Current News

Vermont Business Magazine To honor Veterans Day 2023, November 11, the Vermont Department of Labor is organizing three Job Fairs this week designed to connect veterans and other job seekers with employment opportunities. These events are free and will highlight Vermont employers who actively recruit Military Veterans. “The Department is committed to helping Veterans find great opportunities in the workforce” said Lloyd Goodrow, Local Veterans Representative. “The first hour of each job fair will be exclusively reserved for Military Veterans to have the opportunity to meet with local employers.” 

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) today announced the formation of a Judicial Nomination Advisory Panel to fill the expected vacancy on the federal bench in the District of Vermont, created by Chief Judge Geoffrey Crawford stepping down from active service. As federal judicial nominees go through the Senate, Sanders and Welch are standing up a joint Judicial Nomination Advisory Panel to screen candidates and make recommendations, continuing the tradition established by the late Senator Robert Stafford and Senator Patrick Leahy. Sanders and Welch, in consultation with Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont) and the Vermont Bar Association, will make recommendations to the White House to fill the vacancy. 

Vermont Business Magazine The VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region invites the community to attend a free memorial service on Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 3pm at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse on 108 School Street in Bennington. Through music, poetry, art and fellowship, this special ceremony, open to individuals of all ages and faiths, will help pay tribute to loved ones who have passed away. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (VTAEYC) recognized Tammy Gosley of Bennington as the 2023 Vermont Early Childhood Educator of the Year. Gosley is a Lead Teacher with Head Start / Early Head Start of Bennington County, a program of United Counseling Service. The prestigious annual award honors exceptional early childhood educators and spotlights the importance of high-quality early childhood education for Vermont’s children, families and communities. The award was announced on November 7 at the VTAEYC Annual Conference, in a ceremony sponsored by Mascoma Bank and held at the Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa in Stowe, Vermont.

Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard resort in Eastern North America, is ready for winter with a jam-packed event series kicking off with the Loaded Turkey Rail Jam on November 18 and concluding with VT Green Up Day on May 4.  After that, Killington’s lifts will continue to spin as long as the snow lasts, with eyes on a multi-sport Memorial Day weekend and June skiing and riding. On November 24-26, Killington Resort will host the biggest event of the year, The Stifel Killington Cup, with performances by nationally touring acts Young the Giant, Matisyahu, Mix Master Mike and 220 KID. Double brit-nominated, multi-platinum-selling songwriter and producer 220 KID will play Friday evening as part of the athlete bib presentation and fireworks display, and again on Saturday night at the Wobbly Barn. 

by John McClaughry Thirty years ago I spent four days in the small Baltic nation of Estonia, attending a liberty conference. In the Soviet era (1940-1991) communist apparatchiks appointed in Moscow ruled the three Baltic countries as sham Soviet “republics.” The enterprising Estonians were shackled, and by 1946 more than one-quarter of the population had been deported to a Siberian Gulag, or executed, or had fled the country. But as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Estonia’s “Singing Revolution,” where hundreds of thousands came together in defiance of their overlords to sing forbidden patriotic songs, had pried it loose from Soviet control, sent its communist overlords home to Russia, welcomed its expatriates, recreated its democratic parliament, and restored its independence. 

Vermont Business Magazine As negotiations on new rules for addressing pandemics are underway at the World Health Organization (WHO), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today sent a letter to Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto urging her to push for the inclusion of strong reasonable pricing, technology sharing, and access standards in the international agreement. Ambassador Hamamoto leads negotiations over the Pandemic Accord with the target date of May 2024 for an agreement to be adopted by WHO’s 194 member countries.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations were down slightly last week, but they have remained steady since late August. Fatalities also continue at a steady rate, with another 6 last week for a pandemic total of 1,050, as of October 21 (the most recent data available). The CDC released a new vaccine booster in October. The Vermont Department of Health reported November 1, 2023, that COVID-19 hospitalizations fell to a statewide total of 30, down from 31 last week. COVID-19 activity remains in the "Low" range, according to the VDH. Reported cases last week were 217, down from 220. Cases were over 300 in late September.  VDH reported 21 COVID deaths in October (there were 33 in October 2022 and 47 in October 2021 and zero in October 2020, which was the last month since the beginning of the pandemic to record no COVID-related fatalities). 

Northeastern Vermont Development Association This Wednesday there will be a lunchtime webinar presentation of the VT Public Service Department's recently released report, Vermont Weighs In – Public Opinion on Renewable Electricity. This report covers work done in partnership with MassINC Polling Group to conduct a statewide survey and focus groups to hear from Vermonters about their priorities around electricity and discuss considerations for future policies and programs. Want to learn more before attending? Read the full report or review the summary slides. Review NVDA's report following the Sept "Say WATT" listening sessions to see what top electricity priorities were identified in the NEK. Participate in the Renewable Energy Standard (RES) Reform Working Group Meeting on Nov 15 (online).

Vermont Business Magazine Ahead of the final Senate confirmation vote today on nominee Dr. Monica Bertagnolli to serve as the Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, spoke on the floor of the Senate on the need to lower the cost of prescription drugs and the need for major NIH reform.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation has joined a North American Securities Administrators Association multi-state settlement with Raymond James & Associates, Inc and Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Raymond James is a broker-dealer registered in Vermont and domiciled in St Petersburg, Florida. In Vermont, Raymond James executed over 674 transactions, which included an unreasonable commission for equity transactions requiring full restitution plus interest to its Vermont clients in the amount of $28,198. Raymond James also will pay a penalty of $75,000. Vermont customers eligible for the restitution will be contacted directly by Raymond James by letter mailed to the customer’s last known address. 

Vermont Business Magazine All Vermont Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) offices will be closed to the public November 8-14 in order to implement the major computer system upgrade that the Department has been working on for the past year, and also to conduct the necessary employee training. There will be no online vehicle registration renewals or replacements from November 5-12. All other online services will be available, but credit card payment processing may be delayed during this time. Customers will be able to use the online scheduling system to make appointments for after the offices reopen for in-person business. All online services will be available on November 13. All DMV offices will be open to the public On November 15.