Ray. "High resolution visible and thermal sensors help spot issues quickly, while also providing a detailed historical record."

Governor Peter Shumlin today signed the FY 2016 Transportation Bill, which builds on recent years of progress in improving the overall condition of Vermont’s transportation infrastructure. Joined by legislative leaders and Transportation Secretary, Sue Minter, the Governor signed the bill to authorize $616 million in infrastructure improvements in support of the Agency of Transportation’s (VTrans) vision of a safe, efficient, multimodal transportation system that promotes Vermont’s economy and quality of life.