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by Heidi Mohlman Tringe and Dennise Casey Working for an elected official is a tremendous honor. Each of us wore many hats and had different responsibilities in public service, including Deputy Chief of Staff, Communications Director, Deputy Press Secretary, Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs, and DC Director. During our time in public service, we were lucky to be part of a team of people with diverse views and life experiences and an office culture that encouraged discussion and debate. It shaped our lives and careers in many ways, and we are increasingly grateful for the opportunity to serve our great state. We worked hard, make no mistake, but our public service also propelled us onto non-profit boards and statewide leadership positions. It gave us privilege and afforded us opportunity. And we feel an ongoing obligation to give back.

Vermont Business Magazine The next guest on Medical Matters Weekly is Mariella Filbin, MD, PhD, a leading researcher working to find a cure to children’s brain tumors. The show airs on Facebook Live at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, October 19.

The show is produced by Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) with cooperation from Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV). Viewers can view on facebook.com/svmedicalcenter and facebook.com/CATTVBennington. The show is also available to view or download as a podcast on svhealthcare.org/medicalmatters.

Vermont Business Magazine Friends and partners of Green Mountain United Way celebrated at the Barre Opera House in person for the first time in three years on October 6. Led by Executive Director, Tawnya Kristen, on the Opera House stage, nine awards were given to community members to honor their contribution to Green Mountain United Way and the communities they serve.

Vermont Business Magazine Comcast today announced it will increase speeds for its most popular Xfinity Internet tiers across 14 northeastern states from Maine through Virginia and the District of Columbia. The company will also roll out new download speeds up to 2 gigabits-per-second (Gbps) – combined with up to 5x-to-10x faster upload speeds – for Xfinity customers in markets across the Northeast, including Baltimore, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC, before the end of the year.

VermontBiz Gifford will distribute meals for Upper Valley Everyone Eats this month on Tuesday, October 25 between 5 – 5:30 p.m. at Gifford’s South Parking lot. The frozen meals, provided by Global Village Foods, are available by reservation. To reserve a meal or for any other questions, please contact Gifford Community Relations Coordinator, Katja Evans at 802-728-2377.

Upper Valley Everyone Eats is the local hub of Vermont’s coronavirus relief program, Vermont Everyone Eats (VEE). VEE provides nutritious meals to Vermonters in need of food assistance, as well as a stabilizing source of income for Vermont restaurants, farmers, and food producers. This program is open to all Vermonters looking to stretch their food budget as a result of the pandemic or otherwise. Check giffordhelathcare.org for updates on future Upper Valley Everyone Eats meal distributions at Gifford.

VermontBiz The Vermont Working Communities Challenge (WCC) has released its Initial Report sharing the new approaches made by the eight Vermont teams over the first three years to address systemic challenges in Vermont like housing, childcare, poverty, workforce development, racial equity, and more. The report was shared with Vermont’s decision-makers and community builders on October 14 and is now publicly available.

WCC was launched in Vermont in 2019 as a partnership between the State of Vermont and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRBB) to advance collaborative efforts to build healthy economies and communities in northern New England’s rural towns, regions, and smaller cities. The eight Vermont teams are focused on Greater Barre, Lamoille County, Northeast Kingdom, Northwest Vermont, Southern Vermont, Springfield Area, White River Valley, and Winooski - covering approximately 62% of Vermont.

VermontBiz Lawson’s Finest Liquids is making its classic maple ale, Mad River Maple, available to fans across the Northeast. Beginning this week, the Vermont favorite will be available to craft-beer lovers throughout the brewery’s entire nine state distribution area of VT, CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, and RI.

Mad River Maple is a robust, rich maple ale brewed with 100% pure Vermont maple syrup. At 8% ABV, the beer delivers a smooth, palate pleasing feel with a slightly sweet finish. The beer’s name pays homage to Green Mountain State’s legendary Mad River Valley, home to both Lawson’s Finest Liquids and some of the region’s most sought after maple syrup producers.

VermontBiz Average gasoline prices in Burlington have fallen 1.1 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.82/g today, according to GasBuddy's survey of 100 stations in Burlington. Prices in Burlington are 5.6 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 49.8 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has increased 18.7 cents in the last week and stands at $5.06 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Burlington was priced at $3.59/g yesterday while the most expensive was $3.99/g, a difference of 40.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.29/g while the highest was $3.99/g, a difference of 70.0 cents per gallon.

VermontBiz The Agriculture Development Division of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets is seeking feedback on our weekly newsletter.

What started as a way to distribute up-to-date resources to the food and farm community during the COVID-19 pandemic has become a weekly newsletter highlighting funding and educational opportunities. As we move forward, we are looking for concrete feedback to inform the direction of the newsletter. We are also looking to better identify our audience so we can find and distribute content that is most relevant and useful to you!

Whether you love the newsletter, can't stand it, or think there's areas where we could do better, we sincerely hope you'll take a minute to help us improve this community resource.