Current News

The Vermont Retail and Grocers Association (VRGA) has announced the co-winners of the 2014 VRGA Person of the Year Award: Marcel Marquis, with Shaw’s Supermarkets, and Bonnie Hawley, owner of Hawley’s Florist in Rutland. According to Jim Harrison, President of VRGA, “Both Bonnie and Marcel have been active members and participants in the predecessor organizations (Vermont Grocers Association and Vermont Retail Association) and continue to be so with VRGA. Each has a long resume of service to their communities and to their associations.”

As the political season warms up as the nights cool down here in Vermont, the political parties are offering their takes on the state of the economy. Republicans and Democrats both released statements recently following the release of the July unemployment rate, which went up three-tenths to 3.7 percent, tied for fourth lowest in the nation. You may see a link to the original story below with related articles and the political responses below.

REPUBLICANS: Vermont’s Working Families Continue to Suffer While Shumlin Administration “Hopes” Conditions Will Improve

The Brattleboro Retreat’s 5^th Annual Ride for Heroes, held on Saturday August 16^th, exceeded all previous attendance and fundraising records by attracting 287 participants and raising more than $20,000 for the hospital’s Uniformed Service Program.

The ride, with an escort from the Windham County Sheriff’s department, began on the Retreat’s campus and continued on a 70-mile tour through Wilmington, Whitingham, and Searsburg, before returning to the Retreat for a barbeque lunch.

The day began with Retreat employee, Donny Richard, welcoming the riders and speaking about the needs of uniformed professionals everywhere who have experienced trauma in their public service.

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR), based in Waterbury, Vermont, continues to change the way consumers in the United States and Canada brew coffee at home with the release of the new Keurig 2.0 hot beverage brewing system. This weekend, Keurig 2.0 made its debut on Keurig.com and national retailers' websites, as well as at the flagship Keurig Store in Burlington, MA., where consumers can be among the first to experience the new system in person. Roll-out at retail partners nationwide will follow in the coming weeks.

Sugarbush Resort has invested over $4.5 million on improvements this summer in preparation for the upcoming winter. The resort has invested $1.8 million in snowmaking equipment, completing a five-year, $5 million capital project that delivered upgrades in snowmaking at both Lincoln Peak and Mt Ellen including the purchase of over 500 low-energy snowguns. This latest investment includes the purchase and installation of 351 new Snow Logic, HKD, and Ratnik snowguns, as well as significant improvements to infrastructure, with the replacement of a variety of pipes, pumps, valves, and compressors. The new snowguns are expected to help reduce statewide energy consumption by saving an estimated 1,998,256 kWh of electricity and 2,324,392 pounds of carbon emissions per year.

by Rob Roper Over 85 percent of Vermonters agree that employees should have the right to decide, without force or penalty, whether to join or leave a labor union. That number is slightly higher than the national average of 83 percent, according to new polling released in conjunction with National Employee Freedom Week. (500 Vermonters were polled as part of the study).

This reflects first and foremost a sense of fairness. We live in a free country, and the freedom to join, not to join, or leave any association or organization without paying a fine or a fee or losing one’s job should be considered a basic, inviolable right. Unfortunately, Right to Work laws, which guarantee workers the right to not join unions as a condition of employment and which prohibit the coercive collection of dues from workers who choose not to join, exist only in twenty-four states. Vermont isn’t one of them.

by John Herrick vtdigger.org State regulators on Thursday questioned whether to postpone review of Vermont Gas’ proposed pipeline extension from Middlebury to New York. The South Burlington natural gas utility must obtain a federal regulatory waiver before the state has the authority to approve the pipeline project that crosses state lines to the International Paper mill in Ticonderoga, New York. But first Vermont Gas must submit an application for a section of the project to New York regulators for approval.

Steve Wark, the spokesman for Vermont Gas, said Friday the company won’t file an application until December.

Without this application, federal regulators may not decide on the waiver. Until Vermont Gas obtains the waiver, the state does not have full authority to permit the pipeline.

Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR) and Jeffrey Carr, President, Economic & Policy Resources (EPR), have announced the 2nd Quarter results of their joint initiative, the VBR-EPR Business Conditions Survey. The survey, which is conducted quarterly, provides a predictive index going forward. The most recent survey indicated a mildly optimistic to neutral outlook. The new economic indicator, constructed as a Diffusion Index, is designed to follow economic sentiments of Roundtable members over time, and serve as a tool for analyzing and presenting insight into the Vermont economic outlook, as a leading economic indicator.

The 2nd Quarter survey, which achieved a response rate of 73 percent overall, included a 50 percent or greater response rate from all sectors within the membership. The survey asked eight questions about the economic outlook, demand, capital spending, and employment. Survey results show that:

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc, (Keurig) (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee, coffee makers, teas and other beverages with its innovative brewing technology, and Kraft Foods Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: KRFT), one of North America's largest consumer packaged food and beverage companies, announced a multi-year licensing, manufacturing, and distribution agreement for Kraft's branded coffees in Keurig^® portion pack formats compatible with Keurig® consumer and commercial brewing systems in the U.S. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Latest fine offering is cider brined, low in sodium and without added sugar

Bacon eaters looking for full, lip-smacking flavor with less sodium and sugar are in luck thanks a new premium bacon from Vermont Smoke and Cure about to hit retailers’ shelves.

One of the keys to the new Low Sodium Uncured Bacon is a special brine using naturally sweet Vermont apple cider, a centuries-old combination of spices and just enough sea salt plus salt containing potassium rather than sodium. Smoked over corncobs and maple wood, this carefully crafted blend of cider and spices provides a taste that ensures you won’t miss the sodium or sugar.

Vermont renewable energy entrepreneur and President and CEO of AllEarth Renewables, David Blittersdorf, received an honorary degree from Boston’s Wentworth Institute of Technology and delivered the keynote address at their summer commencement Saturday.

Blittersdorf, who grew up in Pittsford, Vermont, received an associate’s degree in Mechanical Design Engineering Technology from Wentworth in 1977, and later earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Vermont in 1981. The following year, he founded NRG Systems (recently renamed Renewable NRG Systems) of Hinesburg, Vermont, and over the next 27 years developed it into a global leader in wind resource measurement technology.

Vermont borrowers who took out a loan from Western Sky (also known as CashCall or Delbert), one of the largest online lenders of high-interest consumer loans, are reminded that September 1, 2014, is the deadline to file their claim for a cash refund. Specific details regarding the Western Sky/CashCall settlement and how to file a claim are available here.

To date, the Vermont Attorney General has settled with four lenders and one payment processor, resulting in over $1,100,000 in combined total restitution for Vermont borrowers, and $105,000 in direct payments to the State. Borrower refunds for these other settlements are being issued automatically.