Current News

Vermont Business Magazine “Thirty years ago my Dad called and ask me to help out for a summer at a roadside market he was buying in Woodstock,” said Patrick Crowl, owner of Woodstock Farmers’ Market (WFM), which now has two stores in Woodstock and Waterbury, 85 employees, and grosses $15 million in sales between both locations. “Needless to say, it’s been a long summer. I can’t believe we’re celebrating 30 years.”

This summer the WFM team is putting a special spin on their annual celebration, “Local Food Is Love,” with a focus on their 30-year history as a destination for locally grown produce, meat, and dairy products, as well as Vermont-made grocery items.

Vermont Business Magazine After two years of virtual programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont (GIV) is once again holding their signature summer programs in person. More than 500 rising 10th–12th graders, representing seventy-five high schools from every corner of Vermont, are spending 1-2 weeks on a college campus diving deeply into the topics they love: Arts, Astronomy, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Science & Technology, Global Issues & Youth Action, Health & Medicine, Mathematical Sciences, and Technology & Design.

GIV kicked off the 2022 summer session at Champlain College with the Technology & Design Institute. Celebrating its 20^th year, this Institute provides an opportunity for tech savvy students to explore the intersection between art and science and hone their ability to develop solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Vermont Business Magazine Due to circumstances related to and created by the coronavirus pandemic, the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Farm Show, Inc., is cancelling the 2023 show and assessing how to ensure the event successfully serves the state’s agricultural interests in the years to come.

In a recent meeting, the Board unanimously agreed that the Vermont Farm Show should return in 2024, after a period of critique, evaluation and review to ensure the event evolves with current needs and wants of the Vermont agriculture community in the 21^st century. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) will coordinate a focus group with agricultural sector stakeholders to help meet this goal.

Vermont Business Magazine During the final days of June, Supreme Court rulings rolled out, each alarming in their own way.

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, the Court restricted states’ authority to regulate concealed-carry weapons in public places. In West Virginia v. EPA, the Court handed a win to fossil fuel companies by curtailing the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon emissions.

Most brazenly, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Court overturned Roe v. Wade, stripping Americans of their fundamental right to reproductive liberty. As of July 1st, eight states had moved to outlaw abortion – putting the lives of millions of American women at risk.

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on July 1, 2022, Justin Zayas-Sanchez, 22, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont, to serve 20 months in prison after his guilty plea to one count of distribution of fentanyl. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered Zayas-Sanchez to serve a six-year term of supervised release and to pay a $100 special assessment.

According to court records and proceedings, on April 14, 2021, Zayas-Sanchez sold crack cocaine and ten bags of fentanyl to a confidential informant in the Rutland area. He also sold crack to an informant on May 26, 2021 and fentanyl to an informant on July 19, 2021. Zayas-Sanchez was arrested in November 2021 and has been detained since then.

​Vermont Business Magazine Speech therapy patients in areas near Manchester and Wilmington, Vermont, can now schedule appointments closer to home. Speech-language pathologist Kate O’Neill, MS, CCC-SLP, will be traveling from SVMC Outpatient Rehabilitation in Bennington to the primary care offices in Manchester and Wilmington. All three practices are part of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) and Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) in Bennington. Appointments in Manchester and Wilmington are open to all SVMC speech and language patients, regardless of where they receive primary care.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fairs & Field Days are back in full swing for 2022! Every year, the Fairs & Field Days are a favorite summer past-time for Vermonters and visitors alike. From July-September, you can find entertainment and family fun at 13 different Fairs & Field Days across the state.
At this year's Fairs & Field Days, you can find everything - animal shows, carnival rides, agricultural exhibits, live bands, good food, tractor pulls, and demolition derbies! Come support the state's most important places to promote agricultural literacy and provide insight into our unique cultural heritage. The Fairs & Field Days schedule is below, click the links for more information about each event.

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine Dean Richard L. Page, M.D., and UVM Health Network Medical Group President and Larner Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Jason Sanders, M.D., M.B.A., have announced the appointment of Ramsey Herrington, M.D., as the inaugural chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine, effective July 1, 2022. Emergency medicine had its beginnings at UVM in the 1950s and 1960s and has functioned for nearly 50 years as a division of the Department of Surgery. Over the last half-century, the field of emergency medicine has developed a body of research and instructional offerings that are recognized as belonging to a discrete academic field.

by Jenney Samuelson, Secretary of the Agency of Human Services As the Secretary of the Agency of Human Services (AHS), I am listening to what Vermonters want: broader insurance coverage, well-supported healthcare providers, and a stable health care system. On June 28, 2022, Vermont secured federal funding to meet these goals and to support the health and wellbeing of Vermonters statewide. This funding, through the Global Commitment demonstration, advances each of those goals. The state’s healthcare system and the health of all Vermonters will be better for it.

Northeastern Vermont Development Association VTrans is investing funds from the General Fund Bridge Program for rebuilding eligible off-system bridges using 100% federal monies for the construction phase. VTrans established two categories during the selection process: Historic Bridges and Existing Capital Projects. Thirty-four bridges were ultimately selected from around the state to participate in the program - with two from the NEK! The towns of Troy and Lyndon are now able to rebuild their covered bridges with funding from the General Fund Bridge Program.

Vermont Business Magazine The Court’s decision cloaks the use of hundreds of millions of Vermont taxpayer dollars in secrecy, allowing Vermont state agencies to protect themselves and their contractors from independent performance and spending oversight.

VermontBiz Green Mountain United Way is thrilled to receive a $10,000 grant from Vermont Women’s Fund to help continue to support and expand the Working Bridges program throughout Central Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom.

Everyday, Working Bridges resource coordinators meet with local employees at their place of work and help them navigate different life stressors, in particular, financial issues that come up as a result of increasing food, gas, and heating costs.

“We are incredibly grateful for this continued investment and belief in our work,” said Tawnya Kristen, Executive Director of Green Mountain United Way. “This partnership is such a great demonstration of harnessing the power of collaboration to address complex issues. We look forward to demonstrating the success this funding will undoubtedly support and the benefits provided to women in our shared community.”