Current News

by Katie Jickling vtdigger.org Hours after President Barack Obama announced that armed troops will not return to combat in Iraq, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for a continued military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan from a stage at Norwich University. Rice talked about leadership, democracy, disruption and a range of international affairs issues in her address to an audience of 3,000 at Norwich on Thursday. Protesters disrupted the speech seconds after Rice came to the podium. Individuals dispersed throughout the audience stood up and yelled. One protester shouted “war criminal” as he was escorted from the room. Some members of the crowd booed the protesters.

The Burlington Board of School Commissioners has appointed Stephanie Phillips to serve as acting superintendent. Phillips, the district’s director of curriculum, replaces outgoing Superintendent Jeanné Collins, who is stepping down effective June 30. Collins accepted a $225,000 buyout of her contract and is headed for the Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union as superintendent. Collins had come under fire after several budgetary problems arose. Mayor Miro Weinberger was among those who had been urging the Board to part ways with Collins.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont jobless rate, the number of employed and unemployed, and the total labor force stayed remarkably the same in May relative to the April numbers. The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for May 2014 was 3.3 percent. This represents no change from the previously reported April rate. The equivalent national average was 6.3 percent, which also held steady from the previous month’s estimate. By not declining, May 2014 data ends a streak of seven consecutive months of reported decreases to the statewide unemployment rate in Vermont. As of the prior month’s initial data, Vermont’s unemployment rate remains the second lowest in the country. The seasonally adjusted Vermont data for May show the Vermont civilian labor force increased by 250 from the prior month estimates.

Vermont Business Magazine New unemployment claims in Vermont last week increased slightly but stayed under 500 for the third consecutive week. For the week of June 14, 2014, there were 437 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is an increase of 34 from the previous week's total, and 272 fewer than they were a year ago. Claims in 2014 have been running significantly lower than those in 2013.

Altogether 4,656 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 360 from a week ago and 1,357 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 10 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 3 fewer than the previous week.

The Town of Shoreham and Vermont Gas have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines the next steps to bring natural gas to the southern Addison County town. Signed by the full Shoreham Selectboard, the agreement includes distribution of natural gas to homes and businesses in Shoreham; conditions on how and where the 10-inch underground transmission pipeline is built; the creation of a community fund; and enhanced emergency training and safety management measures. Also, Shoreham is considering converting its municipal buildings to natural gas.

Based on Shoreham's unique status hosting the transmission line to the Ticonderoga Paper Mill, Vermont Gas will create a $100,000 community fund to be administered by Shoreham's Selectboard. The fund may be used for consumer education, feasibility studies related to commercial expansion in town, retrofitting municipal facilities, and a financing program for residents to make energy-efficiency improvements.

The Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources’ Materials Management Plan went into effect June 18, 2014. Formerly named the State Solid Waste Management Plan, the Plan sets source reduction, reuse, and recycling goals for local governments for the next five years. Required by the 2012 Universal Recycling law, the Plan ensures consistent services where Vermonters live work and play.

“I’m proud of our Agency’s Solid Waste staff who worked hard to develop this excellent plan,” said ANR Secretary Deb Markowitz. “Vermont is the first state in the country to begin to implement such an ambitious waste-reduction plan. In implementing this plan, we’ll decrease greenhouse gas emissions, improve local waste-reduction infrastructure, and increase the amount of valuable materials that are reused or recycled.”

Vermont Business Magazine Keurig Green Mountain, Inc, the single-cup beverage company based in Waterbury, Vermont, announced today that it will open a manufacturing facility in Douglas County, Georgia. The new Douglas County manufacturing center is the first Keurig facility dedicated to the production of pods for the company’s new Keurig Cold platform. The Keurig Cold in-home beverage system will give consumers a convenient way to quickly produce their favorite cold beverage brands with the same one-touch system typical of the Keurig brand. Keurig is in the development process and plans to introduce the cold system to consumers in fiscal year 2015 (which begins this fall). A Keurig spokesperson said in an email statement that, "We will be continuing to grow our manufacturing capacity in Vermont.

The Vermont Community Foundation announced that the Innovations and Collaborations grant program awarded $216,000 to 15 nonprofit organizations in Vermont in June. One of a number of competitive grant programs at the Community Foundation, Innovations and Collaborations supports projects that help nonprofits collaborate across sectors and regions to develop common solutions to community needs. Community Foundation fundholders partnered with the Foundation in making the grants, which ranged from $10,000 to $20,000 for new and continued projects.

Vermont Business Magazine Fletcher Allen Partners and The University of Vermont announced today that Fletcher Allen Partners will be changing its name to The University of Vermont Health Network. As part of the brand strategy approved by the Fletcher Allen Partners and University of Vermont boards, and Fletcher Allen Health Care’s board, Fletcher Allen Health Care will be renamed The University of Vermont Medical Center. CVPH Medical Center will adopt the name “Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital” and will use that name together with “The University of Vermont Health Network” in all communications to express its participation in the Network. Central Vermont Medical Center and Elizabethtown Community Hospital will use their names with “The University of Vermont Health Network” in the same manner to express their affiliation in all communications. The change is planned to take effect this fall.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston announced Ernest “Ernie” Pomerleau, President and CEO of Burlington’s Pomerleau Real Estate, as the 2014 Chair of the Boston Fed’s New England Advisory Council (NEAC). The NEAC is convened by Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and includes senior leaders of small- to mid-size businesses throughout New England. Members advise the Bank about underlying trends in the economy as viewed through the prisms of their own companies and respective industries.

“I am grateful to Ernie for his commitment to public service,” said President Rosengren. “The conversations we have at the NEAC meetings are among the many ways the Boston Fed stays connected to the business community, and helps inform the perspectives that I share when I attend the Federal Open Market Committee meetings in Washington.”

Twenty organic farm and consumer groups have filed a petition with US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to protect the authority and permanence of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). The petitioners object to recent changes to the NOSB charter, renewed onMay 8, 2014, that undermine the mandatory and continuing duties of the Board as established by Congress under the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990. The NOSB, intended to safeguard the integrity of the organic food label, was created by Congress with independent authorities that operate outside the discretion of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Petitioners maintain that in renewing the charter under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), USDA mistakenly re-categorized the NOSB as a time-limited Advisory Board subject to USDA's discretion and a narrowing of responsibilities.

A new program is available to help Vermont homeowners with the cost of repairing or replacing failed residential wastewater and drinking water systems. The program, established by the Vermont Legislature in 2012, assists Vermonters with limited financial resources to cope with increasingly expensive failed systems.

“The On-site Revolving Loan Program fills a critical need,” according to David Mears, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. “This is a program aimed at Vermont homeowners, one that provides low-cost financing to those faced with a failing residential wastewater or drinking water system. It is unique in that it provides a viable option to those who demonstrate need, but who have already been rejected by traditional financing in the commercial marketplace.”