Economy & Business

Ten Year Telecommunications Plan-Public Comment 08/28/2014

Public testimony before a joint hearing of House Commerce and the Senate Fianance Committees. Testimony is in regards to the ten year telecommunications plan.

Testifying: Charles Larkin,Irv Thomae, John Bloch, John Roy, Leslie Nulty, Pam Mackenzie, Steve Whitaker.

Senator Patrick Leahy: USDA Secretary Vilsack - Lake Champlain Water Quality Initiatives 08/28/2014

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visits Vermont to announce significant funding related to improving water quality through conservation-related practices on Vermont farms.

Leahy is the most senior member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and one of the architects of the recently enacted Farm Bill, which includes a variety of land conservation and water quality initiatives. Vilsack on Thursday will join Leahy and other Vermont leaders at ECHO at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain on the waterfront in Burlington, for the announcement at 9 a.m.

Immediately following the announcement Vilsack hosts a national press availability by conference call from the Leahy Center to announce the rollout of the dairy margin insurance program that was created in the 2014 Farm Bill. That initiative was also led by Leahy in the Agriculture Committee’s work on the Farm Bill, in efforts joined by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Peter Welch.

Preservation Burlington: Vermont Beer 08/28/2014

Host Ron Wanamaker speaks with co-authors Adam Krakowski and Kurt Staudter on their recently released book 'Vermont Beer: History of a Brewing Revolution'. Their book is intended to establish a definitive history on the subject and set a foundation for further research as documents and information is discovered. Monthly call in show hosted by Preservation Burlington.

Adam Krakowski is a decorative and fine arts conservator in Quechee, Vermont. He holds a BA in art history, a minor in museum studies from Hartwick College and an MS in historic preservation from the University of Vermont. He has worked at museums, historical societies, art galleries and restoration firms all over New York and New England, and was the recipient of the 2010 Weston Cate Jr. Research Fellowship from the Vermont Historical Society on the project A Bitter Past: Hop Farming in Nineteenth-Century Vermont.

Kurt Staudter is the executive director of the Vermont Brewers Association, representing all of the breweries in the state. He and his wife, Patti, run the association from Springfield, Vermont. He is the Vermont columnist for Yankee Brew News, and has written about beer and politics in the Vermont Standard and Vermont Magazine. He learned about beer from his first-generation German-American father, who ensured his love for good food, great beer and family were passed on to the next generation.

Roundtable Today: VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey - 2nd Quarter 2014 08/20/2014

Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable, and Amanda Wassal, Research Assistant with Economic & Policy Resources, share 2nd Quarter Results from their joint effort, the VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey. Following the results discussion, Phil Daniels, TD Bank Market President for VT and Upstate NY, shares his insights into the trends reflected in the Survey Report. - See more at: http://blog.vtroundtable.org/in-the-news/vbr-and-econcomic-policy-resources-partner-on-business-conditions-survey/#sthash.mMimoss5.dpuf

The goal of this new and important collaboration is to increase the economic representativeness and relevance of Roundtable member survey results as an economic indicator for the Vermont economy, its future trends and opportunities. A secondary goal will be to systematically collect data to construct a 4-quarter moving diffusion index to smooth seasonal volatility and more easily glean underlying trends. Specifically, the survey will obtain results that provide a more timely and representative view of business conditions in Vermont; the near-term outlook for the Vermont economy; and gauge business intentions for capital investment, demand for goods and services, and hiring. - See more at: http://blog.vtroundtable.org/in-the-news/vbr-and-econcomic-policy-resources-partner-on-business-conditions-survey/#sthash.mMimoss5.dpuf

Vermont Council on World Affairs: International Delegation of Entrepreneurs 08/14/2014

The International Visitors Leadership Program is a State Department program that has been going on for 60 years to bring mid-level emerging leaders to the United States to learn about topics that the State department prioritizes.
This particular group, called “Changemakers: The Impact of Social Entrepreneurship in the U.S.”, consists of 22 social entrepreneurs from all over (Albania, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, El Salvador, Hungary, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Turkey) who will be in Vermont August 13-17th. Interviewed in this show by Shelagh Cooley are: Mr. Atul Bharat, Group Director at ACROPOLIS Institutions; Mr. Rani Dababneh, Product Manager at Souq.com; Ms. Taizir Ajala, CEO of Gordon Barrett; and Aliza Napartivaumnuay, Co-Founder of MYSOCIALMOTION.

The project’s goals are to examine the rise of social entrepreneurship in the U.S. and how innovation can drive social and environmental change. This project will focus on the concept of social entrepreneurship as well as government initiatives that support civic engagement and innovation. Through examination of successful models of social entrepreneurship, the participants will explore the impact of new and social media on traditional methods of fundraising, grassroots mobilization and strategic collaboration.

Local sponsorship by the Vermont Council on World Affairs. www.vcwa.org.

FreshTracks "Road Pitch" Press Conference at The Essex 08/07/2014

FreshTracks "Road Pitch" sends "business bikers" on four day motorcycle trip around Vermont where they will hold "office hours" in select towns stopping by appointment to listen to business "pitches" from start-up or early stage companies. The 2014 event is scheduled for August 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th. On August 4th the riders will tour the western corridor of Vermont from Vergennes to Bennington with stops along the way. After spending the night of August 4th in Bennington, the riders will tour from Bennington, up across the southern Green Mountains to Brattleboro and then meander along route 5 making various stops along the way with the ultimate destination of White River Junction on August 5th. After spending the night in White River Junction on August 5th, the riders will depart to ride through Vermont's Northeast Kingdom with stops in various locations culminating in a stop for the night in Newport Vermont on the evening of August 6th. On August 7th the riders will ride to the event's completion in Burlington with stops along the way.

FreshTracks Co-Founder and Managing Director is Cairn G. Cross.

For More information visit:

http://freshtracksontheroad.weebly.com/

http://www.freshtrackscap.com

http://www.ThinkVermont.com

Senator Patrick Leahy: Groundbreaking for Waterfront North Improvements 08/05/2014

Senator Leahy, Mayor Weinberger and other officials took part in breaking ground for improvements to the area known as Waterfront North. Senator Leahy obtained $2.7 million for changes to the infrastructure on the Burlington Waterfront. Groundbreaking was held near the site for the new skate park, just north of the Moran building and the sailing center’s outdoor boat storage.

Local Matters: Vermont State Bank 08/05/2014

Host Shelagh Cooley speaks with Gwendolyn Hallsmith, the Executive Director of the Public Banking Institute, the founder of Global Community Initiatives, and author of two books and three workbooks: The Key to Sustainable Cities: Meeting Human Needs, Transforming Community Systems; Taking Action for Sustainability: the EarthCAT Guide to Community Development; LASER: Local Action for Sustainable Economic Renewal, and the newest book with Bernard Lietaer called Creating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies about how cities can use currency strategies to achieve their sustainability goals. The third workbook, called Community Currency, also written with Bernard Lietaer, has been translated into 15 languages and is used all over the world.

Gwendolyn has over 25 years of experience working with municipal, regional, and state government in the United States and internationally. She has served as the Planning and Community Development Director for the City of Montpelier, the Town Manager of Randolph, Vermont, the Regional Planning Director in Franklin County, MA, a Senior Planner for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy Resources, and the Deputy Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. Her international experience included work with the United Nations Environment Program, the United Nations Development Program, the Institute for Sustainable Communities, the International City/County Management Association, and Earth Charter International. She has a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Brown University and studied theology at the Andover Newton Theological School, exploring the links between our wisdom traditions, spirituality, and work at the community level.

http://vtneweconomy.org/

http://publicbankinginstitute.org/

North Avenue Corridor Study 07/30/2014

Jim Holway leads a discussion of New North End residents on the North Avenue Corridor study. More information available at the CCRPC website

Senator Patrick Leahy: Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act 07/28/2014

Senator Leahy discusses the benefits consumers will soon see under his legislation, The Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act, which cleared Congress Friday and within days will reach the President’s desk. Leahy’s bill allows consumers to “unlock” their used cell phones to connect to their preferred wireless networks, and makes it easier for organizations such as WHBW to expand programs to help domestic violence victims -- for instance by providing them with used cell phones on which they can summon 9-1-1 emergency help. Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling also in attendance.

NOTE: Leahy at this news conference offers his first scheduled general comments on his breakthrough in negotiations over his USA FREEDOM Act, to end NSA’s dragnet collection of Americans’ electronic communications.

Featured Story

CCTV Receives NEH Grant to Support Community Archives

CCTV Center for Media & Democracy is pleased to announce receipt of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant alongside 32 peer archival institutions across the country. This $49,927 grant award will support efforts to preserve and expand access to audio/visual community history materials in the CCTV Archives. Read more about this opportunity here!