Current News

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.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed Congressman Peter Welch’s bipartisan legislation to encourage schools administrators to make cost-saving energy efficiency upgrades. The Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools Act, modeled after Vermont’s school-based energy efficiency efforts, is the second Welch-authored energy efficiency bill to pass the House this year.

“I am pleased the House is taking another bipartisan step in support of energy efficiency. This bill will save taxpayers money and improve the environment by cutting energy costs in local schools. And it will create jobs through the use of American-made energy efficiency products,” said Rep. Welch. “Energy efficiency is a practical idea that has brought Democrats and Republicans together in Congress to achieve real progress for the American people.”

Three organizations are joining efforts to help Rutland residents lower their energy costs this summer. Efficiency Vermont, Green Mountain Power (GMP), and Neighbor Works of Western Vermont H.E.A.T. Squad are teaming up to knock on every door in the City to reach out to Rutland City residents, answer their energy questions, and connect them with opportunities to lower their energy costs. The goal is to reach out to over 7,000 households by September.

“This is an exciting initiative to help empower Rutland residents to save money,” said Mary Powell, President and CEO of Green Mountain Power. “Each of our organizations has complementary information and expertise, which is why we’re working together to deliver a one-stop-shop energy resource for Rutland. We’ll give them information about the easy first steps they can make to take control of their energy use. ”

Renewable NRG Systems, a designer and manufacturer of decision support tools for the global renewable energy industry, has supplied a Wind Iris nacelle-mounted Lidar system to Northern Power Systems Corp. (TSX: NPS) for the purpose of performing power curve testing and validation of the NPS 100 wind turbine platform. The Wind Iris will be used to measure the free stream wind speed ahead of the turbine, where the blocking effect is minimal.

The data compiled by the Wind Iris will allow NPS to determine the impact of different upgrades on wind turbine power performance. Additionally, it will enable the company to accurately characterize how the turbine anemometer and vane measurements are influenced by the rotation of the blades and the structure, known as the nacelle transfer function (NTF).

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation reports that white pine tree needle damage is widespread in the state again this spring. According to Windham County Forester Bill Guenther, “The golden hue of white pine needle blight exploded onto the scene in early June”. Although the damage is very noticeable, it is not life-threatening to healthy white pines.

Widespread yellowing of white pine needles has been particularly noticeable in the region since 2010. Topmost branches are rarely affected by the disease. Although the white pine needle damage looks serious, the trees aren’t dying, and their new shoots should grow normally. Trees will look better in early summer, once all the injured needles are shed.

The US Small Business Administration is reminding small businesses that July 21 is the filing deadline for federal economic injury disaster loans that are available in the counties of Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange,Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor in Vermont as a result of excessive rain and flooding beginning May 5, 2013. Under this declaration, the SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is available to eligible farm-related and nonfarm-related entities that suffered financial losses as a direct result of this disaster. With the exception of aquaculture enterprises, SBA cannot provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers.

The loans are for working capital and can be up to $2 million with interest rates of 4 percent for eligible small businesses and 2.875 percent for non-profit organizations, and terms up to
30 years.

Vermont Business Magazine Another economic data point ranks Vermont among the best in the nation. State personal income increased 0.8 percent on average in the US in the first quarter of 2014, an acceleration from the 0.5 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to estimates released Tuesday by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income grew in 46 states and growth accelerated in 24 of those states. The fastest growth, 1.4 percent, was in Washington state, Vermont, and West Virginia. Personal income fell 2.9 percent in North Dakota, 0.3 percent in South Dakota, and 0.2 percent in Arkansas and Nebraska. Inflation, as measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditures, was 0.3 percent in the first quarter, the same as in the fourth quarter.

Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer today released the findings of an investigation into a powerful state database that sheds light on prices, trends, and variation across Vermont’s health care system. The Vermont Health Care Uniform Reporting and Evaluation System (VHCURES) is a digital catalogue of all fees for medical services and products that insurers paid over the last seven years for Vermont residents. The Auditor’s inquiry found that while the State has made great progress in developing this resource, State entities have yet to fulfill the statutory duty of using the database to better inform consumers about health care.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org A recent study of proposed health insurance premiums in state exchanges shows Vermont could have the highest average cost and least variation in the price of the most popular silver plans.