Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Nine Vermont organizations will receive grants totaling $972,800 from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) through its second round of funding announced Wednesday for FY2020. In addition to the grants awarded to Vermont arts organizations, a grant of $765,300 to the Vermont Arts Council will support arts programs, services and activities throughout Vermont. The NEA works in partnership with the state Arts Council to ensure that Vermonters have access to the arts.

Vermont Business Magazine On the floor of the US Senate Wednesday afternoon, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) outlined his policy vision to tackle the unprecedented crises of mass unemployment, a deadly pandemic, and systemic police brutality, as he lambasted a lack of Congressional action under Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

Vermont Business Magazine It’s that time of year again! The grass is growing and the lawn needs to be mowed. The great news is that this gas-guzzling, climate-polluting chore can now be completed with much lower emissions and at much lower cost for Vermonters.

With expanded incentives from REV members Green Mountain Power, Washington Electric Coop, and Burlington Electric Department and low-cost financing from REV member VSECU, there has never been a better time switch to electric lawn equipment.

by Secretary Anson Tebbetts As the weather gets warmer, Vermonters are comforted by the simple pleasures of summer, among them, fun with friends at Vermont country fairs and festivals. My own family has enjoyed fairs all over the state year after year. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has caused this summer’s fairs and festivals to be cancelled. I am certain that many who have treasured the tradition over the years will miss Vermont’s fairs and festivals.

Our fairs offer us the opportunity to meet with friends and neighbors, admire blue ribbons proudly on display, enjoy fried dough and maple cotton candy, and gather as a community. While these meals, contests, shows, and special events will be greatly missed in 2020, agriculture and food businesses are working hard to create exciting and new ways to experience all Vermont agriculture has to offer.

Vermont Business Magazine For the second year in a row, Community Bank N.A. will serve as the presenting sponsor of the 2020 Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival, a charity event to raise money to support local cancer survivors this August. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s paddle boat race will be going virtual, however that did not stop Community Bank from participating in an eye dotting ceremony in honor of the upcoming race.

VBSR The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many inequities within our society. As Vermont looks to rebuild our economy in the wake of this crisis, we have an opportunity to develop a new model for prosperity—one that puts climate resiliency, equity, and a low-carbon transition at the center of our recovery efforts.

Join VBSR, businesses, and climate advocates from across Vermont to learn how our little state can prepare to meet the challenges of a warming world, promote environmental justice, and seize the economic and job-creating benefits that climate action presents. This will include a presentation from the Energy Action Network on where Vermont stands on its emissions reduction goals and the economic benefits of decarbonization, as well as a facilitated Q&A session with leading advocates on the latest climate action bills moving through Vermont’s legislature.

Vermont-NEA “Nobody wants to be back in school more than the educators of Vermont. We understand the economic and political pressure to reopen our schools, but we have to make sure the decision is made with the best, most up-to-date public health science. For schools to reopen, they must be safe for students, parents, and educators.”

Vermont Business Magazine As of Tuesday evening, a total of 74 cases are thought to be associated with the outbreak that first emerged in Winooski. About 80% of cases are in Winooski. Most of the rest are in nearby Burlington, with a small number elsewhere in Chittenden County. Statewide there have been 1,095 cases and 12 new as of today's report. There are no new deaths which have held at 55 for two weeks. But there are four now hospitalized statewide, which has been a small increase over the last week, which had zero. Also at the briefing, Education Secretary French said that the state is working toward full in-person education for K-12 students in the fall, with significant health guidance, including temperature checks for students and facial coverings for teachers and students as much as possible.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Police in 2015 initiated efforts to obtain body-worn cameras for all troopers and to replace two-decade-old in-cruiser dashboard camera systems. State police leaders have been working ever since with the Legislature to acquire not only body-worn cameras but also the necessary data storage systems to support them.

For more than 20 years, the state police and the public have benefitted from the in-car camera and body microphone system. The state police is deeply grateful for these as aids in our work, every day. The Vermont State Police and its leadership remain committed to purchasing and deploying body-worn cameras in fiscal year 2021 to complement the in-car system.

by Kate Whelley McCabe, CEO, Vermont Evaporator Company Monday, June 1st started off great. My family was healthy. After three wretched months, my business was still standing. And good news was on the way: thanks to our public health experts, our healthcare workers and the support of the general public, Vermont was managing the pandemic well. We were opening up, slowly and responsibly. And, I hadn't read the details yet, but the governor's $250 million COVID Aid package had been announced.

He'd done such a good job managing the pandemic response itself, it had to contain good news for Vermont Evaporator Company, right? I mean, I had long since given up on the federal government, sure. But Vermont was on top of this!

Dear Member of the Vermont General Assembly: As you build a plan to spend the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) monies that were allocated to Vermont, we hope you will use some basic guidelines in your decision making. Vermonters are struggling. These funds, as with all state revenues, should be first and foremost used to meet the needs of the people of Vermont and to create a Vermont that works for everyone. Rather than focusing on what the federal rules permit, we urge the Legislature and administration to focus on what Vermonters need.

​Vermont Business Magazine As school districts across the state say good-bye to the Vermont high school class of 2020, the McClure Foundation today announced a graduation gift for every member of that class. Every graduating senior, no matter their circumstances or where they went to high school, will be eligible for a free course of their choosing at the Community College of Vermont (CCV) this fall.