Current News

VermontBiz Vermont Parks Forever is excited to announce its Park Access Fund Grant Application is open for 2024. Since 2016, Vermont Parks Forever has granted over $50,000 to cover park entry fees and help create a more equitable outdoor experience throughout the state. This year, the Park Access Fund will again provide over 10,000 free days in the parks to community partners across Vermont. 

Organizations serving Vermonters facing barriers to outdoor experiences can apply for a Park Access Grant at https://www.vermontparksforever.org/park-access-fund. The deadline for this short application is April 5, 2024. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public and the Vermont International Film Festival (VTIFF) have announced the 4th annual Made Here Film Festival, April 10-14, 2024. Co-produced by Vermont Public and VTIFF, it is the only regional film festival dedicated exclusively to films and filmmakers from New England and Québec. The five-day festival features 43 films — both feature-length and shorts — and includes panel discussions, workshops, special events and receptions. Over 30 filmmakers will be in attendance from around the region. The 2024 festival will take place once again at Burlington Beer Co. (BBCo) on Flynn Avenue in Burlington, in the historic factory building that was built by cinema pioneers the Lumière Brothers. 

VermontBiz Stowe Mountain Resort is excited to announce a one-week season extension, with skiing and riding going all the way to Sunday, April 21. With more than 5 feet of snow in the month of March, and more than 250 inches throughout the season, the extra week will give guests more time to enjoy the incredible spring skiing conditions at Vermont’s highest peak.  

VermontBiz Kevin Bannister reported tools and materials, worth several thousand dollars, stolen from a construction site on Tupper Rd in the Town of Underhill. Throughout the investigation Troopers determined Christopher Wood, 38, of Williamstown was responsible for the theft. Wood was issued a citation ordering him to appear at the Chittenden County Superior Court Criminal Division on May 7, 2024, at 0830 hours.

VermontBiz Today, the Vermont Senate voted overwhelmingly (21-5) to advance S.259, the Climate Superfund Act, which would ensure that Vermonters are not left shouldering the full cost of climate disruption. Following another vote Tuesday, the bill will head to the House of Representatives for consideration.

As Vermont continues to grapple with the physical and financial impacts of a changing climate, this bill represents a major step forward in ensuring that responsible parties, like Big Oil – companies like ExxonMobil and Shell that have known for decades that their products are disrupting the climate – be required to also pay a fair share of the cleanup costs. 

VermontBiz U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) applauded the Department of Energy (DOE)’s selection of Unilever Ice Cream Manufacturing Decarbonization project, which includes Ben & Jerry’s St. Albans and Waterbury ice cream manufacturing facilities, for awards that are part of the Biden Administration’s efforts to decarbonize energy-intensive industries. The award will help the company upgrade gas boilers with electric boilers and industrial heat pumps across four ice cream manufacturing facilities to increase energy efficiency and reduce emissions associated with the production of packaged ice cream and other frozen novelty products. 

VermontBiz “The FY25 state budget, as passed by the Vermont House of Representatives earlier today, continues the State’s commitment to the successful transformation of the Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS), and affirms the prioritization of the students, faculty, staff and communities that find higher and continuing education, workforce development, employment opportunities, and community vibrancy at our institutions. Funding in the House-passed budget includes $10 million in essential bridge appropriations as recommended by the Select Committee on the Future of Public Higher Education. With these dollars, VSCS will continue its critical evolution to meet the needs of our learners and the state as we build the Vermont workforce of the future. The partnership of our lawmakers and Governor Scott is paramount to this work. We will continue to do our part to strengthen and grow the VSCS to create opportunities for Vermonters in all corners of the state, bolster our economy, and build our workforce.”

VermontBiz The manager of Kinney Drugs, St. Johnsbury, reported to the Vermont State Police that a male identified as Ethan Holt (34) shoplifted merchandise from the store. After investigation, Holt was ultimately located on 03/27/2024 and issued citation to answer to the charge of Retail Theft in Caledonia County Criminal Court.

VermontBiz The Attorney General’s Office announced that Lilac Rain Brown-Fisher, 28, of Essex Junction, Vermont, was charged yesterday with one count of felony Grand Larceny, one count of felony of Larceny from a Person, and one count of felony Financial Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult.

The Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit (MFRAU) brought the charges, alleging that Ms. Brown-Fisher, who was formerly an Activities Director at Maple Ridge Memory Care in Essex Junction, stole valuables and keepsakes from at least one elderly and disabled client. A joint investigation by the Essex Police Department and South Burlington Police Department, with the assistance of Maple Ridge’s management, was initiated when a family member of a resident of Maple Ridge Memory Care noticed that an heirloom ring had disappeared. The ring was later recovered, but the investigation revealed more instances of Ms. Brown-Fisher stealing jewelry from other clients at Maple Ridge Memory Care. Further charges are anticipated as MFRAU identifies those additional victims and contacts their families.

VermontBiz Graduate student workers at the University of Vermont (UVM) will hold a rally on campus, Friday 3/22 to celebrate their union election next week.

Graduate Students United (GSU-UAW 2322) filed for a union election on October 30, 2023. After multiple days of hearings with the Vermont Labor Relations Board (VLRB), GSU won their bargaining unit and is moving forward with an election. In celebration of these next steps, GSU will hold a rally of union members and supporters outside of the Howe Library on Friday, March 22, 2024.

VermontBiz  Consolidated Communications and the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) are celebrating a decade of support for Vermont entrepreneurs and start-up businesses through the extension of their co-working and accelerator facility partnership, valued at more than $2 million. 

Consolidated Communications forged a partnership a decade ago, providing workspace and internet service to power VCET’s mission of offering no-cost and low-cost coworking memberships to entrepreneurs and support remote professionals. The non-profit has since operated out of the Consolidated Communications Technology Hub on Main Street in downtown Burlington, serving entrepreneurs, innovation leaders, and start-up businesses from start to scale, offering business consulting, mentorship, coworking, and venture capital investment. 

VermontBiz The Lake Champlain Chamber will celebrate its 113th year at a celebration gala on Thursday, April 4. More than 300 attendees are expected at the event to be held at the Hilton Burlington Lake Champlain. Four awards will be presented to businesses and business leaders to recognize their accomplishments and contributions to our community.