Current News

Jody Frey hadn’t anticipated a career in law. In her 30s, she was teaching adjunct courses at Sterling College to supplement her income as a dairy farmer when she became inspired to pursue a master’s degree in place-based arts.

After earning her degree, she spent eight years teaching college-level environmental humanities—a subject that sparked her interest in social justice issues and inspired her to make a mid-life career change.

Vermont Business Magazine Shoreham, Vermont-based WhistlePig, the #1 distiller in the ultra-premium and luxury Rye Whiskey category in North America, has joined forces with Darryl McNally and Limavady Irish Whiskey to fulfill his dream of creating the world's first Single Barrel Irish whiskey. The addition of Limavady, alongside WhistlePig’s collection of groundbreaking Rye Whiskeys, marks the company’s growth from the leading independent American Whiskey to a global craft portfolio.

Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Libraries was awarded $2,135,819 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to help Vermont communities respond directly and immediately to the pandemic and related economic and community needs.

Vermont Business Magazine The federal government has authorized the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF) and Agency of Education (AOE) to provide temporary food benefits to students (Pre-K to grade 12) who would normally receive free or reduced-price meals at school. These benefits, called Pandemic EBT or P-EBT, are based on the student’s learning model for the month — from March to June 2021: A full benefit of $119.35 for a remote learning month; A partial benefit for a hybrid learning month: $38.19 in March, $37.51 in April, $33.42 in May, and $30.69 in June.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education is soliciting feedback from stakeholders and the public on the draft Building for the Future: Vermont’s Plan for Education Recovery and Beyond. The plan is a requirement of Vermont’s Act 74 and the Federal American Rescue Plan Act, and charts how the state will spend federal Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief funding, and prioritize these resources for Education Recovery and our pathway out of the pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski announced appointments to the Vermont Community Broadband Board, Cannabis Advisory Committee, and Vermont Citizens Advisory Committee on Lake Champlain's Future. Former VTPBS CEO Holly Groschner is appointed to the VCBB. Ashley Reynolds is appointed to the Cannabis Committee. And Kari Dolan is appointed to the Lake Champlain Advisory Committee.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Led by the personal income tax once again, revenue collections for the month of June 2021, the last month of the state fiscal year, exceeded targets for the month and for the year. The State’s General Fund, Transportation Fund, and Education Fund receipts were a combined $38.8 million, or 18.2 percent for the month. The General Fund alone was ahead of targets for the fiscal year by $197.6 million (11.3 percent).

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports on Thursday night received the $10,000 first-place award in Vermont as part of the 7th Annual IMPACT Awards, a joint initiative of the Red Sox Foundation and the Ruderman Family Foundation which this year focused on supporting organizations whose mission includes raising awareness on the issue of mental health and improving mental health outcomes of young adults in their community. And then the Red Sox beat the Yankees in a wicked good extra inning game.

Vermont Business Magazine The Heart of Vermont Chamber of Commerce, based in Hardwick, announced this month that it has just completed a merger with the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, the regional chamber serving the tri-county region of Caledonia, Essex and Orleans. The Heart of Vermont Chamber covers Cabot, Craftsbury, Greensboro, Hardwick, Stannard, Walden, Wolcott and Woodbury.

Vermont Business Magazine Citizens, with branches across Vermont, announced Thursday that the strength of the economic recovery pushed this past quarter’s national Citizens Business Conditions Index (CBCI) to 57, its highest reading in three years and up five points compared to last year. A reading above 50 is considered expansionary. While Vermont’s index is a solid 53.7, this is a drop from the previous quarter (the highest on record) and from the same time last year.

by Becca Balint, Senate President Pro Tempore In the last few weeks of the session, two committees in the House and Senate were at an impasse over a bill that was important to both sides. One colleague kept saying to me in increasingly exasperated tones, “Their position doesn’t make any sense. We could clear this up in a few minutes with just a very small amount of money. Why won’t they take the deal?” Shuttle diplomacy (over Zoom) wasn’t working. Conversations between chairs and leadership teams couldn’t seem to break the logjam. We were all discouraged, and the conflict felt intractable. But then I remembered High Conflict, a new book by Amanda Ripley.