Current News

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility has announced that the member businesses in the Business Energy Action (BEA) challenge have reduced their overall energy consumption by 5.6 percent, beating the program’s stated goal of 5 percent. Companies from law offices to restaurants, from a single employee to some of the state’s biggest employers, all worked to reduce their footprint from electricity and heating needs.

Maclay Architects in Waitsfield has been incrementally reducing their overall office energy use over the past fifteen years.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the senior student loan notes at 'AAAsf' and the subordinate student loan notes at 'Asf' issued by Vermont Student Assistance Corp Series 2013-1. The Rating Outlook for the notes, which is tied to the sovereign rating of the US government, is Stable.

KEY RATING DRIVERS

High Collateral Quality: The trust collateral is comprised of 100% of Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans. The credit quality of the trust collateral is high, in Fitch's opinion, based on the guarantees provided by the transaction's eligible guarantors and at least 97% reinsurance of principal and accrued interest provided by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Fitch affirmed at 'AAA' and assigned a Stable Outlook to the U.S. sovereign rating on March 24, 2014.

The nationwide average price of gasoline some seven days ahead of the Memorial Day weekend is almost identical with price levels seen in 2013 and 2012, but dramatic differences are observed when one moves beyond the average and examines detailed fuel prices in states and cities. The nationwide average this weekend is likely to be between $3.60-$3.64 gal, or within a few pennies of the $3.64 gal average from Memorial Day 2012 and the $3.63 gal average on the holiday in 2013. But statewide averages should range between $3.35 gal and $4.35 gal, reflecting the widest regional diversity in recent memory. Vermont is at $3.72, or about 15 cents higher than a year ago. What’s more, the diversity is bi-directional with some states kicking off the driving season with much lower price offerings, while other areas find stiff increases versus previous years.

In the wake of two tragic homicides involving toddlers with a link to the state’s Department for Children and Families (DCF), Governor Peter Shumlin today called for a number of steps designed to ensure that the Department is better able to protect children and support families and re-focus on its core mission of protecting children at risk.

“While the responsibility to protect children does not rest with government alone, we must make certain our Department for Children and Families is doing everything possible to protect Vermont’s children and strengthen our families,” the governor said in a lengthy statement released Wednesday afternoon.

Vermont Business Magazine Ending months of speculation, the man who founded Campaign for Vermont said today that he will not run for governor in 2014. Despite strong urgings by a broad cross section of Vermonters over the past few months and numerous persistent inquiries, Bruce Lisman, a native Vermonter and successful business executive, said he wants to focus on grassroots engagement and non-partisan advocacy.

No Republican has yet to step forward to challenge Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin.

Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce today announced Dealer.com as the winner of the prestigious and highly anticipated Deane C. Davis Outstanding Business of the Year Award.

Presented by Governor Shumlin at the opening ceremonies of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce Business and Industry EXPO, this annual award honors a Vermont business that shows an outstanding history of sustained growth while displaying an acute awareness of what makes Vermont unique. The award, named for the former governor of Vermont, was created 24 years ago by Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce to recognize and honor the state's best companies.

The US Treasury Department today announced the transfer of $4,477,238 in State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) funds to the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) to help local businesses access the capital they need to expand, grow and hire. Specifically, VEDA will use the funds to leverage greater levels of private lending to small businesses by partnering with local community banks. According to the most recent SSBCI quarterly report, participating states accelerated their expenditure, obligation or transfer of SSBCI funds in 2013, more than doubling the amount reaching small businesses or investment funds.

Green Mountain Power announced Wednesday that its Energy Innovation Center (EIC) in downtown Rutland has been awarded LEED Gold certification by the US Green Building Council, recognizing the building as a leading example of building for environmental and health performance.

“Building operations are nearly 40 percent of the solution to the global climate change challenge,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council. “While climate change is a global problem, innovative companies like Green Mountain Power are addressing it through local solutions.”

by Morgan True vtdigger.org The tech firm CGI will miss another deadline in its contract to build the Vermont Health Connect website, but instead of seeking to impose penalties the state has agreed to push back the due date, state officials said.

“Our focus is more on getting the work done and making sure it gets done right,” said Mark Larson, commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access in an interview Tuesday.

A May 21 deadline for a component that will allow users or customer service representatives to make changes to a person’s coverage was written into a revised contract signed by the state and CGI in early April.

Mark Larson, commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access

During a school assembly in Westminster Tuesday, Vermont Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott, staff members of Vermont’s Congressional Delegation, and officials from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) joined students and school officials to celebrate the construction of a $1,105,000 arts and science expansion at the Compass School.

Compass School is a small independent school that serves about 100 Vermont and New Hampshire students in grades 7 through 12. The loan will enable the school to build a 1,600-square-foot addition, make several energy efficiency upgrades to the existing and new heating and cooling systems and refinance existing debt.

The Vermont Folklife Center announces the receipt of a $33,750 Archie Green Fellowship Award from the American Folkife Center at the Library of Congress to conduct ethnographic and oral history research into contemporary grassroots agriculture in the state. The Archie Green Fellowship was established by the American Folklife Center to stimulate innovative research projects documenting occupational culture in contemporary America.

Farming has held a central role in the culture and economy of Vermont since the colonial period. The current explosion of small-scale, grass-roots agriculture in the state draws on this long history, mixing historical approaches and perspectives with contemporary ideas, needs and goals. At the same time, these efforts also involve the adoption of new ideas and approaches that were never part of past agricultural practice in Vermont or the region.

On Saturday, May 17, Vermont Tech celebrated the college’s 148th annual commencement ceremony. Taking place at Norwich University’s Shapiro Fieldhouse in Northfield, Vt., 456 Vermont Tech students graduated with associate and bachelor’s degrees.

“Just as there was no hiding from that final exam, that senior project, that lab report, that shift at the farm, that clinic, there is no escape from the credit that is due to you, for your effort and commitment and the drive that got you here, in the spring, at a moment of transition and transformation,” said Vermont Tech President Dan Smith to the graduating class. “It has not been easy and nor should it be, because it is a benchmark and a milestone that you will note for the rest of your lives when you hear yourself say: ‘I graduated from Vermont Tech in the spring of 2014’.”