Current News

FINRA, a national research organization, reports that 62% of Vermont households lack a rainy day fund to cover unexpected emergencies like loss of income or major car repair. Merchants Bank is making a $5,000 grant to the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity’s Growing Money Program to address just such vulnerability. The grant will help Growing Money staff to continue to deliver financial classes and personal financial coaching in Vermont’s four Northwest counties.

House Speaker Shap Smith today asked Vermonters, employers, policy makers and stakeholders to submit proposals for economic development and job growth strategies for consideration in the legislative biennium. “On the first day of the session, I called on lawmakers to work together as we strive to create an atmosphere of opportunity across Vermont. It is in this spirit that we are asking for public input on state economic development strategies,” announced Speaker Smith.

The Speaker’s Office launched a similar initiative in December, requesting public input for education system reforms. Vermonters responded by submitting over 85 education proposals. Speaker Smith shared the feedback with the House Education Committee for review and incorporation into its agenda. Similarly, public proposals on economic development will be shared with the Commerce and Economic Development Committee for consideration.

David Silverman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank, announced today that Jonathan J Gould has been selected as the Bank’s new Senior Vice President and Senior Commercial Loan Officer. Gould joins the Bank on January 20, and is responsible for leading the commercial lending team, growing and managing the commercial loan portfolio, coordinating commercial lending activities, and promoting the Bank’s commercial lending services and products in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. He will serve on the Bank’s senior management team and the ALM committee.

The cofounders of Seven Days, Vermont’s free, independent weekly newspaper, have been chosen as two of this year’s inductees into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame. Pamela Polston and Paula Routly will be honored at a ceremony during the New England Newspaper and Press Association conference in February. According to the NENPA website, the Hall of Fame recognizes “industry heroes whose talent, hard work, and exceptional accomplishments provide inspiration to all New England journalists.” NENPA’s board of directors chooses inductees annually.

by Rick Adams, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Seeing and liking alcohol advertising on television among underage youths was associated with the onset of drinking, binge drinking and hazardous drinking, according to a study by researchers at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) and Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock (CHaD) published online by JAMA Pediatrics.

The Vermont community has donated $110,000 for WARMTH, and coupled with the Merchants Bank matching grant of $40,000, a total of $150,000 was raised in the month of December alone to prevent Vermonters in need from going without heat. Merchants Bank partnered with the Champlain Valley of Office Economic Opportunity (CVOEO), the agency who administers the WARMTH Program, and offered a dollar-for-dollar match toward all donations raised for WARMTH during December, up to a total of $40,000. And just in time as temperatures plummeted after the holidays and CVOEO’s office in Burlington filled with people looking for help.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org A network of private physician practices plans to withdraw from a Medicare management program because its incentive payments are too difficult to attain. Healthfirst Inc (healthfirst.org) is an association of about 40 independent physician practices that co-owns an Accountable Care Organization for its members. For more than two years, Healthfirst participated in a Medicare shared-savings program. The program sets a benchmark for what it should cost to treat a Medicare beneficiary and if the ACO’s participants can treat them for less, while meeting care quality standards, the provider splits the savings with the federal government.

Vermont Business Magazine Darn Tough Vermont, American manufacturer of the fastest growing collection of performance socks, based in Northfield, reported a surge in sales revenue, with 62 percent topline growth in 2014. This puts the brand 16 percent above forecasted growth for 2014.

“Our customers take notice of the ways we strive to create a better product, starting with making all of our socks right here in Vermont,” says Ric Cabot, president and CEO of Darn Tough Vermont (Cabot Hosiery Mills). “Twelve years ago we committed ourselves to making the best outdoor performance socks on the market, and our customers continue to endorse that commitment. There’s a banner in our mill that reads ‘No one ever outsourced anything for quality,’ and we live by that spirit.”

Community leaders Kathy Demars of Morrisville, Charles (Chuck) Hogan of Cambridge, Harry Miller of Craftsbury Common, and Carl Szlachetka of Hyde Park were elected to the Copley Health Systems, Inc Board of Trustees during the Annual Meeting held on January 12 for the Morrisville-based hospital and health care organization. They join fellow Trustees Henry Binder, MD of Stowe, Willa Farrell of East Hardwick, Walter frame of Stowe, Sharon Green of Morrisville, Elaine Nichols of Stowe, Nancy Putnam of Jeffersonville, Jan Roy of Wolcott, David Silverman of Morrisville, Joseph Subasic, MD, Jamey Ventura of Hyde Park, Richard Westman of Cambridge, and David Yacovone of Morrisville.

Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce have announced the top thirty Best Places to Work in Vermont 2015. 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.

2015 Best Places to Work in Vermont winners in alphabetical order are:

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) last last week proposed legislation to impose a two-year moratorium on US Postal Service plans to eliminate up to 15,000 jobs, close more mail-sorting plants and end overnight delivery of first-class mail and periodicals. The Postal Service already has closed 141 mail-processing plants since 2012. Now it wants to shutter as many as 82 more facilities. Unless Congress acts, the new round of cuts could affect thousands of workers in 37 states. The sorting center in White River Junction previously has been on such a list, but has survived so far.

“At a time when Postal Service revenue is increasing, it makes no sense to eliminate thousands of jobs and slow down the mail service that millions of Americans rely on,” Sanders said. “We should be working to strengthen the Postal Service,” he added, “not send it into a death spiral.”

About 500 Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) members awoke this morning without power due to a storm that brought heavy, wet snow to the region. Line crews worked overnight and have restored about 2,000 outages so far. VEC crews assisted by contract crews will continue to work throughout the day, and VEC expects to have all members back on by nightfall. Statewide, the heavy snow produced far fewer power failurges than a larger storm in December. As of 10 am Monday morning, there were only 477 outages across the entire state.

Overall, this storm has not been as damaging as expected. In the aftermath of Winter Storm Damon, which left many members without power for several days last December, VEC was prepared to respond to extensive damage.