Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Following a successful second quarter report last week, Keurig Green Mountain (NYSE:GMCR) shares rose again on Tuesday after an SEC filing indicated that Coca-Cola had increased its ownership of the Waterbury-based company to 16 percent. Investors had pushed GMCR shares higher based on the expectation that Coke would take a larger share of the company following its $1 billion buy earlier in the year and its partnership with Keurig on a home soda-making machine. The idea was that Coke would be able to compete with SodaStream, the popular at-home beverage company.

Norwich University has received a $122,232 supplemental grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) as part of a “Scholarship for Service” program, in which student-recipients majoring in computer security and information assurance commit to work for the federal government following graduation. A five-year, $974,836 grant was awarded by the NSF two years ago, portions of which are disbursed annually. The current $122,232 grant supplements this original grant, and will support the education of one student for two years.

Norwich University entered the NSF’s Cyber Corps in 2012, which qualifies the university to receive scholarship dollars in a NSF program called “CyberCorps: Scholarship for Service.” The purpose of the program is cybersecurity education and workforce development.

The Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced plans today to develop the first official State of Vermont tourism mobile app, in partnership with the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing (VDTM). The official State of Vermont tourism mobile app will be a digital marketplace, allowing the ever-increasing number of mobile consumers to connect, research and, ultimately, book a trip to Vermont via the app. The app will offer visitors an enhanced digital experience with a design and functionality that complements the VermontVacation.com Travel Planner website and the Summer and Winter vacation guide books, which are existing collaborations between the Vermont Chamber and VDTM.

The Vermont Chamber has selected Route 802, a Williston-based new media marketing firm to develop the official State of Vermont tourism mobile app.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell issued a formal opinion on May 13, 2014, stating that Vermont’s campaign finance contribution limits remain in effect through December 31, 2014. The Secretary of State had asked whether limits on contributions are in effect for the 2014 election in light of the Legislature’s passage of Act 90.

Act 90 revised the campaign finance law and established new contribution limits starting in 2015. The Act contained a drafting error, making it appear that there was a gap between the date the old limits expire and the date when the new limits will go into effect. However, the legislative deliberations make clear their intent was to have the former contribution limits continue in effect through the 2014 election cycle. Under Vermont law that intent prevails. Therefore, the Attorney General advises that the prior limits remain in effect through December 31, 2014.

Vermont State Representative Heidi E Scheuermann (R-Stowe) announced in an email Tuesday morning that she would not run for governor against Peter Shumlin this year. Scheuermann has been a vocal member of the Legislature who sits on the Commerce & Economic Development Committee. She suggested earlier in the year that she was considering a challenge to Shumlin. Scheuermann said that while the time was not right for her to run for governor now, she would run for re-election. No prominent Republican has so far declared their intent to run against the Putney Democrat. Earlier this week travel agency executive Scott Milne said he has had discussions with GOP leaders, but has not yet decided if we will run.

Representative Heidi E Scheuermann Statement

May 13, 2014

The Vermont Ski Areas Association has announced the winners of its second annual Green Mountain Awards for Environmental Excellence at Vermont Ski Resorts. Judged by Melinda Vieux, President of Green Up Vermont, Alan Hebert of Efficiency Vermont and VSAA President Parker Riehle, resorts competed to win awards in environmental stewardship. Categories looked closely at improvements made to waste reduction, water consumption, carbon footprint and combined environmental efforts.

Winners of the 2014 Green Mountain Awards for Environmental Excellence include:

Greenest Overall Resort in Vermont
Killington Resort

Most Improved Resort Overall
Mount Snow Resort

Most Improved Carbon Footprint
Stratton Mountain Resort

Vermont Business Magazine On the same day that Governor Peter Shumlin signed the GMO labeling bill with much fanfare (May 8), two major international trade groups issued statements opposing the law, with one stating that it would sue the state, something the Vermont attorney general expected and is already planning for. The Grocery Manufacturers Association stated that "in the coming weeks" GMA will file suit in federal court against the state of Vermont to overturn the law. Using the same argument as the GMA that genetically modified crops are both safe and environmentally beneficial, the Biotechnology Industry Organization issued a similar statement May 8, but stopped short, for now, of promising to sue the state.

The GMA issued the following statement:

by Morgan True vtdigger.org When it came to health care, the 2013-2014 legislative session was driven mainly by issues that originated outside the State House. Tracking the progress of Vermont Health Connect, the state’s federally mandated online insurance marketplace – which got off to a rocky start and continues to have technical limitations – was a priority for the House Health Care Committee. In addition, Governor Peter Shumlin chose not to set an agenda for health care with proposed legislation and instead called on lawmakers to use this session as a learning and planning period to prepare for the next biennium when Vermont is likely to pass laws that define what services the state’s planned universal health care program will cover and how to pay for them.

Just over one week after the city of Seattle announced a historic plan to raise its minimum wage to $15 per hour, the Vermont state legislature voted on Sunday to adopt the highest statewide wage floor in the country, approving a bill to gradually increase the minimum wage to $10.50 per hour by 2018.

Prompted by congressional gridlock, which has left the federal minimum wage stuck at $7.25 per hour for nearly five years, a record number of states and cities have taken action this year to raise pay for low-wage workers. Vermont now joins Connecticut, Maryland, and Hawaii – which all voted in recent months to raise their minimum wage to $10.10 per hour – along with Minnesota, West Virginia, and Delaware in passing legislation this year to raise the minimum wage.

by John McClaughry The biennial legislative session has just concluded, and it was a banner year for Vermont’s version of advanced liberalism. Consider these features: The 2015 General Fund budget grew by 5.6 percent over the 2014 budget approved a year ago. That means that state spending is increasing about twice as fast as state revenues, thus undoing years of careful work to ensure “sustainability” in state finances. The Education Fund grew to $1.513 billion, a 4.4 percent increase over last year, even as pupil attendance continued to decline. To cover the annual shortfall produced by school district voters, the Legislature increased the residential education property tax base rate from 94 cents per $100 Fair Market Value to 98 cents, and the non-residential tax rate from $1.44 to $1.515. This was on top of 5 and 6 cent increases in those rates last year.

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Rather than risk workers’ compensation reforms they strongly opposed, House Republicans on Saturday chose to accept a different set of legislative proposals they merely disliked. The bargain stuck, allowing Vermont’s omnibus economic development bill to pass both chambers just hours before the Legislature adjourned Saturday. Workers’ compensation became a battleground when related provisions were tacked onto the single piece of legislation carrying most of lawmakers’ economic development initiatives for the session.

Funding is now available for Vermont child care centers to support children of preschool age in need of assistance through the Edwards Child Care Scholarship at the Vermont Community Foundation.

With funding from the O.P. and W.E. Edwards Foundation, the Vermont Community Foundation has been providing qualified child care centers with scholarships for underserved families since 1990. The Board of Directors of the Edwards Foundation intends for the scholarship program to benefit children of preschool age who seem to be getting "lost in the cracks" when the day care subsidy is not enough or the child falls just outside of federal or state program eligibility criteria. The fund was established to help those who, as a result of geographic or economic isolation, may face difficulties preparing for elementary school.