Current News

VermontBiz Vermont Smoke & Cure, renowned for its artisanal smoked meat products, today announced that its Uncured Turkey Pepperoni Stick has been named the winner in the Snack Stick category of the 2024 Taste for Life Food Essentials Awards. This recognition underscores the company's commitment to crafting high-quality, flavorful meat snacks that meet the growing consumer demand for healthier, protein-forward, on-the-go options to fuel their lives and adventures.

VermontBiz The Center for Community News (CCN) at the University of Vermont (UVM) will dramatically expand efforts to grow partnerships between local news outlets and universities across the country, forging a path to sustainability for local reporting in the regions that need it most. Thanks to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and others, CCN will ramp up research, programming, education, and advocacy for student reporting programs, which are playing an increasingly vital role in reporting local news for Americans.

VermontBiz The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) this week announced its approval of Vermont’s application to provide Medicaid coverage for individuals transitioning out of incarceration. 

As outlined in the federal waiver, sentenced incarcerated individuals will become eligible for Medicaid 90 days before their release. Currently, incarcerated individuals are ineligible for Medicaid, regardless of economic situation, until they return to the community. Officials say the initiative will enhance continuity of care and support a more seamless transition back to Vermont’s communities. 

VermontBiz First responders provide critical and often live-saving services at both natural and technological disasters. They may be exposed to death, grief, injury, pain or loss, as well as threats to their own safety, frequent shifts and/or long shifts, lack of sleep, physical hardship, and other negative experiences. In many cases across Vermont, these first responders are community-based volunteers taking time away from their careers and family to respond in a moment’s notice to serve their neighbors in need. That is why Vermont State University’s Center for Social Justice and Trauma Response Care on the Castleton Campus is hosting its second Annual First Responder Wellness Conference on July 15-16. You can register here. 

VermontBiz Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA), recognizing the need for more centralized office space to support the growth of its case management department, moved satellite offices from Windsor County to a shared office space in downtown Randolph.  

Previously, CVCOA had rented individual offices from the Randolph Senior Center, Royalton Senior Center, and from a Main Street storefront in Rochester. Each office was utilized by a single case manager. 

by Vermont Small Business Development Center VermontBiz In the heart of historic Waterbury, Ehren Hill and Cory Swafford took the leap in 2023 to purchase Blackback Pub, a welcoming, well-known gathering place that nurtures a sense of community. This is the place where locals and visitors alike forge friendships, share stories and celebrate life’s moments.

From the outset, the new partners’ goal has been to build upon the legacy and core values set by the previous owners and to deliver what their guests appreciate most: genuine connections; a selection of constantly changing regional beers on tap; freshly prepared and locally sourced American fare; a cocktail and wine bar; quality service; and a cozy ambiance.

by Timothy McQuiston VermontBiz Vermonters are again facing steep premium growth for 2025 due to the cumulative impact of hospital costs, drug prices and state health care policy choices. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont projects that these trends will continue and require rate increases of 16.3% for individual health plans and 19.1% for small-group plans for Vermonters covered by Vermont Health Connect. MVP Health Care is proposing an average increase of 11.7% for individual plan coverage and a 9.3% increase for small-group coverage.

by C.B. Hall VermontBiz by The rapid rise in health care costs came into focus this spring when Vermont’s Legislature, facing a projected increase of about 18% in the property taxes that help finance Vermont’s schools, approved tax increases that reduced the projected bump to about 14%.

The Yield Bill, as it is known, makes no reference to savings in the school system’s costs, which conspicuously include employee health care benefits. Instead, it called for a commission to make recommendations aimed at a “sustainable“ future for public education in the state. But public discussion surrounding the bill highlighted health care costs, which, as it happens, have been projected to rise throughout the state by roughly the same percentage as overall school expenditures.

VermontBiz The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center (NE-DBIC) has grant funds available to support new dairy processing projects throughout the Northeast. These grant funds are available to dairy farmers looking to diversify by adding processing to their operations, and to non-farm value-added dairy business start-ups.

VermontBiz Average gasoline prices in Burlington have risen 7.2 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.47/g today, according to GasBuddy's survey of 100 stations in Burlington. Prices in Burlington are 4.4 cents per gallon lower than a month ago and stand 17.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has risen 3.6 cents in the last week and stands at $3.81 per gallon.

Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will impact traffic on state highways and interstates throughout Vermont. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.  

The Vermont State Police and the St. Johnsbury Police Department are investigating an incident that occurred Sunday morning, July 7, 2024, in St. Johnsbury. The investigation began at about 5:50 a.m. when St. Johnsbury police received a report involving an altercation that had occurred inside a home on Cottage Street. Responding officers located one man deceased and several others with apparent injuries. The injured individuals were transported to area hospitals for treatment; their conditions are currently unknown.