Current News

The East Central Vermont Community Fiber Optic Network (ECFiber) today announced dramatic increases in the Internet speeds it provides to its customers. ECFiber subscribers currently using 5, 10 or 20 Mbps symmetrical connections will be automatically upgraded to 7, 20 or 50 Mbps, respectively at no additional charge. “This speed increase will help our subscribers handle the increasing bandwidth load being created by richer Internet content and by multiple devices in each home,” said Stan Williams, CEO.

The Working Lands Enterprise Board announces this year’s grant recipients - 37 projects for $1.1 million in grants reaching every county in Vermont (8 forestry projects, 28 agriculture projects, 1 ag and forestry project) and leveraging $1.8 million in matching funds, building upon last year’s initial investment of $1 million. This year, the program further invests in job creation, innovation, sustainability, and increased income. An event to recognize the recipients was held at Grow Compost in Moretown.

“We recognize the tremendous economic and environmental impact that our Working Lands businesses have across the state of Vermont,” said Governor Shumlin. “By investing in technical assistance and infrastructure for our ag and forest economies, we are creating jobs and supporting a quality of life that will attract Vermonters and out-of-stater’s for generations to come.”

Dr Richard Galbraith has been appointed vice president for research at the University of Vermont. He is currently a professor of medicine and interim senior associate dean for research in the College of Medicine and director of the Vermont Center for Clinical and Translational Science.

The Town of Hartford has broken ground for renovations to the Hartford Municipal Building, located at 171 Bridge Street in White River Junction. Bread Loaf Corporation of Middlebury, Vermont is providing Integrated Project Management services for design and construction of a complete renovation of existing Town offices housed in the19th century school building.

VTel Wireless has announced an agreement with Sprint (NYSE: S) to collaborate on enhancing LTE service including VTel Wireless customer access to Sprint's robust device ecosystem. By leveraging Sprint's device platform, VTel Wireless expects to soon offer speeds of over 100 megabits per second over its 4G/LTE wireless network, allowing the Vermont-based wireless carrier to bring unprecedented high-speeds to rural Vermonters for both fixed wireless broadband and mobile phone service.

This agreement with Sprint will be highlighted on July 1 at VTel Wireless' upcoming ribbon cutting ceremony in Hardwick, Vermont, where the company will be celebrating the official launch of its wireless network. At this event, Sprint and VTel will work together - using Sprint's devices and technology - to demonstrate these lightning fast-speeds.

Vermont small businesses employ 156,760 workers, approximately three-fifths of the state’s workforce, according to a new state-by-state report released June 17 by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy. Vermont’s unemployment rate dropped from 5.1 percent in December 2012 to 4.2 percent in December 2013. The national unemployment rate average was 6.7 percent. (For April 2014, Vermont’s rate was 3.3 percent and the US rate was 6.3 percent.) The report also shows Vermont has 77,726 small businesses, most of which are sole proprietors. Annual income from sole proprietorships increased 7.6 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2013 and totaled $2.3 billion.

The Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act introduced today in Congress would ban paid prioritization deals, ensuring that consumers can access all content equally, preventing a two-tiered Internet system. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA), member of the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, introduced bicameral legislation to require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ban so-called “paid prioritization” agreements between a broadband provider and a content provider. The Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act would help prevent the creation of a two-tiered Internet system, ensuring start-ups and entrepreneurs have access to the marketplace and ensuring consumers can access all content equally. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.), Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) are original cosponsors of the legislation.

Vermont home sales showed a slight increase in total transactions in May, up 0.2 percent, while the median price increased 4.7 percent. Meanwhile, pending sales were up 9.3 percent year-over-year. The RE/MAX of New England May Monthly Housing Report overall shows pending home sales in the region are up on average 3.7 percent over May 2013. The New England housing market experienced an average year-over-year sales drop of -8.4 percent. This is the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in 2014. Median prices were up in every state except Connecticut. Inventory in every state except Vermont shows a decrease year-over-year. Overall home sales show an increase of 26.2 percent month-over-month, an expected trend at this time of year.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Rutland Regional Medical Center and state regulators have dropped plans for a payment reform pilot program that would have capped the hospital’s budget, but also guaranteed its revenue in the coming year, officials said. Regulators and other state officials said the pilot wouldn’t go forward because there wasn’t sufficient time to obtain federal waivers, negotiate contracts and transition Rutland Regional to a payment model known as a global budget. Global budgets are set payments determined by regulators to care for the population a hospital serves. It is an alternative to the hospital’s billing for each individual service it provides.

State regulators already set hospital revenue, but are limited in their ability to penalize hospitals that overshoot their budget. Likewise, hospitals that come in under budget aren’t able to keep that money.

by Kate Jickling vtdigger.org Victor Twiggs says the addicts come for the pizza. The director of GYST — “Get Your Stuff Together” — Twiggs is building a support system for troubled young men, often with substance abuse issues, on Tuesday nights in Morrisville. Twiggs was one of nearly 200 participants in a community forum who came together to address problems associated with opiate addiction and trafficking on Monday. The purpose of the forum was to build a collaborative, statewide approach to solutions in local communities. Counselors, recovering drug addicts, law enforcement officers, nonprofit representatives and elected officials from around Vermont shared ideas and resources as they sorted through the causes of the state’s escalating drug problem.

“I just see a light come on in their eyes when they see that someone’s really listening to what they have to say,” Twiggs told a full Statehouse chamber Monday.

Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc has thrown the weight of its fudge chunks into the Vermont "Food Fight." In response to the lawsuits filed against Vermont’s first in the nation GMO labeling law, Ben & Jerry’s unveiled Food Fight Fudge Brownie, an honorary renaming of one of it’s most iconic flavors, Chocolate Fudge Brownie to support Vermont’s legal defense. Vermont’s Governor Peter Shumlin, business leaders, members of the Vermont Right to Know Coalition, and passers by watched as the company’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield unveiled a giant pint of the new flavor, Food Fight Fudge Brownie, at its flagship store on Church Street in Burlington.

Jerry Greenfield with Governor Shumlin on Monday on Church Street in Burlington. Courtesy photo.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Fletcher Allen Health Care has revised its charity care policy to comply with new IRS rules with the result that some uninsured or underinsured patients will have to pay more for care they receive at the state’s largest hospital. The policy change comes in response to new IRS requirements that are part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for hospitals to keep their nonprofit status, according to Shannon Lonergan, Fletcher Allen’s director of registration and customer service.