Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced that nearly $30 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, appropriated for the village water and wastewater (VWWW) initiative, has now been committed to towns across the state. The VWWW Initiative will help municipalities develop new public drinking water systems and community wastewater disposal systems where this critical infrastructure is lacking. This grant funding will bridge the affordability gap, protect public health, increase affordable housing, support economic development, and incentivize compact growth in Vermont’s designated villages and neighborhoods.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, today announced financial results for Q3 2022 and Q3 2022 YTD. The results confirmed the strength and resiliency of the company’s core businesses. ROA, ROE, and key capital ratios all exceeded figures for comparable prior periods. Net income for Q3 2022 was $2.08 million or $0.64 per share compared to $1.97 million or $0.61 per share for Q3 2021, an increase of $105 thousand or 5%. Net income for Q3 2022 YTD was $6.20 million or $1.90 per share compared to $5.77 million or $1.80 per share for the comparable prior year period, an increase of $429 thousand or 7%.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) is once again inviting Vermont schools to name the State’s big orange snowplows. Last year, participating public and private schools, homeschooling students, and nursery schools named 163 of the State’s fleet of full-sized plow trucks. This year, AOT is asking Vermont’s students to name the remaining 87 trucks in the fleet.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has reached a settlement with a New Hampshire-based staffing agency that employed a temporary caregiver to multiple Vermont long-term care facilities despite knowing that the caregiver had financially exploited at least two older Vermonters while employed on the agency’s watch. The settlement requires SSVT to pay $100,000 to the State of Vermont, with $60,000 of the penalty suspended based on SSVT’s cooperation with the Attorney General’s investigation and inability to pay. The settlement also requires SSVT to overhaul the processes by which it (1) conducts employee background checks and (2) communicates background check results to its long-term care facility and individual clients.

Vermont Business Magazine Four times each year, New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) selects four recipient organizations at random to receive $625 each, for a total of $10,000 annually. NEFCU’s community giving donation recipients for the third quarter of 2022 were: HOPE—Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects, Addison County Communication Action Group; Ronald McDonald House Charities of Burlington; St. Albans Museum; Franklin County Senior Center.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard destination in Eastern North America and part of POWDR, announced the entertainment lineup for the 2022 Cup. Taking place November 25-27, the return of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup will bring together the fastest female technical alpine skiers in the world with live music, events, camaraderie and more. Killington will host concerts on the Bud Light Seltzer stage throughout the weekend, featuring Michael Franti, Noah Kahan, Stephen Kellogg and DJ Angie Vee.

by Jackie Hunter As we observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month throughout October, you might hear this statistic: One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. That’s a devastating number. It means so many families, including my own, have been impacted by this disease.

Vermont Business Magazine Mascoma Community Development (MCD) has announced the closing of $15 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation to finance the construction and operation of a 177,000 square-foot food product distribution center for Dot Foods, Inc in Manchester, Tennessee. MCD is a subsidiary of Mascoma Bank, based in West Lebanon, NH, with additional branches in Vermont. The facility will allow Dot Foods to more than double its existing capacity in Tennessee, become the anchor tenant of a rural business park, and create more than 250 new, quality jobs.

Vermont State Police On October 25th, 2022 at approximately 1442 hours, Troopers from Williston Barracks responded responded to a call of a tractor trailer unit stuck at Smugglers’ Notch on route 108 in the town of Cambridge. The operator of vehicle, Kevin Foster, passed several clearly posted signs advising that tractor trailer units are not permitted before stopping near the peak. Troopers and DMV Police were able to safely guide the operator back towards the Stowe side. Troopers issued the operator a ticket, with a fine of $1,192.00 (2) points. It was discovered that Foster had an active cite-and-release warrant for possession of cocaine. Foster was cited to appear in Vermont Superior Court Rutland Criminal Division.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections (Vermont DOC) is conducting internal administrative and medical reviews following the death of an incarcerated individual on Tuesday. Dan Griswold, 67, of Rutland, Vt., was found unresponsive in his cell at Southern State Correctional Facility (SSCF) in Springfield Tuesday morning. Vermont DOC and medical staff immediately provided life-saving measures and called for emergency medical services. EMS arrived on site and, in consult with Springfield Hospital medical professionals, pronounced Mr. Griswold dead a short time later.

Vermont Business Magazine Today Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos encouraged Vermonters who plan to vote early by mail in the November 8 General Election to mail their ballots no later than October 31, to ensure adequate time for their mailed ballot to reach the Town Clerk. Voters who are not planning to cast their ballot by mail are encouraged to make an alternative plan to return their ballots, which must be in possession of the Town Clerk by 7pm on Election Day to be counted. Over 85,000 Vermonters have already voted.