Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Thursday joined Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) in Bennington for the ribbon cutting and celebration of its newly modernized emergency department. The Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s (SVMC) Kendall Emergency Department, Stout Thomson Waiting Area and Outpatient Registration along with the Richard and Pamela Ader Foundation Lobby and the Jackie and Tony Marro Café includes renovations to expand emergency services and care to Bennington and nearby communities. The project was a three-year undertaking.  

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has approved Governor Phil Scott’s request for a Secretarial Disaster Designation for six Vermont counties in response to this July’s rain and flooding events. Caledonia, Essex, Orange, Chittenden, Lamoille and Washington counties were recognized as part of the declaration. This Secretarial disaster designation from USDA makes farm operators across Vermont eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans.

Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development The Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BEGAP) application portal is now open. Before businesses and nonprofits apply, they are encouraged to visit the Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program page to learn how the program works and what they need to have on hand to successfully submit an application. BEGAP is a grant program for businesses, nonprofits, landlords, and farms that suffered physical damage from flooding. It is available for properties damaged in 2023 and/or 2024.

Vermont Business Magazine GasBuddy today released its annual Labor Day travel forecast, predicting the average price of gas will continue its recent downward trend, falling to $3.27 per gallon on Labor Day, the lowest Labor Day price since 2021. At $3.27 per gallon, this Labor Day’s national average would be 50 cents per gallon, or 13% below last year’s $3.77 tally, saving Americans a combined $750 million over the Friday-through-Monday travel period. Average gasoline prices in the US today are $3.33/g, down 2 cents/g from last week. In Vermont they are $3.36 per gallon, down 2 cents per gallon from last week. The lowest price in the state this week was $2.89/g while the highest was $3.79/g, a difference of 90.0 cents per gallon.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) has been awarded a $300,000 Wood Innovations Grant from the United States Forest Service to help working lands businesses install new or upgrade existing advanced wood heating (AWH) systems. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis. Grant funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, and will reimburse up to 50% of project costs (maximum grant amount of $25,000). AWH systems are automated central heating systems that use pellets, chips, or cord wood to provide heat and meet certain high efficiency and low emission requirements.

Vermont Business Magazine The Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BEGAP) application portal is now open. Businesses and nonprofits (including landlords and farms) with damaged property from the 2023 and/or 2024 floods are encouraged to visit the Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program page to learn how the program works and what they need to have on hand before they begin the online application process. A pre-recorded webinar walks applicants step-by-step through the process and answers several FAQ’s. All applicants seeking assistance in preparing to submit this grant application can receive help from the Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation (CVEDC). CVEDC is the statewide technical assistance provider for BEGAP. Fill out their support request form and they will follow up with resources to help.  and they will follow up with resources to help. 

Vermont Business Magazine Michael Costa will join Gifford Health Care as president and chief executive officer on Oct. 14, Gifford’s Board of Directors announced today. Costa will succeed Dan Bennett, who will retire from the role at the Randolph hospital on Oct. 11. Costa currently serves as the CEO of Northern Counties Health Care in St. Johnsbury, Vt., a role he has been in since 2019. He previously served as the deputy commissioner for the Department of Vermont Health Access, the state agency responsible for administering Vermont’s Medicaid health insurance program, and as deputy director of health care reform for the State of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED) was awarded a $4,890,821 Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Program grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration to deploy electric vehicle (EV) chargers throughout the City of Burlington. In implementing its “Charging to Net Zero Energy” project, BED plans to use the grant funds to install 153 Level 2 and 47 Level 3 fast chargers at approximately 85 publicly accessible sites. The project will expand by six times BED’s existing public charging network, encourage EV adoption, promote accessibility of EVs by including locations that will serve high numbers of renters, New Americans, Refugees, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and help the city meet its Net Zero Energy (NZE) climate goal. BED was the only Vermont recipient of federal grant funds in this latest funding announcement.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) has released a draft rule to guide the management planning process for lands owned and managed by ANR. The public is invited to comment on the draft rule until November 1, 2024. ANR owns and manages approximately 375,000 acres of public lands across the State of Vermont through its three departments: the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR); Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department (FWD); Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). These lands provide immense value by supporting diverse wildlife habitats, offering abundant recreational opportunities, preserving vital natural resources, enhancing the state’s resilience to climate change, and contributing significantly to the well-being of our environment and the prosperity of our communities.

Vermont Business Magazine As the state continues to experience the impacts of climate change, Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas promoted an upcoming “Day of Learning” event, supported by her office, on Tuesday September 17 at the Elks Lodge in Barre, VT. This event will be hosted by the Vermont Arts & Culture Disaster and Resilience Network (VACDaRN), founded in 2019 as a partnership of the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA), which is a division of the Secretary of State’s office. VACDaRN provides resources and training in disaster preparedness for arts and cultural institutions.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott on Wednesday made a formal request to President Joe Biden for a Major Disaster Declaration to help communities and individuals in Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties recover from damages incurred in the storms and floods of July 29-31, 2024. The declaration requests funding under the Public Assistance (PA) and Individual Assistance (IA) programs. A federal damage assessment identified more than $3.7 million in public infrastructure damage because of that storm. Floodwaters also destroyed or damaged 85 homes across the three counties, according to the initial assessment.

Vermont Business Magazine Following advocacy by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), and Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont), the Town of Rockingham has been awarded $749,983 from the National Park Service to preserve the historic Rockingham Meeting House, a Vermont and New England landmark and rare eighteenth-century meeting house built in 1787. Last year, Sanders also secured $360,000 for the preservation of the Rockingham Meeting House in FY2023 Congressionally Directed Spending funds.