Current News

Next Stage Arts Project in Putney has been awarded a $370,000 grant from the national organization, ArtPlace America. Selected as one of 55 recipients out of nearly 1300 applicants, Next Stage was recognized as fulfilling ArtPlace’s mission “to advance the field of creative placemaking, in which art and culture play an explicit and central role in shaping communities’ social, physical and economic futures." Next Stage was noted in ArtPlace’s award announcement for it’s role in helping the community emerge from “two major fires in the village center...

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Business development is all in the family for Patricia Moulton, the state’s new secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Moulton’s resume is studded with key leadership positions in both regional and statewide economic development efforts:

• executive director and director of workforce development at the Brattleboro Development Credit Corp.,
• deputy secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development,
• vice-president of government affairs for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce,
• state labor commissioner, and, before that,
• chair of the state’s Natural Resources Board, which administers the land use law Act 250.

Moulton also helped her ex-husband run his jewelry business for more than two decades. And she and her father, Elbert “Al” Moulton, ran a consulting business for six years.

Green Mountain College has begun extensive renovations to The Lodge facility on Killington Road, which serves as a learning-living laboratory for students in the College’s Killington School of Resort Management.

The renovation includes nearly $400,000 worth of improvements including replacement of 17 bathrooms, installation of a sprinker system and energy efficient windows, upgrades to the building’s heating system, construction of a new multi-level deck, and creation of a large common room in the basement. Carpeting is being replaced and wood floors refinished. The project also reflects a key objective in the College’s strategic plan, which calls for “renovation of existing spaces to enhance comfort, aesthetic appeal, functionality and sustainability.”

The CareFusion Foundation today awarded $500,000 in grant funding to 11 U.S. nonprofit health care institutions as part of the Foundation's second annual Clinical Excellence Grant Program. The institutions will receive grants of up to $50,000 based on programs that develop and share best practices in improving medication safety and efficiency.

"The proper management of medications – from the physician order to the pharmacy to the nursing station to the patient bedside – is a critical issue for health care institutions nationwide," said Dr. Carlos Nunez, chief medical officer for CareFusion. "Working with these nonprofit partners to develop and share best practices for medication management will advance the field at large and help providers deliver safer, more cost-effective care."

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt., President Pro Tempore, and chairman of the State Department and Foreign Operations Subcommittee) has long been the leading U.S. official in the movement to ban anti-personnel landmines. Leahy’s earlier law banning U.S. export of mines was a catalyst leading to the international treaty to ban the use and production of anti-personnel landmines (Ottawa Treaty). Leahy has continued to meet with successive presidents (Clinton, Bush and Obama) to press for U.S.

The White House Internship Program announced today the participants for the Summer 2014 session. The mission of the program is to make the White House accessible to future leaders around the nation and to prepare those devoted to public service for future leadership opportunities.

Kinney Pike Insurance, a leading independent insurance agency in Northern New England, is celebrating their 110 year anniversary of protecting families and businesses. Kinney Pike, based out of Rutland, began in 1904. Over the next several decades, Kinney Pike merged with numerous agencies throughout Vermont, expanding their reach and depth of services, yet remaining true to their core purpose of creating customized insurance solutions while providing clients with the most value for their investment, with an experienced, personal touch.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) commemorated National Homeownership Month Thursday by naming Union Bank the 2014 Vermont Guaranteed Housing Lender of the Year and by celebrating the approximately 750 Vermonters who used a USDA loan product to purchase or improve their home last year.

“Congratulations to the team at Union Bank and their customers who realized the American dream of homeownership using a USDA Rural Development loan guarantee,” said USDA Rural Development Vermont and New Hampshire State Director Ted Brady. “Rural Development’s guaranteed loan program and direct loan program puts homeownership within reach of hundreds of Vermonters each year – helping to build stronger rural communities, create jobs, and build equity.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today introduced legislation to make federal regulators invoke emergency powers to stop speculators from taking advantage of turmoil in Iraq to drive up oil prices and make motorists pay more for gasoline.

“I am getting tired of big oil companies and Wall Street speculators using Iraq as an excuse to pump up oil and gas prices,” said Sanders, a member of the Senate energy committee. “The fact is that high gasoline prices have less to do with supply and demand and more to do with Wall Street speculators driving prices up in the energy futures market.”

Wall Street has pushed up the price of crude oil by more than 5 percent since June 12, when militants attacked and took control of several Iraqi cities. In the longer term, oil prices rose 53 percent since 2009.

Verizon Wireless has deployed its newest network technology – known as XLTE – in Burlington and Rutland, Vermont. XLTE enriches the mobile experience by providing enhanced access to Verizon’s high-speed 4G LTE mobile broadband network.

Verizon Wireless’ data shows customers in Burlington and Rutland are living the mobile lifestyle – watching video, surfing the web and posting status updates all on-the-go – and Verizon’s research indicates that this trend of data consumption will continue to grow. Over the past several months Verizon Wireless has more than doubled the capacity of its 4G LTE network in Burlington and Rutland.