Current News

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine At a late afternoon press conference at a blustery City Hall Park in Burlington Wednesday, Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin declared victory in his hard-fought campaign against Republican Scott Milne. This despite neither a concession from Milne, to whom he said he had not spoken, nor in the receiving of a majority of votes. As of 5:54 pm, the Secretary of State's election Web site reported that with 96.36 percent of the vote counted, Shumlin had 88,419 votes or 46.36 percent of the vote and Milne had 85,983 votes or 45.08 percent of the vote. With less than a majority, the Legislature must technically decide the election. That would likely be a foregone conclusion in any case because the Democrats will still hold a sizable majority in both chambers, even though Republicans picked up seats in both on Tuesday.

Approximately ninety consumers will receive $100 each in restitution as a result of an agreement between the State of Vermont and Buck’s Furniture, a furniture dealership previously operating out of Wolcott, Vermont. Buck’s Furniture, along with its owner and manager Sandy Howard, have agreed to a consumer protection settlement that requires it to pay a total of $9,000 in restitution to consumers as well as $11,000 to the State.

"Furniture purchases are one of the largest household expenses that consumers face,” explains Attorney General William Sorrell. “Businesses engaged in the retail sale of furniture must be honest with consumers about their pricing and delivery practices.”

The settlement resolves the Attorney General’s claims that Buck’s Furniture engaged in unfair and deceptive practices, which included:

In 2013, 169 pharmaceutical, medical device, and biologic manufacturers reported distributing 53,500 free samples and spending approximately $9.8 million dollars with Vermont health care providers, according to a report released by the Vermont Attorney General’s Office in October. The public data regarding the expenditures was published today; data on sampling is not public but is reported in the aggregate.

The Board of Trustees at Southern Vermont College (SVC) has announced the selection of David Rees Evans, PhD, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Buena Vista University, to serve as the ninth president of SVC. Evans succeeds President Karen Gross, who is leaving the College in mid-December to work on education reform in Washington, DC. Gross will work with President-elect Evans over the next month to ensure a smooth transition. SVC trustee and chair of the Presidential Search Committee Ira Wagner ’83, said that Evans was selected from a promising field of more than one hundred candidates who applied for the position over the past five months. “Dr. Evans embodied the unique and well-rounded skill set for the position, as well as the personal qualities, experience and passion for education aligned with SVC’s mission,” Wagner said. SVC Board Chair Deborah Wiley thanked the school community and trustees for a search well done.

by Jack Hoffman Public Assets Institute There wasn’t a lot of substance in this election season. “Where’s the beef?” isn’t a question we hear much during campaigns anymore, as Jon Margolis lamented in his column in vtdigger this week. But while candidates may not need to offer thoughtful, workable proposals or even clearly define problems to get elected, they will need to do both after Election Day if they want to improve life in Vermont.

by vtdigger.org House Minority Leader Don Turner can look forward to a healthier Republican caucus in the new Legislature. With results incomplete in a few key districts, the Republicans have won at least eight seats from Democrats and Progressives, and in another district, an independent unseated a Democratic incumbent. It also appears that the Republicans will pick up two seats in the state Senate. The Democrats, however, will continue to hold large majorities in both chambers.

“Our message has been loud and clear, and it has resonated with voters all around the state,” Turner said in a speech to the GOP’s election night gathering in Burlington.

Turner cited state spending out of line with personal economic struggles of Vermonters. And he credited the hard work of qualified candidates who turned out votes and kept on message about unaffordable policies of incumbents.

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org Scott Milne on Wednesday morning in Burlington said he won’t concede the gubernatorial election as he stood 2,145 votes behind Governor Peter Shumlin. Milne is waiting for all the votes to come in, and it’s unclear whether the candidate will call for a recount. His decision to wait initially stalled comments from his opponent. Shumlin’s campaign Wednesday morning said the governor would not comment until Milne did, but by late morning Shumlin issued what amounted to a victory statement as Milne put off a planned press conference.

Vermont Business Magazine FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP), the largest telecommunications company in Vermont, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014. FairPoint reported that revenues were $228.1 million in the third quarter of 2014 compared to $236.0 million at the same time in 2013. Revenues were up $2.5 million from the second quarter. The company continues to lose money, with a net loss of $37.8 million compared to a loss of $9.0 million a year ago. So far on Wednesday, shares have moved slightly higher following the report, to $16.33 up 0.9 percent, with a 52-week range of $8.92 - $17.13.

With Killington Resort leading the way, Vermont is officially open for the 2014-15 ski and ride season. Resorts all over Vermont have been taking advantage of great snowmaking temperatures to lay down the white stuff, along with some help from Mother Nature. Find out all the resorts’ opening dates and what they are doing to prepare for another stellar snow season. Nearly all Vermont ski resorts are scheduled to open before December 1.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc (NYSE: BHLB), the parent company of Berkshire Bank with offices in southwestern Vermont, and Hampden Bancorp, Inc (Nasdaq: HBNK) today announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Berkshire will acquire Hampden and its subsidiary, Hampden Bank, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $109 million.

Vermont Business Magazine After a summer and early fall of very low unemployment claims, new unemployment claims in Vermont were up again last week and are near 800 claims for the first time in several months. Levels this year have been running consistently lower than those of last year, but the last two weeks were ahead of last year's numbers. For the week of October 25, 2014, there were 797 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is an increase of 257 from the previous week's total, and 141 more than they were a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine The City of Burlington received permission from the Vermont Public Service Board to sell the assets of Burlington Telecom to a local investor in an order dated November 3, 2014, but the city will continue to be responsible for the operation of the telephone, cable and Internet provider. Under the agreement, the city will fund the largest component of the city's $9.03 million settlement payment with Citibank through a sale of substantially all the assets of Burlington Telecom to Blue Water Holdings LLC, which will then lease BT's assets back to the city. Blue Water is a Vermont limited liability company formed by Raymond C Pecor III as owner and managing member, as part of a sale and operating lease financing. Pecor and his family are the owner/operators of the Lake Champlain Transportation ferries and the Lake Monsters minor league baseball team, among other things.