Current News

Vermont Business Magazine On Tuesday, students, school staff, and the Vermont Farm to School and Early Childhood Network gathered at Crossett Brook Middle School in Duxbury to thank United States Senator Patrick Leahy for his leadership and commitment to the farm to school movement that has expanded nationwide. The day included a presentation of student projects, a school garden tour, a visit to the school’s chicken coop, and a delicious school lunch featuring foods from Vermont producers! Some of the producers selling to the school—Green Mountain Harvest, Red Hen Bakery, Vermont Bean Crafters, and Roscioli Foods—joined the students in thanking Senator Leahy.

Vermont Business Magazine The majority of New England continues to experience drought into the fall, and the US Geological Survey is helping monitor conditions to inform those impacted and provide officials with near-real time updates for drought mitigation decisions. The USGS conducts real-time monitoring of the nation’s rivers and streams and collects continuous groundwater data. A few areas of New England have been in drought since last year, and a portion of all six states were in drought by this June. This spring and summer, several states experienced severe or extreme drought.

Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife Hunters embarking on their first deer season are encouraged to take advantage of Vermont’s third annual novice weekend. Novice weekend this year is Saturday, October 22 and Sunday, October 23.

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department held its annual permit lottery for muzzleloader antlerless deer permits in September and says it now has unallocated muzzleloader antlerless deer permits available for use in the antlerless-only October 27-30 season and the regular December 3-11 muzzleloader season. The unallocated permits are available because not enough people applied for them in the lottery.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Education (AOE) announced today that it has selected Cognia as Vermont’s new Statewide Assessment vender after an open and competitive bid process. Cognia will develop and implement new statewide assessments for English Language Arts (ELA), Math and Science, beginning in the spring of 2023. The tests developed by Cognia will replace the Smarter Balanced Assessment and the Vermont Science Assessment (VTSA). Cognia will provide the full suite of testing services to Vermont, including formative resources and annual summative assessments.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Technical College’s Architectural Engineering Technology Bachelor of Science degree program received The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Zero Energy Design Designation (ZEDD) inaugural seal of recognition. ZEDD designation was awarded to 17 leading educational programs that are preparing tomorrow’s architectural and engineering leaders to design and build the most sustainable buildings possible. Vermont Technical College is the only Vermont program to be awarded the designation.

Vermont Business Magazine In response to a group of faculty members issuing a letter of no confidence, the Board of Trustees of VCFA has reached out to provide additional information related to the piece that VermontBiz published Tuesday regarding the school. The trustees responded to those faculty and also sent a letter from other faculty members offering their full support to the trustees and president. They also wanted to correct an error in the article published Tuesday.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued an executive order reconstituting the Violence Prevention Task Force, which will work to bring focus and clarity to a longer-term prevention strategy that prioritizes early interventions for children and families. Reconstituting this task force is a component of the Governor’s 10-Point public safety enhancement and violence prevention action plan, which was issued in August. It will be comprised of a group of senior executive branch officials and chaired by the director of violence prevention, Dee Barbic, who was appointed to the new role in September.

Vermont Business Magazine Health and hospital leaders who gathered at the 87^th annual meeting of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS) joined together to produce health and hygiene kits for refugee families who will arrive in Vermont this year. Since the conference took place in Manchester, the group worked with Bennington County Open Arms (BCOA) to provide essential supplies for the 15 families who are expected to join Bennington County communities this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Since 2013, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce has convened manufacturing industry leaders at the annual Manufacturing Supply Chain Summit. In recent years, the pandemic prompted the event to go virtual, increasing accessibility for global buyers, suppliers, and partners to engage with Vermont and New England manufacturers and leaders. Due to the success of the virtual model, the event was once again held virtually this year in September, bringing together representatives from throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. The 2022 event was themed; “Rebuilding Supply Chains and Workforce through Content, Collaboration, and Contacts.” 85 supplier participants and 25 OEMs, Primes, and Government Agencies held 300 meetings between buyers, suppliers, and partners, and facilitated 350 connections between participants.