Current News

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org A group of EB-5 investors say they are growing increasingly frustrated with Northeast Kingdom developer Bill Stenger and are speaking out publicly for the first time. The group of 20 investors in the Tram Haus development at Jay Peak Resort, led by Tony Sutton of Clermont, Florida, question whether Stenger had the right to change the terms of their original investment and whether the new financial deal imposed by Jay Peak is as good. They also claim Stenger has withheld financial information they say they are entitled to under state law and that state officials are not doing enough to protect their interests.

They say they were blindsided when Stenger unilaterally converted their shares in Tram Haus Lodge into IOUs in August 2013. They didn’t receive documents associated with the transaction until May of this year.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org The 35 investors in the Tram Haus Lodge at Jay Peak Resort are immigrants from Europe, Canada and Asia who sought permanent residency in the United States. Most of them, according to Tony Sutton, one of the investors, are middle- and upper-middle-class people who sold their homes and pulled together savings to make a $500,000 downpayment on a green card and what they believed would be a profitable investment. They don’t fit the stereotype of foreign investors with excess disposable cash.

One of the investors, who wanted to remain anonymous, is dismayed by public comments about the investors posted on VTDigger.

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) announced this week that it is honoring several legislators for their work in passing laws that support socially responsible businesses. Representative Sarah Buxton from Tunbridge and Senator David Zuckerman from Hinesburg are the recipients of VBSR’s Legislator of the Year Awards. The organization will also give a Lifetime Achievement Award to Sen. Sally Fox, who passed away earlier this year.

Buxton was instrumental in leading the effort to pass a bill to bring universal prekindergarten services to Vermont. As the face of the campaign during the 2013-2014 biennium, Buxton was successful in making the case that investing in early childhood education pays off in a stronger future workforce and in reduced social services costs.

Direct Travel, Inc, one of the nation's leading travel management companies, today announced that it has acquired Child Travel | Albany Travel (Child Travel) of Burlington, Vermont, and Albany, New York. This move marks the company's fourth acquisition this year, and comes just months following their announcement of the acquirement of Hurley Travel Experts of Portland, Maine.

Founded in 1983 by Ted Child, Child Travel is a flourishing New England agency specializing in both corporate and leisure travel. With sales volume totaling $40 Million, Child Travel is ranked as one of the top Travel Management Companies in the US by Business Travel News.

The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced its decision Wednesday to deny the Friends of Wolcott Pond’s petition to restrict use of Wolcott Pond. The Department found that enforcement of the existing 5 mph speed limit is preferred to prohibiting internal combustion motors from using Wolcott Pond.

“Wolcott Pond is an accessible, natural pond with some nice wetland edges that provides important recreational opportunities for fishing and wildlife watching. We are pleased that the pond will continue to be available to all boaters who respect and obey the 5 mph speed limit on all areas of the pond,” said Department of Environmental Conservation Lakes & Ponds Program Manager Susan Warren.

Governor Peter Shumlin presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday marking the completed construction of the Vermont Department of Health's new state-of-the-art publich health laboratory at the Colchester Business and Technology Park. The facility physically adjoins UVM's Colchester Research Facility and was designed in collaboration with UVM. The new lab will open for business in November. The 47,844-square-foot facility replaces the Health Department’s current 32,695 square-foot laboratory in Burlington. Built in 1952, it was the oldest public health lab in the nation and had to be replaced due to a lack of space and an outdated structure.

“We’re proud to be able to provide a new facility for Vermonters at a time when the ability to quickly and effectively respond to both existing and emerging health threats has never been more important,” said Gov. Shumlin. “It’s been 14 years of waiting, thinking and planning, and today we can say, ‘Mission Accomplished.'"

Vermont Business Magazine Anticosti Hydrocarbons LP, a limited partnership between Resources Quebec Inc, Petrolia Inc, Saint-Aubin E&P (Quebec) Inc, and Corridor Resources Inc, has signed a strategic agreement in principle with Gaz Metro Limited Partnership to develop associated natural gas from Anticosti Island. The agreement with Gaz Metro will provide Anticosti Hydrocarbons with access to the expertise of Quebec's leading gas distribution utility and distribution franchise-holder on Anticosti Island to identify economic, operational, and technical solutions to transporting associated natural gas to consumer markets should any be produced in the event hydrocarbon resource production gets underway on Anticosti Island (situated in the Gulf of St Lawrence between the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick). Gaz Metro is the parent company of Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas Systems.

The Snelling Center Launches a new program aimed at building greater knowledge, engagement, and leadership in early childhood issues across a broad spectrum of Vermonters. The Snelling Center for Government is a sub-recipient of a statewide Early Learning Challenge -- Race to the Top Grant (ELC-RTT) and early next year will launch the state’s first and only Early Childhood Leadership Institute. The Early Childhood Leadership Institute (ECLI) is envisioned as a means to equip a broad coalition of families, policymakers, and professionals from diverse sectors with the knowledge, motivation, and interpersonal skills to collaborate toward realizing a shared vision for young children and their families in every Vermont community.

The Franklin family has been farming in southernVermont for nine generations. A family operation with one son helping full-time and two others pitching in on weekends, the certified organic dairy farm stays busy raising and milking some 52 dairy cows, along with producing fresh organic eggs and farm-raised organic beef, and some of the best-tasting organic maple syrup in Vermont.

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said he is “disappointed” by today’s announcement of only a 1.7 percent increase in the cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security beneficiaries and disabled veterans. The cost-of-living adjustment is one of the smallest increases since the automatic annual adjustments were adopted in 1975. (There was no increase in benefits in 2010 or 2011.)

“At a time when the prices of prescription drugs and electricity are skyrocketing, I am disappointed that seniors and disabled veterans will only be getting a 1.7 percent increase next year,” said Sanders. “This is the third year in a row that the cost-of-living adjustment will be less than 2 percent.”

by John Herrick vtdigger.org The Legislature next session will decide whether electric utilities should be required to sell renewable energy to customers, rekindling a debate over the price Vermont consumers will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The creation of a renewable portfolio standard would establish by law how much electricity generated from wind, solar and other renewable resources utilities must be sold to customers. Under the state’s current voluntary goal, utilities are allowed to sell renewable power credits out of state to reduce electric rates.

Governors and lawmakers in state capitals across the nation continue to take major steps to lower energy costs, reduce pollution, and save consumers money by increasing their states’ energy efficiency, according to the findings of the 8th edition of the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard released today by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The report found that in 2014 Massachusetts (#1) continues to edge out California (#2) as the most energy-efficient state in the nation for the fourth year in a row. Following these states in the top 10 are: Rhode Island (marking the state’s first time in top five), Oregon, and Vermont (all tied for #3); Connecticut (#6); New York (#7); Washington (#8); Maryland (#9); and Minnesota (#10).

Other key State Energy Efficiency Scorecard findings include the following: