Current News

Vermont Business Magazine At a press conference on Thursday with union leaders and rail workers, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, demanded rail companies provide their workers with at least seven paid sick days. Sanders was joined by Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) who voted for the amendment to guarantee sick days to rail workers and representatives from SMART-TD, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, and the National Association of Chemical Distributors.

by Public Safety Commissioner Jennifer Morrison I need to set the record straight regarding recent reporting about the Vermont State Police that contains significant inaccuracies and omissions, and to ensure the public fully understands the complete time line of recent events. I want to be clear: The Vermont State Police and I take all complaints regarding misconduct of state troopers, on duty or off, with the utmost seriousness. At no time did I or anyone else within the state police suggest that an investigation would not be opened; we advised only that additional information was necessary. Once that information was received, we immediately launched a formal internal investigation.

Vermont Business Magazine General Motors Co (NYSE: GM) and GlobalFoundries (NASDAQ: GFS) (GF) today announced a strategic, long-term agreement establishing a dedicated capacity corridor exclusively for GM's chip supply. Through this first-of-its-kind agreement, GF will manufacture for GM's key chip suppliers at GF's advanced semiconductor facility in upstate New York bringing a critical process to the US. GF also has a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Essex Jct, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont continued their slow decent over the last couple of weeks and are now at $3.49 per gallon. Prices are still 9 cents/g higher than a month ago but are now 4 cents/g lower than last year. The national average remains lower than the state average. According to GasBuddy, the highest price found in Vermont was $3.89/g in Island Pond and the lowest was $3.20/g in Middlebury.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) is welcoming sixteen participants to the 2023 Climate Catalysts Leadership Program from a strong pool of applicants. The sixteen participants come from across the state and will focus their time on implementing projects addressing topics such as developing town climate actions; expanding outreach regarding weatherization programs; producing an educational series on local manufacturing; and making local food more equitable, affordable and accessible. The Climate Catalysts Leadership Program allows participants to take their transformative, community-scale climate economy related projects and work toward developing their concepts into reality while building peer connections, strengthening leadership skills, and receiving project development support.

Vermont Business Magazine Today Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) announced that Casella Waste Systems, Hula and Mamava have joined the organization’s core group of Champion Members. VBSR’s cohort of 24 Champion Members, which includes King Arthur Baking Company, Seventh Generation, Ben & Jerry’s, and Green Mountain Power, are corporate social responsibility icons – in Vermont and beyond. Brands around the globe look to these Vermont industry leaders to learn how to guide their businesses toward a just, thriving, and transformative economy that works for all people and the planet.

Vermont Business Magazine GSR Solutions LLC (dba NutriHarvest) and Green Mountain Dairy Farm recently achieved commercial operation of GSR’s biotechnology for dairy farms to transform liquid manure wastewater into value-added fertilizers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided funding assistance for the project’s implementation along with project partners. Since 2013, GSR has worked with dairy farms to commercialize a sustainable nutrient treatment solution for dairy manure and food waste that creates value. The result is a novel technology, GSR-AD-BOLT, that extracts most of the nutrient value from waste effluents from anaerobic digesters and creates valuable organic fertilizer. These products can either be sold or used on-site by the farm. The final water output is clean and can be applied for reuse at the farm.

Vermont Business Magazine GSR Solutions LLC (dba NutriHarvest) and Green Mountain Dairy Farm recently achieved commercial operation of GSR’s biotechnology for dairy farms to transform liquid manure wastewater into value-added fertilizers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided funding assistance for the project’s implementation along with project partners. Since 2013, GSR has worked with dairy farms to commercialize a sustainable nutrient treatment solution for dairy manure and food waste that creates value. The result is a novel technology, GSR-AD-BOLT, that extracts most of the nutrient value from waste effluents from anaerobic digesters and creates valuable organic fertilizer. These products can either be sold or used on-site by the farm. The final water output is clean and can be applied for reuse at the farm.

Vermont State Police The investigation is continuing into a series of hoax calls that targeted K-12 schools across Vermont on Wednesday with false reports of shootings. Vermont law enforcement is aware of 21 schools that were targeted by the calls, which were received from 8:40 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Wednesday at the main line of a dispatch center, police department or town office. All of the threats were determined to be unfounded.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott will attend the National Governors Association winter meeting in Washington, DC, this week. In addition to meetings with other governors, diplomats and Biden Administration officials, on Saturday Governor Scott will lead a panel discussion with Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont on energy resiliency. Governor Scott will also participate in a meeting of fellow New England governors and President Biden’s Council of Governors.

Vermont Business Magazine To ensure financially challenged households stay connected to their world, T-Mobile — through Assurance Wireless, the Un-carrier’s Lifeline Assistance brand — expands its participation in the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to seven additional states bringing the total number where T-Mobile offers ACP to 48 states and the District of Columbia. With ACP, eligible households can get what they need to stay connected. Now, qualified households in Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming may be eligible for a $30 monthly discount (up to $75 on tribal lands) toward internet service on certain plans.