Current News

VermontBiz It is with great excitement that VermontBiz celebrates the remarkable achievements of all the individuals chosen as the second year of 91 Influencers here in Vermont. This prestigious honor highlights their unwavering dedication, innovation, and impact in their field and within the community, as they also inspire and lead those around them.

VermontBiz The Vermont Agency of Transportation will implement overnight ramp closures on Interstate 89 southbound in Montpelier as part of the Montpelier–Waterbury I89 Southbound Resurfacing Project. 

Interstate 89 South Exit 8 on- and off-ramps will be closed to all traffic from 7:00 PM until 6:00 AM each night beginning Sunday, July 12, and concluding on the morning of Friday, July 17. 

VermontBiz U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, alongside the Vermont Congressional Delegation, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Becca Balint (D-VT-AL), reintroduced the Building Up Farmland Frontiers for Ecological Resilience (BUFFER) Act. This bicameral legislation would ensure all states can access the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) funding to implement buffer zones, agricultural tools used by farmers to protect farmland from flooding, erosion, and water pollution. 

VermontBiz State Auditor Doug Hoffer released a report today that summarizes recent incidents that have occurred in various sheriff departments as well as the results of 20 years of financial audits completed by CPA firms working under the direction of the Auditor’s office.

“In recent years Vermonters have been confronted with one troubling story about a Vermont sheriff after another,” said Hoffer. “Obviously, some sheriffs do great work, but for those whose behavior pushes up against or goes beyond what’s acceptable, accountability has not been a straight path. I wanted my staff to produce this summary to give Vermonters a broad sense of what is occurring in these important offices, and how other states hold sheriffs accountable to live up to what should be expected, which is a high bar of service.”

VermontBiz Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement:

This is the year 2026. One might have hoped that, after thousands of years of war, humanity could have come up with a better way to resolve conflicts than killing and mass destruction. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There is now more war and bloodshed raging across the world than at almost any point in decades.

In February 2022, Vladimir Putin, without provocation, invaded Ukraine. The result: hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians killed, millions displaced and a war that grinds on with no end in sight.

VermontBiz U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined U.S. Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL), Vermont State Senators Anne Watson and Andrew Perchlik, alongside the Climate Action Campaign (CAC) and its Vermont partners, at the Old Labor Hall in Barre for an Extreme Weather People’s Hearing.  

The event, through first person testimony, highlighted how climate change is fueling more dangerous and deadly extreme weather, and threatening the lives and livelihoods of Vermonters. Small business owners, public health experts, farmers, and community members testified about how their lives have been disrupted by climate change-fueled extreme weather, including the catastrophic flooding in July of 2023 and 2024.  

VermontBiz Vermont Gas (VGS) announced today that Lindsay Kurrle will become the company's next President and CEO, succeeding Neale Lunderville, who will step down at the end of 2026 after more than six years leading the company. Kurrle was selected by the VGS Board of Directors following a national search with an exceptionally strong applicant pool.

VermontBiz Governor Phil Scott today announced Secretary Lindsay Kurrle will leave her role leading the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) on July 24 and appointed Tayt Brooks as the new secretary of ACCD.

Secretary Kurrle was first appointed by Governor Scott as commissioner of the Department of Labor in 2017. In August 2019, he named Kurrle secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Prior to her appointment, she managed operations for Kurrle Fuels and Transport, a Montpelier-based small business she co-owned with her husband, Jim.

VermontBiz Vermont Mutual Insurance Group® has been named a Ward’s 50® top-performing U.S. property-casualty insurer for the 18th consecutive year, placing the Vermont-based insurer among the top 2% of approximately 3,000 insurers evaluated nationwide. The annual recognition from Ward Group, an Aon company and respected insurance benchmarking organization, reflects Vermont Mutual’s sustained financial strength, operating performance and consistency.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.95 per gallon, down 5 cents per gallon from last week, down 42 cents/g from last month and up 85 cents/g from this time last year, according to AAA. The lowest price in the state this week was $3.45/g. The national average price of gasoline has increased 1 cent per gallon in the last week, and 5 cents/g from yesterday, averaging $3.84/g today. The conflict in Iran caused oil prices to spike yesterday but renewed efforts at a ceasefire caused them to fall today.

VermontBiz The Vermont Agency of Education announced the availability of summer meal sites for all children, 18 and under, through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). This federally funded program ensures that children across the state have access to nutritious meals throughout the summer. Meals are served at a wide range of locations, including schools, parks, housing complexes, and libraries.

VermontBiz  U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) today convened community and state leaders in Montpelier to highlight the importance of the Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) program, flexible disaster recovery funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) dedicated to supporting housing reconstruction and rehabilitation, infrastructure redevelopment, and flood mitigation efforts. While in Montpelier, Senator Welch visited the location of a new housing project funded by the CDBG-DR program and discussed the importance of flexible funding for Vermont’s flood recovery.