Current News
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by Michael Hundt In a recent tweet by Momentum Social Media, a UK-based social media marketing company, former German Chancellor, Willi Brandt, was quoted as saying, “If I am selling to you, I speak your language. If I am buying from you, dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen.” What does this mean?
It means that, if you run a hotel or resort and want to attract more foreign guests, you will want to translate your website, your menus, your flyers and more, into other languages.
It means that, if you want to export your products or sell your product internationally on the internet, you will want to translate your website, your marketing materials, your user guides and even your correspondence with foreign clients and partners.
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by Public Assets Institute Vermont’s unemployment rate dropped below 4 percent in February, but the state still struggles to turn lower unemployment into more people working. In February, for example, unemployment went down by 433, but the number of people employed increased by just 128. The last time Vermont’s unemployment rate was at this level, in May 2007, there were 5,600 more Vermonters working. Private employers reported 600 fewer jobs in February than in January.
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by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Governor Peter Shumlin has asked the state’s chief financial regulator to probe plans for a massive Northeast Kingdom development after a state agency raised significant and critical questions about the finances for a multimillion dollar biotech project in Newport. State approval for AnC Bio Vermont was suspended in August. At the governor’s behest, the state agency that oversees the EB-5 immigrant investor program has asked the Department of Financial Regulation to determine whether the $118 million biotech project in Newport complies with state and federal securities laws.
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The Vermont Agency Foundation held its third annual Casino Night on Saturday March 14th at the Burlington Hilton. With more than 100 guests in attendance, $5,300 was raised to benefit KidSafe Collaborative. KidSafe Collaborative of Chittenden County has a mission to engage agencies, community groups and individuals to work together to improve our community’s prevention of and response to child abuse and neglect.
Pamela Lambert, Director of the Vermont Agency Foundation said, “I am thrilled with the turnout and the amount of money we raised with this event. These funds will have a direct impact on the lives of children.”
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Berkshire Bank is seeking volunteer opportunities for their upcoming Company-Wide Week of Service June 8 – 12. During the week, more than 300 bank employees are expected to participate in a series of service projects to help the communities in which the bank operates. Berkshire Bank is seeking service projects of all sizes, but generally should engage between 5 to 50 employees using a mix of skilled and non-skilled labor. Projects should be able to be completed in one day using largely bank volunteers, and have a tangible impact on both the organization and the individuals served by the organization.
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by Elizabeth Hewitt vtdigger.org The budget bill won preliminary approval from the House Thursday with a vote of 96 in favor and 46 opposed. The roll call vote came hours after an accompanying bill that raises $35 million in new income taxes passed the House by a slim margin. Legislators faced an unusual challenge with the budget bill this session. One week after Governor Peter Shumlin presented his budget proposal in January, a revenue forecast found an additional $18.6 million gap between the state’s projected revenue and projected spending in fiscal year 2016.
That left lawmakers scrambling to close a $113 million hole.
The budget bill, which passed out of the House Appropriations Committee with a unanimous 11 to 0 vote on Monday, makes $53 million in reductions to projected spending in FY 2016. New revenue and $24 million in one-time funds fill the remainder of the gap.
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Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell for the third week, which continues a steady decline over the last month. For the week of March 21, 2015, there were 557 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 125 from the previous week's total, and 61 fewer than they were a year ago.
Graph shows private employment (nonfarm, nongovernment)
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Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation (GMEDC) has hired Robert (Bob) Haynes to be its new executive director, replacing Joan Goldstein, who is leaving GMEDC to become Vermont’s commissioner of economic development in late April. Goldstein served six years as executive director of GMEDC. Under her tenure the regional development corporation for Northern Windsor and Orange counties was able to diversify services with real estate investments, brownfields and flood recovery grants, and innovative workforce development projects and programs.
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Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced the ranking of the top thirty Best Places to Work in Vermont 2015 Thursday evening at an awards ceremony at the Echo Lake Aquarium and Science Center before over 270 attendees. The companies represented all have the honor of saying they are a Best Place to Work in Vermont.
The awards program was created in 2006 and is presented in partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management, Vermont State Council, (SHRM), the Vermont Department of Labor and the Vermont Department of Economic Development and Best Companies Group.
This statewide survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Vermont, benefiting the state's economy, its workforce and businesses.
To be considered for participation, companies had to fulfill the following eligibility requirements:
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Vermont Business Magazine While the new jobless rate numbers were driven mostly by significant decreases in the labor force and in the number of unemployed, there was also an increase in the number of people employed. The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for February was 3.9 percent. This represents a decrease of two-tenths of a percent from the revised January rate (4.1 percent). The national average in February was 5.5 percent, which experienced a decrease of two-tenths of a percent from the previous month’s estimate. Vermont’s unemployment rate was tied for 6th lowest in the country and lowest in the East (New Hampshire). Looking at historical data, February 2015 preliminary data is below 4.0 percent unemployment for the first time in Vermont since May 2007.
SEE Labor Market and Industry Tables Below
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Vermont lawyer Michael Wool became chair of the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) at the board's annual spring meeting. A native Vermonter, Wool has practiced law in Burlington since 1972. He provides tax and strategic advice in contexts ranging from family business matters to complex interstate and multinational transactions. He has served on several civic boards, including the Boys & Girls Club of Burlington.
Wool succeeds former Maine state Senator Emily Cain, who stepped down as NEBHE chair to run for a seat in the US Congress.
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Vermont EB-5 Regional Center Executive Director Brent Raymond accepted an invitation from US Ambassador Thummalapally to speak at the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit Academy held on Sunday, March 22, ahead of the two-day SelectUSA Investment Summit from March 23-24 in National Harbor, Maryland.