Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center will present the 2019 Help is Here Award to Senator Patrick Leahy at its annual Help is Here Award Celebration on October 11. The award honors an individual whose contributions personify Howard Center’s mission and demonstrate a passion for those served by the organization. As a distinguished statesman, Senator Leahy’s over forty years of service in the US Senate has always focused on improving the lives of Vermonters, the cornerstone of Howard Center’s mission.

Vermont Business Magazine One of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) Foundation’s most anticipated events of the year is scheduled for Saturday, December 7, 2019 at the Mount Snow Grand Summit Resort Hotel in West Dover, Vermont. The Jingle Bell reflects the giving spirit of the season and provides local businesses and community members the opportunity to demonstrate their support for SVHC in a fun and festive way. Highlights of the Jingle Bell include dinner, dancing, and a live auction featuring an exceptional selection of donated items.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) announces grants totaling $305,929 for eight projects to benefit Vermont fruit, vegetable, and value-added producers and increase consumer access to locally produced food. These grants, funded through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP), were awarded to seven agricultural organizations to undertake a range of technology development, research, education, marketing, and program-building projects. The grants will leverage an additional $203,468 in matching funds.

Vermont Business Magazine The $31 million Phase I Putnam Block Redevelopment Project that received funding from over 17 different public and private funding sources in addition to over 20 local investors, broke ground officially on August 7. Earlier this summer, and shortly after the financial closing that took place on June 14, the construction manager, Breadloaf, commenced selective interior and exterior demolition. Derelict and add-on buildings were torn down to reveal historic original buildings.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor announced today an increase to the state’s minimum wage. Beginning January 1, 2020, the state’s minimum wage will increase $.18, from $10.78 to $10.96, as determined by the Department of Labor’s Economic & Labor Market Information Division.

The calculation for this increase, as well as for subsequent years, is determined by state statute, which calculates the rate of inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The recent increase of 1.7% to the CPI, applied to last year’s minimum wage, raised the rate by $0.18 per hour.

This adjustment also impacts the minimum wage of “tipped employees.” The Basic Tipped Wage Rate for service or tipped employees equals 50% of the full minimum wage or $5.48 per hour starting January 1, 2020. The minimum wage will continue to increase each year with inflation as calculated by the Department of Labor.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and Vermont and Quebec leadership were at the Canadian border today for the official opening of the East Richford-Sutton International Bridge after completion of a joint Vermont-Quebec project to rehabilitate the historic truss bridge.

Vermont Business Magazine Four months after a major landslide significantly impacted access to a popular recreation area in Mount Mansfield State Forest, Cotton Brook Road in Waterbury has reopened. While initial assessments of the landslide area have determined that the road can be opened for public recreation, officials with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) caution that continued observation and a new management strategy will be necessary to ensure public safety.

Vermont Business Magazine Killington Resort began blowing snow Friday night on Rime and the headwall of Superstar with plans to continue as temperatures allow. It’s official; The Beast is awake! The HomeLight Killington Cup returns to Vermont November 29-December 1, featuring the best female alpine skiers in the world racing on Killington’s world-class snow, including Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment numbers edged up last week, but remained under 300 claims. Summer typically brings very low claim levels and these have slipped into fall. Initial claims for the week of September 28, 2019 totaled 249, up 13 from last week and 15 fewer than they were at this time last year.

Altogether 2,069 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 34 from a week ago, and 302 fewer than a year ago.

Nationwide, according to the US Labor Department for the week ending September 28, initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose modestly 4,000 to 219,000. This is higher than economists' expectations. The 4-week moving average held at 212,500. After a long decline from the Great Recession in 2009, claims have now generally leveled off over the past year.

Vermont Business Magazine A bit of rain, wind, and clouds did not hinder the staff of FoodScience Corporation from swarming the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC)’s 400-acre campus in Richmond last week for a fall day full of inspiration, synergy and hard work.

Food Science Corporation — a Williston-based developer and manufacturer of nutritional supplements for animals and humans — was closed on Wednesday, Oct. 2, so that all 170 employees could help tackle an extensive wish list of projects that the VYCC wanted to complete before this winter and the 2020 spring growing season. Much of the work focused on ways to help the VYCC’s Food & Farm Program.

Vermont Business Magazine The drawbridge in North Hero is set to be demolished beginning this week. Testing in July by the Agency of Transportation yielded positive results for some lead as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which delayed the demolition process.

Week of events to showcase outstanding Burlington companies and innovations

Vermont Business Magazine The fourth annual Innovation Week, October 15-19, 2019, is a series of events that aim to strengthen our local entrepreneurial, technological, and creative ecosystem through community engagement. Organized by BTV Ignite and community partnerships, this year’s Innovation Week is organized around SevenDays TechJam and will highlight and celebrate a range of innovative technologies, practices, and people across a range of sectors. This unique experience connects the greater Vermont community with innovators in tech, entrepreneurship, healthcare, manufacturing, art, and more, with nearly every event free and open to the public.