Current News

Vermont Business Magazine New unemployment claims in Vermont last week reversed course last week and fell and are once-again below totals from a year ago. For the week of July 5, 2014, there were 582 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is a decrease of 233 from the previous week's total, and 445 fewer than they were a year ago. Last week, claims were higher than last year for the first time in 2014.

Vermont Law School has partnered with Lawyers for America (LFA) to increase public service opportunities for law students and provide greater access to justice throughout the United States.

VLS is the second law school in the nation to join LFA, a nonprofit program introduced in 2012 by University of California, Hastings College of the Law. LFA’s mission is to improve the practical skills of new lawyers while expanding the availability of legal services for individuals who cannot afford lawyers by increasing the manpower of legal nonprofits and public law offices. Program partners include The Aspen Institute’s Franklin Project, which spearheaded the national movement to improve citizenship through public service.

Miracle Corners of the World (MCW) announced today the arrival of 37 youth from around the world to Champlain College in Vermont for MCW’s 17th Annual Youth Leadership Retreat.The diverse group, ranging from 16-25 years of age, is composed of 25 “mentees,” eight “mentors,” and two “vision plan facilitators.” They represent 17 different countries and territories, including Armenia, Austria, Botswana, Ethiopia, India, Israel, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Norway, the Palestinian Territories, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, United States of America and Zimbabwe. The youth participants will take part in a week-long program during which they will identify a change they would like to see in their local communities, create a plan to achieve the change, and build the skills and networks they need to meet their goals.

The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, announced it will award $2.5 million in grants in 2014 to support the creation or preservation of rental multifamily housing units for families with children through its ninth annual “Housing for Everyone” grant competition. The “Housing for Everyone” grant competition is the TD Charitable Foundation’s signature program to bolster affordable housing efforts from Maine to Florida. The competition invites local non-profit organizations from Maine to Florida to submit proposals that address the most acute affordable housing needs in their communities.

The theme of this year’s competition is Housing for the Future, focusing on initiatives that will create new or rehabilitate existing energy efficient rental units that provide safe, affordable, accessible housing for today and tomorrow's families.

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc, (Keurig) (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee, coffee makers, teas and other beverages with its innovative brewing technology, announced that it is now the exclusive manufacturer of Harris Teeter branded K-Cup packs for the Keurig brewing system. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We’re happy to welcome Harris Teeter into the Keurig system,” said John Whoriskey, President of U.S. Sales and Marketing at Keurig. “The combination of Harris Teeter’s reputation for offering an excellent selection of high quality products at a good value, and our unparalleled expertise for delivering superior products for our Keurig system is a clear win for Keurig brewer users around the region.”

Vermont Business Magazine Initial submissions from Vermont’s 14 hospitals maintain historically low growth for the second year in a row. Hospital budget submissions received last week by the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) mark the start of a budget review process that includes public hearings August 26-28 and culminates in GMCB decisions on budgets by September 15. The budgets will guide spending in fiscal year 2015, which begins October 1. Preliminary data submitted by Vermont’s 14 hospitals indicate that the average requested total increase in net patient revenue for FY 15 is 2.6 percent.

The Harpoon Brewery, brewers of Harpoon IPA and UFO beers, announced today that effective August 1 it will become an employee-owned company. The existing shareholder group transferred 48 percent of Harpoon’s shares to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). This new structure of employee ownership will ensure the brewery’s independence and preserve Harpoon’s culture. Harpoon is based in Boston with a brewery in Windsor, Vermont, at the former Catamount brewery.

“Employee ownership is the embodiment of what Harpoon stands for,” says Harpoon co-founder Dan Kenary. “Our success as an independent craft brewer is attributed to our outstanding employees and the wonderful culture we have at the brewery. The ESOP strengthens our commitment to our employees, our culture, and to making and sharing great beer.”

FreshTracks Capital, based in Shelburne, announced Thursday the closing of FreshTracks III, its third venture capital fund raised since the firm was founded in 2000. This most recent Fund raised $11.5 million from 48 Limited Partners, and intends to invest in 10 – 15 companies over its 10 year life. FreshTracks deploys most of its investment capital in Vermont-based high growth companies that have an opportunity to grow, increase employment, and generate significant financial returns over time for founders, employees and shareholders. The firm’s General Partner consists of co-founder Cairn Cross, and Managing Directors Tim Davis & Lee Bouyea, who have worked together at FreshTracks since Davis & Bouyea joined the firm in 2005. FreshTracks Co-founder Charlie Kireker remains a Senior Advisor to the Firm, and continues to be a valuable resource to the General Partner on a frequent and ongoing basis.

Vermont Student Assistance Corp, the state’s nonprofit corporate agency committed to the mission that all Vermonters can pursue education after high school, announced it has completed the sale of $29.9 million in education loan revenue bonds, receiving an ‘AA’ rating from Standard and Poor’s and an ‘A’ rating from Fitch Ratings. VSAC used the successful bond transaction to raise funds to offer competitive, fixed-rates as low as 5.85 percent APR on the Vermont Advantage loan for students in the 2014-2015 school year. The Vermont Advantage education loan is available to both undergraduate and graduate students, with a qualified co-signer, who need additional financing for postsecondary education or training. Vermont students attending college in the U.S. or abroad or students from out of state attending a Vermont institution are eligible for this financing.

Vermont Business Magazine While the national financial press was reporting it late Wednesday, IBM (NYSE: IBM) officially announced today that it is investing $3 billion over the next 5 years in two broad research and early stage development programs to push the limits of chip technology needed to meet the emerging demands of cloud computing and Big Data systems. These investments will push IBM's semiconductor innovations from today’s breakthroughs into the advanced technology leadership required for the future. According to national reports, this is not new money but shifting it to newer, future technologies. Those press reports also suggest that IBM is not getting out of the semiconductor business altogether, despite speculation it will sell its Systems & Technology group to Globalfoundries.

The Health Department has alerted health care providers in Windham County about a rise in the number of people with confirmed cases of whooping cough – a total of 11 during the month of June. Ten of the cases were among children ages 3 to 17, and one was an adult. Cases occurred as schools were closing or after they had closed for the summer. To date in July, there are five more suspected cases. All but one of the confirmed and suspected cases are from Brattleboro.

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis, is a highly contagious disease caused by a bacterial infection of the lungs. While fully immunized children can get whooping cough if it takes hold in a community, vaccination is the safest and most effective way to prevent serious illness. The symptoms of this illness are most severe in infants who are too young to be fully vaccinated. The last major outbreak in Vermont was in 2012, with more than 600 cases, including more than 20 infants, statewide.

The parent company of Lake Sunapee Bank, New Hampshire Thrift Bancshares, Inc (NASDAQ: NHTB), has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of thirteen cents ($0.13) per share payable July 31, 2014, to stockholders of record as of July 24, 2014. Sunapee has several branches in Vermont.