Current News
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Vermont Business Magazine The VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region, (VNAHSR), one of the state’s largest providers of skilled home health and hospice services, recognized Claire McCaughey, a personal care attendant in the CarePlus program as Clinical Employee of the 2nd Quarter of 2021 and Edmond “Ed” Young, IT support technician as Non-Clinical Employee of the 2nd Quarter of 2021.
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Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Department of Corrections (Vermont DOC) is reporting two staff members at Northern State Correctional Facility (NSCF) in Newport tested positive for COVID-19 in independent tests conducted August 18 and August 21. The first staff member was last in the facility on August 17 and tested positive on August 18. One staff close contact was identified, and that individual is quarantined. The second staff member was last in the facility on August 21 and tested positive through a rapid test the same day.
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Vermont Business Magazine With the popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin again surging above $50,000 for a single coin, Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) Commissioner Michael Pieciak urges Vermont investors to fully understand the risks when using and investing in cryptocurrencies. Throughout the pandemic, the number of cryptocurrency transactions initiated in Vermont skyrocketed over 400% percent (224,283 transactions in 2020, compared to 44,290 in 2019). The total value of those Vermont-based transactions topped out at $83.7 million in 2020, compared to $15.1 million in 2019.
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Vermont Business Magazine Today, the United States Department of Agriculture - Rural Development (RD) announced $1,079,000 in funding for the Addison County Community Trust (ACCT) to install a septic system in the Lindale Mobile Home Park in Middlebury, Vermont. The investment is packaged as a $203,000 loan and $876,000 grant through RD’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan & Grant program. Other contributions to the project include $111,072 from the ACCT, a $450,000 Vermont Community Development Block grant and $500,000 from the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board. USDA and ACCT also worked closely with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) to facilitate the project.
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Vermont Business Magazine 1% for the Planet today announced that it has received a generous grant of $60,000 from the Canaday Family Charitable Trust to support paid internships at 1% for the Planet’s Burlington, Vermont headquarters. The Canaday Family Charitable Trust is a foundation established in 1945 that supports Vermont organizations working to improve the lives of children and families, promote environmental education and conservation, and preserve the environment.
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Vermont Business Magazine Union members from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Locals 2320, 2326 and 2327 and the Communication Workers of America (CWA), Local 1400 have ratified new, four-year agreements with Consolidated Communications, which cover approximately 900 workers in Northern New England.
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by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack returned to Vermont last Thursday on a drizzly day on Burlington's waterfront. Vilsack was hosted by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) at the Leahy Echo Center. They were joined by several Vermont officials in a roundtable discussion. Two of the main themes at the discussion were Vermont's diversification of its agriculture industry and environmental impacts of farming on the state's waterways. Vermont is in the middle of vigorous and expensive mitigation efforts to reduce and restore the land and water.
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Vermont Business Magazine Secretary of Administration Susanne Young today released Vermont’s revenue results for July 2021. General, Education, and Transportation Fund revenues came in above target. However, the Personal Income tax, the states most important General Fund revenue source, was below its expectation. The PI had been leading the way in Vermont's revenue surplus over the last two years. Young indicated that while it's too early to tell (July is the first month of the 2922 fiscal year), the PI is a reliable economic indicator. Meanwhile, other sources, like the Corporate, the tourism-related Rooms & Meals and secondary taxes picked up the slack.
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Vermont Business Magazine A Brattleboro Rotary Club Gateway Foundation scholarship awarded to a Community College of Vermont (CCV) student each year aims to address the shortage of child care workers in Windham County. CCV-Brattleboro student Emma Rose Sprenger received this year’s $2,500 Jesse M. Corum, IV Scholarship.
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Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Are you a certified organic operation? Have you incurred expenses related to certifying your operation? You may be eligible to receive partial reimbursement of those costs through the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets' Organic Certification Cost Share Program. Certified organic operations may receive reimbursement of up to 50% of their direct certification costs paid between October 1 and September 30 annually, not to exceed $500. Funds are disbursed on a first come, first served basis.
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Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance Summer is in full swing and Vermont’s outdoor businesses are directing customers to outdoor places while monitoring the unfolding COVID-19 situation. Race directors are safely hosting events, such as Kingdom Games’ open water swims and others found in Vermont Sports Magazine's calendar of events, drawing locals and international visitors, amateurs to professionals.
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by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine Curtiss Reed, Jr has been quietly shaping Vermont while it has been quietly shaping him. The virtues of Vermont, its beauty, its outdoor life, its openness, its sense of community and its access to public officials have helped him address some of the things that are less beautiful, like Vermont's record on racial issues. Over the past 20 years, Reed has evolved from outsider activist to insider change-maker.