Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) is looking for public input on the Vermont Forest Future Strategic Roadmap. The scheduled Community Engagement Sessions are an opportunity to learn more about the initiative, see the initial data, and provide your perspective. There will be four virtual Community Engagement Sessions which will run for one hour.

Vermont Business Magazine Scott Administration officials will be visiting Grand Isle 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 On Tuesday, March 21, all members of the Northfield Community are invited to come together for a free community dinner and the opportunity to be an active participant in developing new ideas for Northfield’s future. This event is the first step of the Northfield: Our Common Future process - a three-part series of facilitated discussions coordinated by the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) to brainstorm ideas for the future, identify top priorities for Northfield, and connect to key resources. All community members are invited including residents from all Villages and Norwich University. Community members in attendance will participate in a series of forums to discuss assets, challenges, and opportunities for action.

Leonine Public Affairs The final two weeks of February are often the most dynamic of the entire legislative session. Policy committees begin to pass bills and prepare to make budget recommendations and the budget adjustment bill is usually nearing final passage and a trip to the governor’s desk. This week was no different, with a flurry of committee activity in the push to meet crossover deadlines. There was also a hint of a budget standoff brewing between Republican Governor Phil Scott and the Democratic supermajority in the legislature. Ever since the House passed the FY2023 Budget Adjustment Act (BAA) in early February the administration has voiced concerns with the level of spending in the bill compared to the governor’s proposal.

Progressive Grocer It’s often the way of things that the big guys in the industry hog much of the media attention — think of those two grocery behemoths whose impending merger set off a veritable feeding frenzy among members of the press — but independents, like Healthy Living based in South Burlington, also deserve their time in the spotlight. While they may not be able to compete with larger chains in terms of scale, many have perfected the fine art of making themselves beloved and indispensable members of their respective communities, and this approach often helps to boost their bottom lines.

Vermont Business Magazine Ben & Jerry's newest flavor is a delicious take on a beloved global treat no matter how you scoop it. Today, the Vermont-based dessert maker announced Churray for Churros! as its latest ice cream innovation delivering on nostalgia, celebrating all the best components of a churro: crunchy buttery texture, cinnamon, and sugar. The result is a perfect translation from the hot, fried cinnamon sprinkled baked good experience into a decadent ice cream.

by Mike Donoghue, Correspondent, Vermont Business Magazine A former branch manager for the Vermont VA Federal Credit Union in White River Junction has been indicted for charging more than $140,000 on a fraudulently obtained credit card, federal court records show. Tracy Thibodeau, 46, of Windsor was named in the federal indictment for illegal conduct while employed at VVAFCU between 2015 and April 2022, U.S. District Court records show. Thibodeau, formerly known as Tracy Hill, developed a scheme that involved the fraudulent procurement and use of a personal VVAFCU credit card between April 2019 and April 2022, the indictment said. She had been promoted to branch manager in 2016.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, with a branch in Vermont, today announced revised financial results for Q4 2022 and FY 2022. The revision reflects an evolved view of the current economic environment, with the net result of a larger ending reserve balance and a correspondingly smaller reduction of reserves than previously reported. The revision is not a response to concerns about any individual credit, or groups of credits. All other components of net income are unchanged, confirming the strength and resiliency of the Company’s core banking and wealth management businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine February 24,2023. In 2021 Vermont River Conservancy (VRC) received Clean Water Funding from the Department of Environmental Conservation River Corridor Easement Program. The objective was to engage in scoping and corridor development for several properties throughout Vermont. The goal of developing and ultimately implementing river corridor easements is to improve water quality, build flood resiliency to keep communities safe, and improve aquatic and wildlife habitat. VRC worked with 3 landowners and the DEC Rivers Program scientist over the past year and a half to discuss river corridor easement boundaries and landowner incentive payment – all 3 landowners are farmer families and have committed to developing river corridor easements on their properties.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $11,390,000 to Vermont from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure through this year’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). The funding will support Vermont communities in upgrading essential water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure that protects public health and treasured water bodies. Nearly half of this funding will be available as grants or principal forgiveness loans helping underserved communities across America invest in water infrastructure, while creating good-paying jobs. This new influx of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) will increase monies available for communities to undertake wastewater infrastructure upgrades in Vermont. Project awards are made by state evaluators to ensure they are targeted to the most needed areas.

Vermont Business Magazine The UVM Medical Center Board of Trustees recently appointed four new trustees, adding individuals with experience in health care administration, diagnostic radiology, professional development and diversity, equity and inclusion to the 15-member board. They are: Kevin Chu, Churchill Hindes, Betsy Sussman and Weiwei Wang.

Dartmouth College Technology developed by a team of scientists at Dartmouth, including faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students, that contributed to the development of COVID-19 vaccines will allow Dartmouth to make major investments into advancing its research and education enterprise. The discovery at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine was instrumental in quickly bringing to market the COVID-19 vaccines credited with preventing more than 18 million hospitalizations and more than three million deaths in the US alone. The underlying research, conducted by Professor Jason McLellan and his team at Geisel with collaborators at the Scripps Research Institute and the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, started in 2014 and culminated in 2016 with the development of a method to stabilize coronavirus spike proteins for use as vaccine antigens.