Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported April 19, 2023, that COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations were largely unchanged from the previous week. COVID-19 activity remains in the "Low" range, according to the VDH. Hospitalizations held at 17 last week (the lowest since last fall was 22 at the end of March). Total cases were up 3 to 142. There were 9 COVID-related deaths in the last week for a pandemic total of 957 as of April 15 (this is the most recent update). VDH reported 15 COVID-related deaths in March, the fewest since the summer of 2021, and 11 so far in April. Of the total deaths to date, 761 have been of Vermonters 70 or older. There have been 3 deaths of Vermonters under 30 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank with a branch in Vermont, has announced financial results for Q1 2023 and declared a regular quarterly dividend. Highlights for Q1 2023: Net income of $1.49 million, up from $784 thousand in Q4; Cost of interest-bearing deposits of 0.40%, with deposit betas well below industry average; Advisory revenue of $3.1 million and assets under management of $1.75 billion, up 2% and 3% over Q4, respectively; Less than one basis point of net charge-offs; Strong liquidity and capital positions with no negative effects from the March banking sector disturbance; Regular quarterly dividend of $0.21.

by Abby Carroll, Community News Service A bill to help small farmers diversify their products with a new grant program crossed over from the House to the Senate, but not without a significant cut in the money behind it. The House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry originally sought for a $500,000 appropriation for the program, which would be created through H.205. The committee wanted $250,000 of that to be in regular, general funding — or base funds — and the other half as a one-time appropriation. But before the bill went to the Senate, the House Committee on Appropriations changed the funding to a one-time appropriation of $350,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Scott Administration officials will be visiting Caledonia County on Monday to continue their county tour to hear from community leaders about their unique infrastructure needs and to discuss the many funding opportunities available to them via federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. Officials will offer guidance on how communities can apply for assistance with tangible economic development, housing, water and sewer, climate change mitigation measures, and broadband projects.

Vermont Business Magazine Registration is open and the keynote speaker is set for the 33rd Annual Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) Conference, “Here and Now,” which will be held on May 11th at Hula, the award-winning lakeside coworking and innovation campus in Burlington. VBSR business and nonprofit leaders, policymakers, students, and inspired individuals will gather for a full-day event that will include a keynote address by Christal Brown, six timely sessions, three innovation labs focused on the leading edge of social and environmental impact, and ample opportunities for networking and meeting exhibitors.

Vermont Business Magazine This weekly report from the Vermont Agency of Transportation is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont for the week of April 24, 2023. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Leonine Public Affairs The Senate Appropriations committee approved their version of the FY2024 budget on Friday. The stakes are high as Democrats in the House and Senate work to find a path to achieve their legislative priorities while the standoff with Republican Governor Phil Scott over the budget heats up. As the Senate Appropriations committee worked through the budget this week, the House Human Services committee passed their version of one of the top Democratic priorities - childcare. The House Human Services committee passed S.56, which would significantly increase subsidies to childcare programs and families that utilize childcare and incentivize growth in the childcare sector. The committee voted 10-1 to approve S.56, which reduces the price tag of the bill as it passed the Senate by $28 million. House Human Services reduced some of the subsidy increases and removed a parental leave provision that was included in the Senate version of the bill.

by Abby Carroll, Community News Service Whether towns and cities can charge farms for stormwater utility fees is at the center of a bubbling debate between state agriculture officials and municipal leaders around Vermont. The debate was sparked during discussions of S.115, a miscellaneous agriculture bill that began in the Senate before moving to the House. The bill originally aimed to allow municipal stormwater utility operators to create bylaws to implement stormwater control but prohibit them from assessing fees on agricultural land. VAAFM officials say municipalities legally cannot regulate land subject to a set of state standards called required agricultural practices that outline how farms manage agricultural activities to improve water quality.

Vermont Business Magazine Bill Stenger back home after release from prison; Governor lets budget adjustment bill become law despite reservations; CCS to assume operational control of Green Mountain Support Services; UnitedHealthcare agrees to extend in-network coverage to UVMHN patients for rest of 2023; Hoffer releases audit of VTrans cost and schedule performance for paving; Governor announces departure of Education Secretary Dan French; GMCB FY24 hospital budget guidance caps 2-year growth at 8.6%; EPA: Vermont gets $3.72 million investment for clean water infrastructure upgrades; State’s leak detection services helped save 30.4M gallons of water in 2022; Burlington voters reject police oversight board; Blue Cross to continue OneCare payments to primary care providers; Vermont Everyone Eats program comes to a close.

Vermont Business Magazine Destination Explorer, the latest tool developed by Stowe-based Inntopia, debuts this week as the newest software program they offer to assist Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs), Convention & Visitor Bureaus (CVBs), and lodging suppliers to more closely monitor their collective and individual performance through an interactive dashboard. This is the most recent innovation by DestiMetrics, a division of Inntopia that develops and manages forward-looking data products, reports, and services for lodging properties in resort destinations. This recent addition to their growing selection of programs to assist with long-range projections for bookings, Destination Explorer adds a layer of interactivity and intelligence to the travel industry’s most accurate, forward-looking destination performance dataset.