Current News

New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) of Williston has announced its acquisition of Health One Credit Union, a financial institution serving communities in Michigan and Ohio. The acquisition, which was finalized on December 12, makes Health One a division of NEFCU and adds more than 3,000 members and $15 million in assets to Vermont’s largest Credit Union.

NEFCU is one of the state’s leading financial institutions, with more than 91,000 members and over $1 billion in assets. The acquisition of Health One is part of NEFCU’s strategy to expand into new markets that provide opportunities for future growth.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org Entergy will draw from a $143 million line of credit to pay for the cost of transferring spent nuclear fuel at Vermont Yankee into temporary storage. Previously, the company had insisted on tapping decommissioning funds. The decision to borrow money for the transfer expenses means the facility could be decommissioned decades sooner than anticipated.

Entergy, the Louisiana-based operator of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, expects to stop generating power on or about December 29. The company will then begin moving spent nuclear fuel from the reactor into a cooling pool.

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation issued a water quality certification Thursday regarding the future operations of Green Mountain Power’s Waterbury Hydroelectric Project. Under this decision, the Waterbury Reservoir will be maintained at the current summertime level year-round, and flows will be managed to more closely mirror the natural flow of the Little River. The Department’s water quality certification ensures that dam operations are conducted in a manner that protects fishing, swimming, boating and other recreational uses of both the Waterbury Reservoir and Little River. The decision also ensures that the dam will continue to serve its primary purpose of flood control.

This holiday season marks the 115th annual Christmas Bird Count, a favorite tradition among Vermont’s birding community. Birders in Vermont are encouraged to participate in the count, which begins on December 14 and runs through January 5. SEE LIST OF EVENTS BELOW

Vermonters with an interest in bird-watching, from avid birders to newbies, are invited to take part in the annual Christmas Bird Count, which is happening in Vermont from December 14 to January 5. Courtesy of Fish & Wildlife

This year birders will be on the lookout for snowy owls which are once again arriving from the north, along with a few rare ducks and songbirds.

Vermont Business Magazine This storm has caused more outages from Green Mountain Power than either the ice storm of 1998 or Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. As of Monday morning, total customers without power across the state were down to about 2,500. “I’ve never seen anything like this.” That’s what GMP lineworkers are reporting from the frontlines of the winter storm, which began Tuesday night and ravaged nearly every corner of Vermont through Friday. Wet, heavy snow clings to branches and power lines, and with each passing hour and day the likelihood of a tree breaking and a resulting outage increases. As quickly as crews can make repairs, new outages continue to occur. Until temperatures increase and the sun shines to help melt the snow, this pattern will continue.

SEE LIST OF OUTAGES AND LINKS TO UTILITIES BELOW.

Vermont Business Magazine New weekly unemployment claims in Vermont fell by over 300 claims last week after a steep spike the week before. Claims had been very low during the summer, trending under 500, but have been high since early October. Levels this year had been running consistently lower than those of last year, but are now nearly the same. For the week of Deember 6, 2014, there were 1,070 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 358 from the previous week's total, and 5 more than they were a year ago.

According to Mathew Barewicz, Economic & Labor Market Information Chief at the Vermont Department of Labor, the cause of the recent increase was predominately the result of "a seasonal transition."

Two Central Vermont projects have received design excellence awards from the Vermont Chapter of American Institute of Architects. The projects, designed by gbA (Gossens Bachman Architects) of Montpelier, were awarded at AIAVT's annual meeting at the Statehouse on December 4, 2014. The first was award for the Capstone Community Action office. This community development corporation provides a number of programs and services for low to moderate income Vermonters. The non-profit consolidated its services that had been scattered throughout Vermont. The new 23,650-square-foot facility (12,350 new; 11,300 renovated) located in Barre, was designed to promote collaboration and interaction and had many sustainable features. The General Contractor, EF Wall & Associates, Inc. also received the AGCVT Best Builders Award for this project in 2013.

In the wake of recent data breaches, shoppers should be on high alert while purchasing their presents this holiday season.

“While millions of credit and debit card transactions are conducted safely every day, it’s important that consumers are aware of the potential for holiday scams,” said David Silverman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank.

Union Bank offers the following tips to help consumers keep their information safe whether shopping in the store or online:

· Monitor your account. Use online and mobile banking to keep an eye on your transactions, especially during the holidays. If you don’t use these electronic tools, at least diligently review your bank statement. Either way, notify the bank right away if there’s any fraudulent activity.

America’s surging trade deficit with China has cost more than 3.2 million U.S. jobs, 8,200 alone in Vermont. This ranks them as ninth in the nation. The overwhelming majority of jobs lost are manufacturing, according to a study released today by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).

Every congressional district but one has lost net job opportunities since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the study found.

“This report leaves no doubt, if there ever was any, that the nation’s staggering trade deficit with China continues to be the single biggest impediment to a true jobs recovery, especially in regions with heavy concentrations of high-tech manufacturing,” said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM).

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a national leader in efforts to increase affordable housing, welcomed a move today that could free up hundreds of millions of dollars to expand affordable rental housing nationwide.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency ended its temporary suspension of contributions to funds designed to allow more renters to find the homes they need at prices they can afford. The agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ordered those companies to begin to make payments to affordable housing funds next year. The money will go into a fund to provided dedicated revenue for low-income housing. States and local agencies then could apply for the money and use it to finance very-low-income rental housing construction or rehabilitation projects.

Gov. Peter Shumlin, state emergency officials and representatives from the utility companies urged Vermonters to use caution in the wake of the latest winter storm, which has left tens of thousands of Vermonters without power across the state. While utility crews are working nonstop, the Governor warned that some Vermonters may be without power into the weekend due to the second round of heavy snowfall overnight.

“We’re urging Vermonters to continue using caution and doing what they do best in times like these: Looking out for one another, checking in on their neighbors and making sure everyone is ok,” the Governor said. “The second round of snow last night has increased power outages statewide, and while crews are working as fast as possible to get the lights turned on, it’s going to take some time. We’re keeping a close eye on the situation and the state will provide any assistance necessary to help Vermonters affected by this storm.”