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VermontBiz Effective from 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 15, 2024  

Statewide Road Conditions: Drivers will start out the afternoon and early evening with pleasant skies and mostly bare and dry pavement. These conditions will rapidly change to snow covered around 8pm. Widespread snow showers will develop brining rapid snowfall in a short period. This weather front will move through the area quickly and be mostly out of the state by late morning tomorrow (2/15) Drivers out on the roads late tonight should expect to encounter difficult conditions and low visibility and be prepared for it. Pavement temps well above freezing will dip down to around 30°f after nightfall.  

VTrans Response: VTrans crews will be out throughout the storm plowing and treating roads as needed. Please allow ample space for maintenance vehicles to perform their jobs and avoid crowding plows. Drive with caution.   

Department of Fish and Wildlife Vermont state law requires that ice fishing shanties be removed from the ice before the ice weakens, according the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. The shanty must be removed before the ice becomes unsafe or loses its ability to support the shanty out of the water, or before the last Sunday in March -- the 31st this year -- whichever comes first.  All contents, debris, wood, and supports must also be removed so they do not become a hazard to navigation in the spring. Leaving your ice fishing shanty on the ice can result in a fine and points on your license, and shanties may not be left at state fishing access areas. 

VermontBiz Vermont State Parks is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, marking a century of conserving and interpreting the state's natural, cultural, and scenic heritage while providing recreational opportunities for residents and visitors alike. The anniversary celebration will kick-off at the Vermont State House on February 15, 2024.

Vermont State Parks’ journey began in 1924 when Frances Humphreys donated land for the creation of Mt. Philo State Park in Charlotte, the first state park in Vermont. Over the years, the park system grew through land donations, Civilian Conservation Corps projects, and the efforts of dedicated individuals and organizations. Today, Vermont State Parks encompasses 55 parks, spanning the entire state and connecting people to the outdoors through a diverse range of activities, from camping and hiking to swimming and boating, and nature education.

VermontBiz Today, Mayor Weinberger and Eric Farrell, Owner and Developer of Farrell Properties, signed an updated development agreement and provided an update on the Cambrian Rise housing development in Burlington’s North End. Cambrian Rise is the single largest housing development in Burlington and in Vermont. 

"In Burlington we rarely get to see a whole new neighborhood rise out of the ground, and it is extraordinary that this development includes not only hundreds of new market rate and affordable homes, but a vibrant new public park, community space, and more,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “The only way to end the current housing crisis is to build our way out of it. I am grateful to Eric Farrell and his team, and the many contractors, builders, and partners who are here every day turning this community vision into a reality.”  

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Green Building Network’s (VGBN) twelfth annual Vermont’s Greenest Building Awards Competition is now open for submissions. This statewide competition recognizes exemplary residential and commercial buildings that excel in green building strategies – including water, health, transportation, and affordability – and meet the highest standard of demonstrated energy performance. Submissions are due on Friday, March 15, 2024, at 5 pm EST. Winners of the awards will be announced and showcased at VGBN’s annual Vermont Green Building Celebration, which will take place on a TBD date in spring 2024.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.23 per gallon, up 3 cents per gallon from last week, up 3 cents/g from last month and down 25 cents/g from last year. Prices in Vermont and across the US have been rising slowly but surely. The US average has climbed over Vermont's average for the first time since last September. The national average price of gasoline has risen 12 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.29/g today. 

Vermont Business Magazine Lamoille Valley communities will soon have access to an up-to-date housing needs and assessment report, a publicly available resource to help area communities increase their understanding of the area’s housing ecosystem and tool to inform future planning. The report will provide an overall assessment of Lamoille County and the Town of Hardwick’s housing stock and housing needs, including workforce housing demand and supply, as well as guidance and recommendations for future housing development efforts within the study’s geographic area. The study will also examine impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, flooding and climate resiliency, and short-term rentals.

Vermont Business Magazine Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and UVM Cancer Center member Elias Klemperer, Ph.D., was recently awarded his first R01 grant—a combined award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products —to further study nicotine-limiting standards for cigarettes and e-cigarettes among adults in Rhode Island, Vermont, and Northern New York State. It's been well-documented that cigarette smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. In recent years, the prevalence of using multiple tobacco products, notably cigarettes and e-cigarettes, has been on the rise in the U.S. While e-cigarettes offer a potentially safer alternative, most users continue to smoke cigarettes in the long term, especially those who use e-cigarettes infrequently. 

Vermont Natural Resources Council VNRC, Audubon Vermont and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies recently provided comments to the Agency of Natural Resources on the Long Range Management Plan (LRMP) for the Worcester Range Management Unit. Broadly, our recommendations included supporting actions in the LRMP to promote the ecological health of the Worcester Range, natural communities and diverse wildlife habitat. Our comments also touched on recommendations to maintain forest connectivity, biodiversity, water quality, and sustainable recreational and ecological forestry opportunities, all while mitigating potential negative impacts to this critically important landscape in Vermont. 

Vermont Business Magazine As discussions on a new proposed front-of-package label rule that would better inform consumers about the health impacts of their food are underway at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D. urging the FDA to require corporations in the food and beverage industry to put strong, evidence-based warning labels on their products to protect the health of the American people.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Mutual Insurance Group, one of the oldest property and casualty insurers in the Northeast, has contributed more than $1,000,000 to local charities in 2023 through its Charitable Giving Fund. Since its founding in 2014, Vermont Mutual’s Charitable Giving Fund has donated over $4.6 Million to help support organizations in the communities where they do business. In 2023 the Fund contributed to more than 240 organizations throughout the northeast, including nearly $500,000 to assist individuals, business owners and farmers devastated by flooding in Vermont in July all while dealing with significant loss to their Montpelier home office.

University of Vermont, Gund Institute for Environment As New England winters get warmer, Vermont maple producers are innovating in the face of climate change. In the depths of winter, sugar on snow is a yearly treat many Vermonters eagerly anticipate. But with winters warming and snow barely on the ground in some parts of the state, climate change presents a host of challenges for Vermont’s iconic maple industry. Loss of suitable growing conditions, coupled with increasing pressure from invasive insects and plants, are creating “real threats,” says University of Vermont maple specialist Mark Isselhardt. But maple syrup has never been a predictable crop, he says, and producers are adopting new strategies, from improved technologies to boost production, to forest management practices to keep the sap flowing in our warmer, wetter future.