Current News

Vermont Business Magazine A new forest management plan for the Milton Town Forest was approved by the Milton Select Board on July 18. The plan was prepared for the Town of Milton by Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, working in conjunction with the Milton Conservation Commission over the last two years. The Milton Town Forest (MTF) is a 485-acre parcel in Milton and Westford owned by the Town of Milton since 1969. It is home to an expansive public trail system as well as the 33-acre Milton Pond. A primarily forested parcel, it also features other important wildlife habitats, including Westford Bog and Milton Marsh.

Vermont Business Magazine The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC), hosted by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets announces five recipients of the Dairy Product Packaging Innovation Grant. As consumer demand grows for sustainable packaging solutions, the NE-DBIC has prioritized investments in projects that will reduce the use of virgin plastics and the environmental impacts of dairy product and supply chain packaging.

Vermont Business Magazine Teucrium Trading, LLC, the Sponsor of agricultural futures-based ETFs, on Wednesday announced that it will provide white label ETF launch, sub-advisory, and marketing services for established and emerging ETF issuers. Burlington-based Teucrium will offer its expertise in derivatives and futures-based ETFs through their Commodity Trading Sub-Advisor Services unit providing support for fund sponsors launching ETFs, managing trading operations, and marketing funds.

Vermont Business Magazine The Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) at Vermont Law and Graduate School released a new report Tuesday entitled “Rethinking Manure Biogas: Policy Considerations to Promote Equity and Protect the Climate and Environment,” which examines the use of manure anaerobic digesters to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from animal agriculture operations. On August 12, 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which approved new and expanded tax credits for biogas, adding it to the list of eligible renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. However, climate change mitigation plans that rely on manure biogas—which transitions animal manure, often from concentrated feeding operations (CAFOs), into fuel—often ignore the larger environmental, social, and financial contexts in which biogas operates, says the CAFS report.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc, a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, in partnership with TerraCycle, an innovative recycling company that specializes in hard-to-recycle materials, is pleased to announce the upcoming TerraCycle Pouch by Casella pilot subscription program. Beginning in the Fall of 2022, residents in and around Burlington will be invited to subscribe to a supplementary recycling service for a wide array of items that are not acceptable in curbside recycling. With this pilot program, Casella will be one of the first fully integrated resource management companies to offer additional services for materials that are not recyclable curbside.

VermontBiz and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday that Healthy Living Market and Café is the winner of the prestigious and highly anticipated Deane C. Davis Outstanding Business of the Year Award, 2021. This annual award honors a Vermont business that shows an outstanding history of sustained growth while displaying an acute awareness of what makes Vermont unique. The award, named for the former governor of Vermont, was created 32 years ago by VermontBiz and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce to recognize and honor the state’s best companies.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has reached an agreement in principle with opioid maker Endo over its role in promoting the opioid crisis. Endo, an Ireland-based drug maker with US headquarters in Pennsylvania, makes generic and branded opioids, including Percocet and Endocet, and Opana ER, before it was withdrawn from the market in 2017. The settlement will require Endo International plc and its lenders to pay up to $450 million to participating states and local governments, turn over millions of documents related to its role in the opioid crisis for publication, and bans the marketing of Endo’s opioids forever. Today’s announcement regarding Endo marks the third settlement the Attorney General’s Office reached with opioid makers since July when it announced agreements in principle with Teva and Allergan. To date, the Office has negotiated more than $100 million in opioid settlements for Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine A new report from HelpAdvisor.com found that in Vermont, only 2.4% of all rental units are vacant as of Q2 of 2022, which is the 2nd lowest percentage out of any state. Only Connecticut has a lower rate. While a very high rental vacancy rate can indicate other local economic hardships, an extremely low rental vacancy rate can signal a scarcity of affordable housing options for many Americans. The vacancy rate for residential rental properties in the US is at its lowest point in 38 years. Not since early 1984 has the rental vacancy been below the 5.6% rate registered in the second quarter of 2022.

Vermont State Police Wednesday afternoon, following his discharge from the hospital, David Johnson was arrested by the Vermont State Police on charges of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment arising from his charging a Burlington Police Department officer with a knife Saturday afternoon. Johnson, 20, of Burlington also is facing a charge of domestic assault related to an incident that occurred with a family member several days earlier. Johnson was brought to the VSP barracks in Williston for processing. He will be transported to the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Burlington for arraignment, which is expected later today.

Vermont Business Magazine The who's who of Vermont's ski and snowboarding world will gather at Timberline Lodge at Bolton Valley Resort on Saturday, September 24th to celebrate the Induction of the class of 2022 into the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. The event, hosted by the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe, will also honor the recipients of the Paul Robbins Journalism Award and Bill McCollom Community Award. This year's Hall of Fame inductees include Bolton Valley Resort's founder Ralph DesLauriers, Olympic ski jumper, entrepreneur, and Norwich native, Jim Holland, Olympian, TV announcer, and movie star from Rutland, Rip McManus, and Mad River Glen ski area visionary, Betsy Pratt. The Paul Robbins Journalism Award is going to ski writer and author, Greg Morrill, of Stowe. The Bill McCollom Community Award will be presented to the Catamount Trail Association.

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Medical Center (UVM Health Network-CVMC) has again earned a 5-star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which announced its annual hospital ratings for 2022 in late July. The ratings, found on Medicare’s Care Compare website, rate hospitals based on more than 40 quality measures over five categories: safety of care, readmissions after treatment of common conditions, patient experience, mortality, and timely and effective care. CMS reviewed data from the 2021 calendar year for the ranking determination.