Current News

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center has a new grant for existing Northeast dairy processors. The Dairy Co-Packing Grant supports licensed dairy processors and dairy brands in the Northeast that already engage in or are planning to use co-packing arrangements. The grant is open to: Dairy processors who wish to initiate new co-packing arrangements; Dairy processors with existing co-packing services who want to grow, add new products, or expand partnerships; Dairy brands that plan to scale current co-packing or to initiate co-packing arrangements of existing products. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Addison County Economic Development Corporation (ACEDC) today announced the appointment of Alexander Armani-Munn as the new Executive Director. Armani-Munn will start February 10, 2025 and will work alongside outgoing Executive Director Fred Kenney for a period of familiarization and guidance. Armani-Munn brings ten years of community and economic development experience spanning positions in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Beginning his career with a two-year fellowship at the Town of Nederland, Colorado, Armani-Munn received extensive training in all aspects of city management before taking a position with leading media and public relations firm Development Counsellors International (DCI) in Denver, Colorado. Most recently, Armani-Munn worked for architecture and engineering firm AES Northeast in Plattsburgh, NY.

Vermont Business Magazine Don George, President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, has informed the company’s Board of Directors and employees of his plan to retire, effective January 2026. During his more than thirty years with Blue Cross of VT and 16 years as CEO, Mr. George has been a respected and visionary leader. The Blue Cross VT Board of Directors will lead the recruitment and transition process, beginning immediately. There will be a national search for a new President and CEO with expertise to guide the organization through the challenges in health care. This transition will allow ample time for Mr. George’s successor to benefit from his local knowledge and years of experience.

by Charlotte Oliver, Community News Service State leaders are considering how President Donald Trump’s plans to deport undocumented immigrants in mass numbers could strain the state’s already stressed and backlogged prison system. If immigration authorities begin a “rounding up of folks,” people awaiting deportation would be temporarily housed in state prisons, Rep. Alice Emmons, D-Springfield, told the House Corrections and Institutions committee Jan. 21. That would place further pressure on facilities already struggling to house Vermonters who are sentenced or detained, said Emmons, the committee’s chair.

by Noah Diedrich, Community News Service In the years following the Covid-19 pandemic, the Lamoille South Supervisory Union has faced an equally novel problem: helping kids readjust to school. “There was a distinct minority of students who had some very, very marked needs,” said Dave Bickford, school board chair for the Elmore-Morristown district, one of two that make up the supervisory union. “Social-emotional needs that transcended the special education designation.” It’s taken a few years to diagnose and remedy the problem, and only in the past year have officials in Lamoille South seen noticeable improvements — progress Bickford attributes to the close working relationship between the supervisory union’s central office and school administrations.

Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies Lisa Groeneveld co-founded OnLogic with her husband, Roland, in 2003. Headquartered in South Burlington, OnLogic designs and manufactures industrial computers. In this conversation, Lisa reflects on her entrepreneurial journey, the challenges and rewards of building a global company in Vermont, and her experience on the VCET board.

by Maggie Lenz and Nick Charyk on behalf of Atlas Government Affairs This week, the Scott administration unveiled more details of its ‘Education Transformation Proposal.’ At first blush, it looks like your run-of-the-mill, every day, no-big-deal restructuring of the entire Vermont educational landscape. The plan would consolidate the current 119 districts into five large regional ones and introduce “School Choice Schools” (SCS), where both public and private schools would compete for the same pool of public funds. Families would rank their preferred schools, and their base funding of $13,200 in taxpayer dollars would follow them to a public or private school. Admissions to SCSs would be determined by a lottery system that would leave families’ educational futures (and taxpayer dollars) up to chance. Which has a tinge of dystopia to it.

Vermont Business Magazine In response to inaccurate statements, the Governor Phil Scott’s office issued the following statement: Governor Scott’s education plan strengthens our public education system by improving quality, creating equity across the state, and building a sustainable funding structure that Vermonters can afford. Vermonters have identified this as a top priority, and this bold plan lays the groundwork for Vermont to have the best public education system in the nation. Yet, defenders of the current system – which has declining test scores, massive annual property tax increases and pays teachers unequally – have misleadingly referred to this proposal as a “voucher system.”  They are wrong.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 19 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration to stop the unauthorized disclosure of Americans’ private information and sensitive data. The lawsuit asserts that the Trump administration illegally provided Elon Musk and the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)” unauthorized access to the Treasury Department’s central payment system, and therefore to Americans’ most sensitive personal information, including bank account details and Social Security numbers. This expanded access could allow Musk and his team to block federal funds to states and programs providing health care, childcare, and other critical services.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Eric Chambers, 55, of Springfield, Vermont, was arraigned Saturday on six felony counts of possession of child sexual abuse materials. The charges brought against Mr. Chambers are the result of a criminal investigation, including the execution of search warrants conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), which included personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Kansas Bureau of Investigations, Hartford Police Department, and Springfield Police Department.

by Kevin Chu Personal growth is universally celebrated. We encourage people to pursue education, seek professional development, and advance in their endeavors. We applaud entrepreneurs who take risks, innovate, and build successful enterprises. We praise people who overcome adversity and become more resilient in the process. Yet, when it comes to Vermont’s communities, there is hesitation to embrace the same idea of growth, with some even calling for degrowth. Population growth and new housing developments are treated as threats that need to be protected against. Protection of what and for whom? What if the real danger is not growing? We celebrate growth on an individual level—let’s extend that sentiment to our state as a whole.   

Vermont Business Magazine To celebrate McDonald’s 50th anniversary in partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, Vermont McDonald’s restaurants have extended their fundraising window for the iconic Shamrock Shake from two to six weeks this year. Beginning February 10th, local owner/operators will donate $0.25 cents from each fan-favorite shake sold during this time to provide support to families with children who are ill or injured. Restaurants across New England have raised a combined $270,000 over the past three years for RMHC during the Shamrock Shake fundraiser, with Vermont McDonald’s customers having helped raise $23,000 of that total. New England operators have set a goal of raising $100,000 this year.