Current News

Comcast Business has announced that its full portfolio of Ethernet services is now available across five communities in Bennington County, Vermont. Capable of bandwidth up to 10 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps), these services are specifically designed for businesses, schools, hospitals and other organizations requiring more bandwidth, looking to network multiple locations together, or planning to connect their offices to a third-party data center.

With this expansion, the communities of North Bennington, Old Bennington, Pownal, Shaftsbury and Woodford can now take advantage of four different types of Comcast Business Ethernet services, including:

- Ethernet Private Line – point-to-point connectivity between two customer sites for bandwidth-intensive applications.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org The Shumlin administration wants Vermont Gas Systems to halt eminent domain proceedings related to a 41-mile natural gas pipeline extension. The governor’s office sent a letter to Vermont Gas on November 28 asking Vermont Gas to suspend condemnation proceedings until March 2. The company has agreed to hold off for now, but did not commit to the March 2 date.

“To create trust between the parties and allow for constructive progress to occur on these easement issues, the governor supports the landowners’ request that [Vermont Gas] agree to a pause in easement legal proceedings,” Liz Miller, the governor’s chief of staff, wrote to project manager Jim Sinclair.

More than a hundred lenders from financial institutions throughout Vermont gathered at the Capital Plaza in Montpelier Tuesday for the Small Business Administration’s Annual Meeting and Awards Breakfast. The event recognized the leading lenders with rankings based on total SBA dollar volume and loans made during fiscal year 2014.

The Vermont District Office recognized People’s United Bank as the 7(a) Lender of the Year, Vermont 504 as the 504 Lender of the Year, and Community Capital of Vermont as the Microlender of the Year. The SBA also recognized National Bank of Middlebury, Community National Bank, Lake Sunapee Bank, KeyBank and Opportunities Credit Union for their various efforts supporting SBA loan programs.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, in conjunction with the Vermont Realtors, is warning the public of a recurring Craigslist scam that targets property renters. Although Craigslist postings contain links to scam warnings on the bottom of each listing, sophisticated scammers are able to create fake listings that appear authentic, and therefore consumers may be less likely to click the warning links. Scammers may copy pictures, descriptions, and Realtor names from legitimate real estate sale postings and repost the information on Craigslist claiming the homes are for rent. Similarly, other scammers make up listings for places that do not exist. Often scammers will advertise properties with low rental prices to entice potential renters, and then request the renters wire deposits without first meeting in person or showing the properties. “Don’t trust the pictures.

Bond buyers responded positively to the November Vermont bond sale. State Treasurer Beth Pearce announced that $110 million in bonds were successfully sold in three different offerings. Vermont has maintained the highest overall bond rating of all New England states – two triple-A ratings and one double-A plus rating – since early 2010.

“Bond buyers recognize Vermont bonds as a solid, quality investment,” said Pearce. “A bond rating is an independent assessment of the creditworthiness of a borrowing instrument like a bond. A higher rating leads to a more favorable effect on the marketing of a bond and leads to reduced interest rates and debt service for the entity selling the bond. Vermont has had the highest bond rating in New England for almost five years, a favorable position that has allowed the State to reduce its borrowing costs for funding a wide range of capital projects.”

A farm-to-school program championed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is investing $100,000 in bringing locally grown food to cafeteria tables and classrooms in Vermont. Leahy, who has led the national farm-to-school efforts in the Senate, commended VT FEED, a partnership of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT), and Shelburne Farms, which Tuesday received a federal grant to support farm-to-school initiatives across the Green Mountain State.

Leahy said: “Vermont has long been a pace-setter in the farm-to-school movement. By bringing local food to the cafeteria table and into the classroom, we improve nutrition, promote healthy eating choices, and help all children understand where their food comes from. It’s a winning strategy for our farmers and our students and Vermont is proving how well this program works.”

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org The Shumlin administration has decided not to unilaterally cut $6.7 million from the current fiscal year’s budget. The rescissions instead will be included in the executive branch’s budget adjustment proposal to the Legislature in January. The cuts are part of a $17 million “savings” package that Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding previewed for the legislative Joint Fiscal Committee at its final meeting of 2014, on November 12.

Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding informed lawmakers at the time that he intended to cut spending with or without their blessing. He said 32 V.S.A. § 704, gives the executive branch legal authority to do so when revenues are down.

Committee members were not convinced.

Vermont’s Christmas tree industry received one of its early customers Monday when Governor Peter Shumlin arrived at Purinton’s Christmas Tree Farm in Huntington to select and cut a tree for the state Pavilion Office Building in Montpelier. The governor’s annual tree-cutting event not only signals the official start of tree-hunting season for many Vermonters, but also draws some well-deserved attention to Vermont’s robust Christmas Tree Industry, which supplies over 134,000 trees to Vermonters and customers throughout New England and as far away as Bermuda. Shumlin was joined by farm owners Peter and Carla Purinton, sons Cody and Austin, state Representative Tom Stevens, and the head of Vermont Agency of Agriculture’s Plant Industry Division, Tim Schmalz.

Vermont Tech’s President Dan Smith released the following statement Monday on the recently announced layoffs at the Randolph-based college: “I am sorry to be in this position today. After our fall enrollment numbers came in, it became apparent that it was not realistic to expect to get through this fiscal year without personnel actions among the Faculty of the college. We continue to face multi-million dollar shortfall this year that will compound into the next, just as it has from prior years to present day.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Eight full-time faculty at Vermont Technical College in Randolph received layoff notices Monday. The action is part of a large-scale financial reorganization that could have major implications for the school’s course offerings. Senior professors are being offered cash incentives to retire early, and up to 27 adjunct instructors may not be hired back in the fall. The deeper the cutbacks, the fewer courses will be offered and the larger class sizes will likely to be.

Departments are required to increase the number of cross-listed course offerings to cover more academic ground with a smaller faculty. Students will be asked to take some core classes at sister institutions in the Vermont State College system: Castleton, Johnson and Lyndon state colleges and the Community College of Vermont.

The Department of Housing and Community Development has announced over $475,000 in Municipal Planning Grants (MPG) to 44 municipalities across Vermont to help dedicated local leaders overcome their challenges, identify their goals and create action plans to grow and prosper.

“Making the places we call home better takes hard work and this program has kicked off hundreds of community-based initiatives that helped communities and entire regions to thrive,” said Noelle Mackay, Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development. “For example, few people outside of St. Albans know that its remarkable $30 million downtown transformation began with a $15,000 Municipal Planning Grant to develop a new vision for the downtown.”

This year, St Albans City together with St Albans Town received a Municipal Planning Grant to develop regulations concerning stormwater management.

Starting December 3, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce's five-member lobbying team will tour Vermont to hold Legislative Preview Forums for businesses in partnership with more than 10 local and regional chambers of commerce. The Forums are designed to educate business owners on the key issues expected to arise in the 2015 legislative session, including tax proposals, tourism funding, health care, education funding and economic development.

The Vermont Chamber will also present its Economic Growth Agenda, which offers a plan to legislators that will ignite economic growth, create greater affordability, and generate more jobs for Vermonters. At the Forums, businesses will have an opportunity to provide feedback and comments to Vermont Chamber staff and attending legislators.