Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Semiconductor Inc, a leading design house specializing in AI-related circuit design initiatives based in Burlington since 2014, has secured a Phase II contract from NASA. This achievement follows the successful completion of Phase I and underscores Green Mountain Semiconductor's commitment to advancing cutting-edge technology for space exploration. The Compute-In-Memory architecture developed by Green Mountain Semiconductor, with sponsorship from NASA, represents a significant breakthrough in edge AI inferencing for radiation-laden environments. This architecture integrates non-volatile memory directly on-chip, reducing data movements and enabling low-power, low-latency AI inferencing.

Vermont Business Magazine The national Citizens Business Conditions Index (CBCI) fell from 51.8 to 48.2 to start the year as business activity normalized from elevated levels in recent quarters. The reading below 50 indicates that economic momentum slowed during the first quarter against a backdrop of moderately restrictive monetary policy. The corresponding Vermont and regional indices also fell. Vermont was down from 50.7 to 45.9 and the regional number was down from 51.8 to 48.2. Labor markets and consumer trends remained resilient in the first quarter. However, Citizens’ proprietary data showed softening revenue trends during the period after solid performance across most industries in the second half of 2024. New business applications also fell compared to the fourth quarter, though they remain well above pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, the US Department of Labor jobs report published Friday showed that the economy slowed, which might be a good thing.

SBA Vermont District Office Join us for a webinar to learn how a project management professional can help your small business. Click here on May 3rd 2024 at 1pm to join. For small business owners, handling numerous projects simultaneously can be daunting. A project management professional steps in to streamline this process, ensuring that products or services are delivered with quality, on schedule, and within financial constraints. They adeptly navigate risks, allocate resources efficiently, and engage with stakeholders effectively. Discover the advantages and cost savings of employing a project management expert at the upcoming VT SBA event featuring Vijay Desai, a seasoned Project Management Consultant.

Vermont Business Magazine As National Small Business Week comes to a close, Attorney General Charity Clark is reminding Vermont’s small businesses of the resources available through her office. Vermont businesses are covered by our state’s consumer protection laws, and the Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) can be a helpful resource available to businesses. Through CAP’s free complaint mediation service, the office can help businesses resolve consumer issues. CAP’s Small Business Advocate can also help businesses respond to scams and navigate government programs.

Southwestern Vermont Chamber Get ready for an epic adventure as the Southern Vermont Homebrew Festival returns on May The Fourth! Prepare to taste intergalactic brews, explore rebel-approved vendors, and indulge in a Jedi-worthy feast. Join us on Depot Street in Bennington, Vermont, on Saturday, May 4th from 12pm to 1pm. Since 2015, the Southern Vermont Homebrew Festival has been a beacon for brewers across the galaxy. This year, we're transforming the event into a Star Wars-themed extravaganza, featuring the most out-of-this-world homebrews from every corner of the galaxy. Experience unlimited tastings of beer, wine, cider, mead, and more. Over 30 homebrewers will offer 120+ artisanal samples to tantalize your taste buds.

Northeastern Vermont Development Association The Vermont Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) selected Lyndonville's Route 5 Corridor Master Plan to receive a planning award for excellence. The awards ceremony will be held in Burlington on May 8th. Grant funding will be used to make repairs to five historic barns in our region. The state-funded program helps rehabilitate historic agricultural buildings that are a symbol of Vermont's rural landscape. Two farmsteads were selected in Barnet, the Gilkerson Farm and Maplemont Farm. The Morse Farm in Danville, Elijah Martin Homestead in Peacham, and Arba Joy Farm in Island Pond also received funding. The next grant round will be announced in August.

NEK Broadband Many people within our service area may only stay in Vermont for part of the year to enjoy some relaxation and natural beauty. We’ve developed some options for customers that are not year-round residents to choose from, including: Keep your service as is, year-round. This would allow you to utilize your smart home and security devices like cameras, security systems, temperature and humidity monitors, etc). This also contributes directly to expanding our network to reach your unserved and underserved neighbors in the NEK, and cover the significant initial costs we incur to connect each address; Choose a less expensive service package for the months you will not be living in the NEK. This would also allow you to utilize your remote monitoring devices. You will be asked to choose a date to have your regular, faster service package automatically resumed. 

Vermont State Labor Council, AFL-CIO On May 1st, International Workers’ Day, the House Committee on General and Housing passed S.102, the Vermont Protect the Right to Organize “PRO” Act with strong, bipartisan support: 11 of the 12 Committee members voted yes with only one abstention. Last year, S.102, the Vermont Protect the Right to Organize “PRO” Act, passed the Senate 23-7. Many of our labor laws have not been updated in decades – some for almost a hundred years – and have failed to protect some of the most marginalized workers. S.102 would fix Vermont’s labor laws and level the playing field. It would study granting collective bargaining rights to agricultural and domestic workers; protect employees from political and religious coercion, also known as captive audience meetings; and simplify union elections in the public sector through card check.

Vermont Business Magazine On April 30, Vermont’s Agency of Human Services (AHS) submitted a request to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to amend its Global Commitment to Health (Global Commitment) demonstration. This agreement grants Vermont flexibility in utilizing Medicaid dollars. Since its approval in 2005, the Global Commitment demonstration has played a pivotal role in broadening access to health care coverage, strengthening Vermont’s public health and health-related services infrastructure, and driving reforms in health care payment and delivery. Through this amendment request, Vermont aims to expand access to care for Vermonters with mental health conditions and substance use disorders (SUD), provide housing and other supports to promote whole-person health, and implement a new payment model for hospitals. 

Vermont Business Magazine Patients in our region are being served by nationally recognized hospitals as all three critical access hospitals in the University of Vermont Health Network – Alice Hyde Medical Center, Elizabethtown Community Hospital, and Porter Medical Center – have been named to a list of 27 ‘Critical Access Hospitals to Know’ nationwide by Becker’s Hospital Review. Critical access hospitals are vital to ensuring residents and visitors of rural areas have access to high quality care, close to home, when they need it. By definition, they offer 24/7 emergency care and have no more than 25 inpatient beds. Alice Hyde earned Critical Access Hospital designation just a few months ago.

Vermont Business Magazine For the second year in a row, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services (USDA), in coordination with the Vermont Department of Health, will conduct a spring rabies vaccine bait drop. This special distribution of approximately 264,000 oral rabies vaccine bait in areas of Chittenden, Lamoille, Franklin, and Grand Isle Counties is scheduled to begin on May 4. Officials said the extra effort is needed to help counter an ongoing wildlife rabies outbreak, which has expanded into Franklin County. The early distribution is in addition to the annual bait drop in August. In both rounds, rabies vaccine – in the form of a sweet-smelling oral bait that is attractive to raccoons and skunks – will be dropped from low-flying airplanes in rural areas, by helicopter in suburban areas, and placed by hand from slow-moving vehicles in residential areas. Rabies is a deadly viral disease of the brain that infects mammals.

Vermont Business Magazine Health care clinicians from across Vermont applaud the Legislature for passing H.766, a bill that will reduce administrative delays in care and streamline insurance requirements. Health care organizations, including the Vermont Medical Society, Vermont Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics Vermont Chapter, Vermont Association of Hospital and Health Systems, Bi-State Primary Care, Vermont HealthFirst and University of Vermont Health Network support the important steps this bill takes in reducing insurance paperwork burdens for Vermont providers and in removing barriers to care for Vermont patients, and urge Governor Scott to sign the bill. The passage of H.766 will alleviate the mounting administrative burden on primary care clinicians by exempting primary care from prior authorizations for imaging and procedures.