Roughly $400 million in information technology projects, including one that would underpin a new single-payer health care program, are behind schedule and at risk of not being completed on time, according to the legislative Joint Fiscal Office.

Vermont high tech companies say the state's way of life is a powerful calling card for the kind of clean industry it hopes to attract, but they would like state officials to do more to market itself to attract new business.

A daylong summit in Montpelier organized by the Vermont Council on Rural Development drew about 275 attendees for more than 30 sessions that covered education, community building, business and policy. In the session on what the state could do to foster more technology business, discussions focused on Vermont's brand out of state.

GlobalFoundries, simultaneously competitor, collaborator and suitor to International Business Machines Inc., has opened a recruitment office less than three miles from IBM's plant in Essex Junction.

The legislature this year set new broadband goals for the state, including an ambitious 10-year objective that would essentially require fiber optic broadband to every Vermont address by the end of 2024.The Public Service Department now says reaching the goal would cost nearly $1 billion.Vermont Telecommunications Director Jim Porter says the cost calculation is in response to public comments about the state's draft 10-year  Telecommunications Plan.

Interested citizens and small business owners gathered in Brookfield, Braintree and Randolphthis summer for a series of informational meetings hosted by ECFiber to discuss broadband expansion. The Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA) announced that it will build 51 miles of open-access dark fiber optic routes in these and surround towns serviced by ECFiber.

A recent survey of Vermont businesses by the Davis & Hodgdon accounting firm has found that businesses have a guarded optimism for increased sales growth and capital spending, while also seeing property tax reform and healthcare costs as issues vital to the success of the economy.

Route 802 is launching Inntopia's cloud-based platform to power e-commerce and contact center reservations in the state's primary tourism website, VermontVacation.com. Route 802 will utilize Inntopia's full suite of travel reservation products and Responsive Commerce design to deliver the same functionality in Vermont's Official Mobile App, ThisisVT.

AllEarth Renewables announced that it has initiated construction on nearly 5 megawatts of projects utilizing its dual-axis solar tracker systems to provide power to 12 state government facilities in Vermont, including all state correctional facilities and several state office buildings.

Vermont's consumer-protection case against MPHJ Technology Investments, LLC will move forward, following a decisiondenying MPHJ's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. In denying the motion, the court recognized the state's "strong interest in protecting its citizens from consumer fraud."

Telecommunications service provider FirstLight Fiber announced it had signed an agreement to substantially all of the assets of New Hampshire-based G4 Communications, including G4's customer base and data center located in Manchester, New Hampshire.