Current News

by Jules Older Oh, it’s a crisis, all right. When your kid’s book will be delayed a full year because the cover illustrator is suddenly unavailable, that pretty much defines crisis. What to do? Though I write kid’s books, this one’s actually my wife’s crisis. The book is Effin Older’s HELP! Santa is in Trouble!. Yes, it’s a Christmas book, and if she can't get a cover going right now, it won't come out till next Christmas. What to do? Ah-ha — artificial intelligence! Artificial intelligence, better known as AI, just might save the day.

Vermont Business Magazine Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vermont) released the following statement after tonight’s vote to keep the government funded and deliver disaster relief funds to Vermonters: “Tonight, I voted to send disaster recovery funding directly to the communities who need it most and keep the government open. These dollars will help Vermonters build back stronger and more resilient from the devastating flooding we faced the last two years. After Republicans let Elon Musk play games with our nation’s budget, I’m relieved Vermont will finally receive the millions we need to build back our small businesses, farms, homes, and communities."

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak announced that the City of Burlington will open a cold weather emergency shelter at the Miller Center at 130 Gosse Court this weekend. Hours of operation will be Saturday, December 21 and Sunday, December 22 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 AM. The National Weather Service is currently forecasting evening temperatures diving below zero with windchill on Saturday, December 21, and Sunday, December 22. The State of Vermont defines an extreme cold weather emergency using a threshold of –20 degrees Fahrenheit with the windchill factor. The City is acting to open additional shelter this weekend based on a number of factors, including: current estimates indicate upwards of 250 people are sleeping unsheltered in the region.  

Vermont Business Magazine NBT Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ: NBTB) announced that it has received regulatory approval to complete the proposed merger of Evans Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE American: EVBN) with and into NBT and Evans Bank, N.A. with and into NBT Bank, N.A. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the merger of Evans Bank with and into NBT Bank, and NBT received a waiver from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for any application with respect to the merger of Evans with and into NBT. On December 20, 2024, the shareholders of Evans voted to approve the Merger. Evans reported over 75% of the issued and outstanding shares of Evans were represented at a special shareholder meeting and over 96% of the votes cast were voted to approve the Merger.

Vermont Business Magazine The Commission on the Future of Public Education in Vermont announced the release of its preliminary findings report, commissioned by Act 183 of 2024.The report provides initial critical insights into the complexity of Vermont’s education finance landscape and seeks to provide the legislature with early information to inform its work during the 2025 legislative session. “The Commission is well aware of the challenging and complex policy environment in which it has been asked to do its work. We believe that this initial report can play a role in shaping policy decisions this session,” said Meagan Roy, Commission Chair.

Public Assets Institute Vermont total personal income rose to $43 billion in 2023. Adjusted for inflation, that was an increase of 6 percent over the previous year, the highest among the states. Personal income, a key economic indicator, includes salary and wages, business income, interest and dividends, government benefits such as Social Security, employer retirement contributions, and other income. It does not include capital gains. Personal income is an aggregate measure; it doesn’t tell us how individuals are faring. But Vermont also scored well in 2023 on a measure that does. Census data released in September showed a rise in Vermonters’ median household income of 5.4 percent, after adjusting for inflation—also the largest percentage increase in the country.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment Kerrick Johnson, of North Middlesex, as commissioner of the Department of Public Service, Mike Ferrant, of Williamstown, as deputy commissioner of the Department of Liquor and Lottery and has named Sandy Bigglestone as acting commissioner of the Department of Financial Regulation. Ferrant replaces former deputy commissioner Andrew Collier, who was appointed as commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles last month. Johnson replaces June Tierney and Bigglestone will serve as acting commissioner, replacing Kevin Gaffney. Both Tierney and Gaffney will be retiring at the end of the year. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor today reported that the seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for November was 2.4 percent. This reflects an increase of one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate. All three major indices were negative. Vermont is tied for second lowest unemployment rate in the nation with North Dakota. South Dakota is lowest at 1.9% and Nevada is highest at 5.7%. The state civilian labor force participation rate was 65.5 percent in November, a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate. The comparable United States rate in November was 4.2 percent, an increase of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised October estimate. 

Vermont Business Magazine This week, the biennial, bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2024 was advanced by the Senate. The bill contains several of U.S. Senator Peter Welch’s (D-Vermont) priorities for flood-impacted communities. It now heads to President Biden’s desk for his signature. This includes lowering the Non-Federal Cost-Share of the Lake Champlain Watershed Environmental Assistance Program for Vermont; and lowering the State of Vermont Cost-Share for Work on the Waterbury, Wrightsville, and East Barre Dams.

Vermont Business Magazine Emerge Vermont, the state’s premier organization for recruiting and training Democratic women to run for office, announced a new, one-day training program for Democratic women interested in running for local office. Emerge Vermont’s Municipal Bootcamp is a full-day, online training that will provide skills and tools to enable Democratic women to run successful campaigns for school boards, selectboards, city councils, and village trustee boards on Town Meeting Day. 

Vermont Business Magazine In solidarity with the 28,000 flight attendants who have been working for nearly four years without a much-needed pay raise or quality-of-life improvements, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and 24 Democratic senators today called on United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby to return to the bargaining table and deliver a fair contract. While thousands of flight attendants risked their lives and safety to work through the pandemic, facing heightened aggression and dangerous behavior on planes, United Airlines raked in $1.4 billion in profits over the past four years and recently boasted about its “best revenue day ever” in the history of the airline. In that same period, CEO Kirby received over $38 million in compensation, including a 90 percent raise just last year.

Vermont Business Magazine New data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reinforces outdoor recreation’s significant and growing impact on Vermont’s economy. In 2023, BEA found outdoor recreation created $2.1 billion in value added for Vermont, accounting for 4.8% of Vermont’s gross domestic product (GDP). This makes Vermont second in the country, behind only Hawaii, for the highest contribution to state GDP for the second consecutive year. Vermont’s strong outdoor recreation economy is rooted in small businesses all over the state, from gear manufacturers to bike rental and repair shops, to four-season resorts, guide services, retail stores, and lodging providers. According to BEA findings, in 2023 the highest economic contributor to Vermont’s outdoor sector was snow activities which include skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, dog mushing, tubing, and snow shoeing. Those activities contributed $220 million to Vermont’s GDP, up from $170 million in 2022. Other top contributors included RVing, game areas that include tennis and golf, and boating and fishing.