Current News

Tyler Amon, a 20-year veteran of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Criminal Enforcement, has been selected as the new Special Agent-in-Charge of its Area Office in Boston. He will supervise all environmental crimes investigations throughout EPA’s Region 1 jurisdiction, encompassing Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Amon joined EPA’s Office of Criminal Enforcement in 1995. Immediately prior to being named Special Agent-in-Charge of the Boston Office, he served as Special-Agent-in-Charge in EPA’s Region 10 office in Seattle since June 2010. Earlier in his career, Amon has worked at EPA’s Office of Criminal Enforcement in Washington, D.C., the Charlotte, N.C. Resident Office and the Dallas, Texas Area Office. He is a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.

Vermont’s Pizzagalli Foundation has made a $1 million gift commitment to support the University of Vermont’s $104 million STEM project, the largest capital project in the school’s history. UVM’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) facility will be a state-of-the-art complex of labs, classrooms and research spaces that will transform the university’s Central Campus and fulfill a promising new interdisciplinary academic vision for UVM. Work on the 266,000 square-foot project begins in the spring of 2015 and will be completed by 2018.

“We are thrilled that the Pizzagalli family is strongly supportive of UVM’s STEM project, including its new lab and classroom facility” said UVM president Tom Sullivan. “With this $1 million gift, we are confident that we will be successful in realizing this most important new educational and research facility on campus.”

Governor Peter Shumlin today authorized Vermont National Guard personnel and resources to assist the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in snow removal and winter storm recovery efforts following record snowfall over the past two weeks. A Vermont National Guard Snow Removal Force will deploy to Massachusetts in the coming days for up to 15 days and will include 40 troops, 12 dump trucks, and other snow removal equipment. The governor spoke to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and signed the order authorizing the deployment Tuesday evening. A copy of the letter is below.

Visitors to Vermont are spending more than ever, according to a report released today by the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing. The 2013 Benchmark Study of the economic impact of tourism says there were an estimated 12.8 million visitor trips to Vermont in 2013. That number is steady from 2011, yet overall tourism revenue was $2.49 billion, up from $2.30 billion two years before. Visitor spending contributed $318 million in tax and fee revenues to the State of Vermont in 2013.

Skiers chill at Mt Ellen, Sugarbush in January. VBM photo.

According to a report released today by the Washington, DC, based Food Research and Action Center (FRAC), Vermont ranks in the top ten states for school breakfast participation. Vermont’s ranking fell slightly from 6^th to 8^th from the previous year, not because Vermont’s participation has dropped, but because other states had early access to the new Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) which allows schools in high poverty areas to serve free school meals to all children regardless of their families’ incomes. While some states piloted CEP as early as 2011, the new provision only became newly available to Vermont schools this school year.

GW Plastics has added two high-speed injection molding machines to their headquarters in Bethel, Vermont, to support a major award of new business by a market-leading Fortune 500 customer. The significant capital investment in two new 240 ton high-speed Netstal molding machines and automation by GW Plastics further expands their capabilities in the high-volume disposable medical device market. This comes right on the heels of multimillion-dollar expansions in its Tucson, Arizona, and Dongguan, China facilities to support its growing medical device molding and contract assembly business.

The US Small Business Administration is reminding Private Non-Profit (PNP) organizations in Vermont of the March 11, 2015 deadline to submit Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications for damages caused by severe storms and flooding on April 15-18, 2014. PNPs that provide non-critical services located in the following Vermont counties are eligible to apply: Caledonia, Essex, Franklin, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans and Washington. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA's secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas Systems, Inc today announced that it will not proceed with the proposal to build Phase 2 of its proposed pipeline expansion project – the connection from Middlebury to International Paper’s (IP) plant in Ticonderoga, NY. VGS is the only natural gas pipeline service in the state. Extending the pipeline south from Chittenden County has been met with protests from landowners and opponents of "fracked" gas, and by construction cost increases, which ultimately un-did the deal with IP.

Don Rendall, President and CEO of Vermont Gas, left. Above, the pipeline under construction in Williston last summer. Below, protests last May led to arrests at the VGS headquarters in South Burlington. Photos by Vermont Business Magazine.

Strontium-90 has been detected in samples of ground water collected in August 2014 from monitoring wells within the boundaries of Entergy Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon. These detections were made as part of the Vermont Department of Health’s routine environmental radiological surveillance program. This is the first time Sr-90 has been found in ground water at Vermont Yankee. The water is not available for consumption, the levels detected are well below the EPA’s safe drinking water threshold, and there is no immediate risk to health. The power plant itself went off-line in December.

In a new collaboration to support vibrant community centers and increase town and regional transportation options, the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) has announced the Strong Communities, Better Connections Pilot Grant Program has funded three projects that help align land use planning and community revitalization efforts with transportation investments. This year's grants went to projects in Warren-Waitsfield, Rutland-West Rutland and Vergennes.

The new program was informed in part by an ongoing partnership between VTrans and national non-profit Smart Growth America to identify ways to strengthen Vermont's economy through greater coordination between state transportation policies and investments, and local land use decisions.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed its 'A+' rating for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system (D-H) – the second consecutive year in which Fitch issued an A+ rating – and continued its recommendation that D-H’s financial outlook is “stable.” The rating is based on the approximately $69 million New Hampshire Health & Education Facilities Authority (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Obligated Group Issue) revenue bonds series 2009 and the approximately $75 million New Hampshire Health & Education Facilities Authority (Dartmouth-Hitchcock Obligated Group Issue) revenue bonds series 2010. Dartmouth Hitchcock obligated group has $535.6 million of total debt outstanding of which $391 million are unrated direct bank loans.

An analysis released by Trust for America's Health (TFAH) finds that fewer than 90 percent of children ages 19-to-35 months old have received the recommended vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in 17 states. Vermont ranked 28th at 91.2 percent. New Hampshire has the highest MMR vaccination rate for preschoolers at 96.3 percent, and Colorado, Ohio and West Virginia have the lowest at 86 percent. (Data based on the latest completed National Immunization Survey from 2013). No state in the Northeast was below 90 percent, while eight states in the South, five in the West and four in the Midwest had rates below 90 percent. Nationally 91.1 percent of preschoolers are vaccinated.