Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 100 cases of COVID-19 for Sunday (186 Saturday, 233 Friday, 243 Thursday, 216 Wednesday, 219 Tuesday, 150 Monday, and 43 last Sunday.) The VDH reported three additional deaths on Friday for 623 statewide. COVID-related fatalities in March (17) were the fewest since last July (2). One of the newly reported fatalities is attributed to a March case, but the other two are the first fatalities noted in April. The individuals were all at least 70.

​Vermont Business Magazine On April 15, the Middlebury College Museum of Art will once again be open to the public, and no reservations will be required for attendance. The museum has been open only to Middlebury students, faculty, and staff with advance registration for the past two years, due to the pandemic. During the hiatus, the museum took the opportunity to make some additions and improvements, including new exhibits.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Vail Resorts announced four investments to provide accessible and affordable housing for its employees at Park City Mountain in Utah, Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, Vail Mountain in Colorado, and Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont as part of the company's strategic focus on investing in the employee experience. Collectively, the four investments will provide new affordable housing to more than 875 Vail Resorts employees, marking a more than 10 percent increase in affordable employee housing offered by the company across its resorts. Okemo joins a growing number of Vermont businesses using and needing company housing because of the tight and expensive market here, as workers are in short supply.

by Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, VAHHS This week, I am spotlighting an issue that hospitals and all of Vermont continues to struggle with—long wait times in emergency departments (EDs). We continue to see dozens of people regularly waiting days, sometimes even weeks, in emergency departments. Children, adults, families and health care providers are suffering. VAHHS will continue to advocate for and support all initiatives that address long wait times.

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont (UVM) researchers see a mosaic of diverse forest habitats, or patchwork, as a way of creating a resilient landscape that is better adapted to climate change. In a new paper published in Conservation Science and Practice, authors Littlefield, now a lead scientist at Conservation Science Partners, and RSENR Professor Anthony D’Amato, recommend practicing forest management through a lens of climate adaptation to help maintain forests for carbon benefits while alsoproviding refuge for wildlife. Climate change adaptation prioritizes landscape diversity, complexity, and connectivity.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets The International Workshop on Agritourism (IWA) is coming to Burlington, VT from August 30 to September 1, 2022. Join agriculture and tourism industry professionals from the United States and beyond for an exciting program full of educational sessions, poster presentations, hands-on workshops, farm tours, and networking events. Farmers, agricultural service providers, tourism experts, and those interested in learning more about agritourism are all encouraged to attend and share your own knowledge, experiences, and expertise!

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Yes, there are questions about all the Class A office space left begging as workers left their cubicles and likely will never come back in full, and likewise with the pandemic escapees who gobbled up second homes here “site-unseen,” and about CityPlace, the vacant downtown Burlington mall, and about the ARPA infrastructure funds and how that will be spent on roads, bridges, and wastewater projects. But the central question in the construction industry is on housing and where it’s going to be built, if it’s built at all, and if everyone agrees it should be built and can further agree on where, and whether that effort will be bogged down by too few workers, too much inflation, too little supply, or too much politicking. Then maybe there will be enough housing for every income level.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation has provided the following list of upcoming highway and related projects. Some are major interstate and bridge works and others are rail crossing upgrades and landscaping mitigation projects.

​Vermont Business Magazine Two Vermont brewers have cracked the Top 50 Craft Brewers in the nation. Long Trail from Bridgewater Corners was ranked 36th (and 45th among all breweries) and Fiddlehead from Shelburne was ranked 49th. Boston-based Harpoon, with a plant and tasting room in Windsor, was ranked 21st. The Brewers Association (BA)—the trade association representing small and independent1 American craft brewers—released its annual production figures for the US craft brewing industry last Tuesday. In 2021, small and independent brewers collectively produced 24.8 million barrels of beer and realized 8% growth3, increasing craft’s overall beer market share by volume to 13.1%, up from 12.2% the previous year.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports is pleased to announce the 39th annual Vermont Corporate Cup Challenge and State Agency Race, presented by Union Mutual Insurance Company. The event will take place in-person in Montpelier on May 19 and virtually May 19 through July 31. “We are grateful for Union Mutual’s financial backing for this signature Vermont event that raises funds for Vermonters’ physical fitness initiatives. We are thrilled to host an in-person event along with a virtual option," said Janet Franz, Council chairperson.

​Leonine Public Affairs A debate earlier in the year about whether to switch to single-member legislative districts in the House was officially put to rest when Governor Phil Scott signed the redistricting bill, H.722, into law. The bill will see the state continuing to use multi-member districts for the next decade. Redistricting is a decennial process using census data to ensure Vermont remains in compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s one-vote per person standard. The bill reapportions Vermont’s 180 legislators based on the state’s changing demographics. Under the new Senate map, the Northeast Kingdom will lose one senator to Chittenden County. Changes to the House map are more extensive, but are not expected to significantly change the political makeup of the chamber.

​Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) this week sent a letter to interns, residents and fellows of the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC) in support of their efforts to form a union. Sanders recently met with UVMMC residents who shared with him how organizing a union would lead not only to decent wages and better working conditions, but also to improved care for their patients.