Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Amidst a galaxy of flavors and great cosmic weather, the Southern Vermont Homebrew Festival celebrated its fourteenth edition on Saturday, May 4th, 2024, at Depot Street in Bennington, Vermont. The festival, celebrating a Star Wars-themed May The Fourth Be With You Day, brought together over 500 attendees, brewers, vendors, sponsors, and volunteers for a day filled with cosmic brews, live music, epic culinary delights, and Star Wars-inspired revelry. The festival commenced under sunny skies and great, early May weather. From noon onwards, exclusive VIP ticket holders embarked on a journey through regional delicacies and brews, setting the tone for a great afternoon for all. General ticket holders joined the festivities from 1 pm to 4 pm, immersing themselves in the galaxy's finest libations. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Mental Health (DMH), in collaboration with the Vermont Department of Health (VDH), have been granted a one-year no-cost extension for the CCBHC Planning Grant until March 2025. In March of 2023, DMH and VDH secured federal funding through Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to support the planning of Certified Community-Based Integrated Health Centers (CCBHC) programs in Vermont communities. CCBHCs provide comprehensive, whole-person services by integrating mental health, substance use and some physical health screenings within existing community health provider locations. Additionally, CCBHCs offer mobile crisis, care coordination, and peer support services. These community-based programs serve individuals regardless of diagnosis or insurance status. 

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington-South Burlington-Barre, Vermont, was ranked among the cleanest in the nation for ozone pollution for its 10th consecutive year, according to the American Lung Association’s 2024 “State of the Air” report, which was released in April. The Lung Association’s 25th annual “State of the Air” report grades exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution, annual particle pollution and short-term spikes in particle pollution over a three-year period. This year’s report includes air quality data from 2020-2022 and is updated to reflect the new annual particle pollution standard that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized in February.

Vermont Business Magazine Utilizing grant funds from Vermont Community Foundation’s Spark Connecting Community Grant and Hunger Mountain Co-op, Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA) has launched a pilot volunteer Garden Companion Program to connect avid gardeners with homebound older adults who need assistance growing a small garden at their homes. This program will allow older adults who may be unable to establish and/or maintain a small garden due to limited mobility or finances to benefit from growing food and flowers and the social connection that comes from working alongside another person, in this case, a volunteer garden companion. Garden Companions can help clean up an existing small garden bed or container garden or establish a new one.  

Vermont Business Magazine Walmart customers in Berlin may be seeing some construction work in progress both inside and outside the Supercenter located at 282 Berlin Mall Rd as the store undergoes a major remodel. The remodel is one of many scheduled for Vermont in 2024 as part of Walmart’s continuing commitment to invest in the communities it serves. Upon completion, Berlin Walmart store associates will host a community celebration to mark the delivery of all the new customer-focused features and amenities that will be available.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House of Representatives advanced the Climate Superfund Act, S.259, today on a vote of 94-38. Democrats, Republicans, Progressives and Independents voted in favor of the legislation. S.259 holds the largest fossil fuel corporations responsible for a "fair share" of the damages Vermonters have suffered due to climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the massive amount of fossil fuels extracted and refined by those corporations. S.259 will now return to the Vermont Senate for final approval. The Senate gave preliminary approval of the proposal on a 26-3 vote last month.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Windsor community celebrated the groundbreaking of Central and Main Apartments. Co-owners and co-developers, Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) and Evernorth partnered to develop these 25 newly constructed, highly energy-efficient, and permanently affordable apartments on Main Street in the heart of the Designated Downtown. The Windsor Improvement Corporation generously donated the land for this project and garnered widespread community support to transform the previously vacant and underutilized site into the future home of Central and Main Apartments. This development will feature an all-electric building design, incorporating technologies such as heat pumps, whole-building ventilation systems, and a robust thermal shell. Funding totaling more than $14.5 million from a mix of public and private sources was raised to cover the total development costs. 

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.63/g, down 0.5 cents per gallon from last week's $3.64/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.44/g while the highest was $3.73/g, a difference of 29.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 1 cent per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.62/g today. The national average is up 2.7 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 11.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) was honored for its resiliency work benefitting all customers, earning Power Player of the Year for Resiliency by the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), a national non-profit dedicated to accelerating the electric power industry’s transformation to a clean energy future through education, research, standards, and collaboration. The SEPA Power Player Awards recognize national excellence and leadership in energy innovation and encourage practical solutions towards a clean, resilient, cost-effective energy system benefitting all. 

Vermont Business Magazine Recognizing the power of the arts to educate and inspire, the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Community Foundation have announced funding to support the state’s creative sector through a philanthropic partnership established four years ago. The funding will help artists follow their inspiration and create new work. It will also support arts organizations, municipalities, and schools that strive to provide equal and abundant access to the arts in Vermont. Since the partnership was created in 2020, the Vermont Community Foundation has granted $315,000 to the Vermont Arts Council from the Foundation’s Vermont Arts Endowment Fund and Arts Recovery Fund, including $56,000 this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Middlebury College President Laurie L. Patton sent the following message to the campus community on May 6. Dear Middlebury Community, I write with an update to my letter of Friday, May 3. Members of our community have met over the weekend with a focus on building a shared sense of educational purpose and ongoing dialogue. In the engagement between students and administration, we have emphasized what we have in common, committing to maintaining relationships across difference and creating constructive venues for present and future conversations... The students are taking down their encampment with an expressed hope that such open debate can continue, and with a commitment to a safe and joyful graduation.

Vermont State Police Troopers with the Vermont State Police St. Albans Barracks on Sunday night responded to a single motor vehicle crash on Interstate 89 Southbound at mile marker 109.7 in the Town of Georgia. It was reported that the vehicle rolled over and was on fire. Upon arrival, Troopers observed the vehicle to be in the median of the Interstate, fully engulfed in flames. Georgia Fire extinguished the fire and Troopers determined that there was a lone operator in the vehicle who sustained fatal injuries. The investigation into: the cause of the crash, identity of the decedent and full vehicle information, is active and ongoing due to the significant damage caused by the fire.