Current News

Vermont Outdoor Guide Association Vermont Trails and Greenways Council Annual Meeting Follow-Up Survey deadline is today, July 22. Coming out of the Annual Meeting, it was decided that a broader poll of past, present, and potential future VTGC members was needed in order to both prioritize the Councils roles in supporting trail organizations in Vermont and to help determine the advocacy outcomes we collectively would most like to see.

​Vermont Business Magazine On Sunday, July 24^th, more than 60 Vermont and New York children who have or have had cancer, will gather at Camp Ta-Kum-Ta in South Hero, Vermont for Camp’s signature Summer Program. Joined by more than 125 volunteers from all over the country, This will be the first time that Camp Ta-Kum-Ta has had a full residential program since February of 2020 and organizers say that everyone is excited.

by Kevin Chu, Executive Director of the Vermont Futures Project In true Vermont fashion we have come together, regardless of political party, on the top threats facing our state. From the State House to the kitchen table, Vermonters agree that something must be done to fix the workforce and housing crises. The data circulated in recent months has rapidly become common knowledge; 26,000 open jobs, 2.2% unemployment, meaning that even if every unemployed person in Vermont finds a job in the state, there would still be over 18,000 open jobs. Furthermore, workers need more housing options so as we attract more people to the workforce, we don’t exacerbate the issues in our tight housing market. This seems like a people paradox with no good answer.

Vermont Business Magazine The Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation announced Thursday that a total of $20,000 is being granted to two local nonprofits to bring health and hunger relief to kids in Vermont. This month, the Foundation celebrates its July of Joy summer grant cycle, which includes $894,000 in grants to 86 health and hunger relief-based nonprofits nationwide.

​Vermont State Police Autopsies were completed Thursday, July 21, 2022, at the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington on Mary Anderson and Matthew Davis. Anderson, 23, of Harvard, Massachusetts, died of a gunshot wound to the head, and the manner of her death is a homicide. The Vermont State Police is working with other law-enforcement agencies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death, including when and where she was killed and whether she was abducted.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) is set to launch an initiative to develop a Forest Future Strategic Roadmap to identify actionable strategies to strengthen, modernize, promote, and protect Vermont’s forest products sector and the broader forest economy. The initiative was authorized by the Vermont Legislature and signed into law by Governor Scott in Act 183 of 2022. Vermont’s private and public forestlands provide a wide range of unique and irreplaceable resources and benefits, including protection of wildlife habitat, conservation of air, soil and water, mitigation of the effects of climate change, as well as providing necessary forest products and the natural infrastructure of Vermont’s economy. They also support a forest products sector which provides nearly 14,000 jobs and generates $2.1 billion in annual sales.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont and generally across the nation keep falling. The average price in Vermont as of Thursday is $4.57, down 10 cents from last week and down 42 cents in a month. The US average today is $4.42, down 15 cents since last week and down 54 cents in a month.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced recipients of $2.22 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) federal funding through the Vermont Community Development Program (VCDP). The funding will support six projects throughout Vermont, including three mixed income housing developments, planning for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility improvements and the revitalization of community facilities.

Vermont Business Magazine The Dartmouth Board of Trustees has elected Sian Leah Beilock as the institution’s 19th president. A leading cognitive scientist and the current president of Barnard College, Beilock, 46, will assume office on July 1, 2023. She is the first woman elected to the position in Dartmouth’s more than 250-year history and will succeed Philip J. Hanlon, who will step down at the end of the coming academic year after a decade in the role.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported July 19 that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are still considered "Low." Total cases for the week, however, increased by more than 100 or 32 percent. Meanwhile, hospitalizations continued to decline. The BA.5 variant has become the predominant variant of COVID-19. There were 11 deaths in June attributed to COVID so far after 32 in May. May saw an increase in fatalities from April and March. June had the fewest COVID fatalities since last July 2021 (2). As of July 19, there have been 6 deaths from COVID in Vermont for a pandemic total of 689.

Vermont Business Magazine Vanguard Renewables, a US leader in organics-to-renewable energy, today announced that a fund managed by BlackRock Real Assets has acquired the company from Vision Ridge Partners. BlackRock Real Assets will partner with Vanguard Renewables’ management team to build upon the company’s market-leading track record and drive its next phase of growth, including its plans to commission more than 100 anaerobic digesters to produce renewable natural gas across the country by 2026.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor and the State Workforce Development Board will host Triple Play Job Fest in White River Junction on Friday, the first of three job fair events. Local employers will be set up during the Upper Valley Nighthawks game to promote openings to local jobseekers and fans. All attendees to the Nighthawks game will receive free admission, with participants in job fair receiving a complimentary concessions voucher.

Registration may be done in-advance at Labor.Vermont.gov, or at the game by visiting the Department of Labor booth. Additional events are set for Montpelier (July 27) and Burlington (July 28). More details on Triple Play Job Fest at https://labor.vermont.gov/event/triple-play-job-fest