Current News

VermontBiz United Way of Northwest Vermont (UWNWVT), an organization dedicated to improving lives in Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties, is excited to announce the theme of our 2022 Community Campaign: Community Power Amplified.

“Community power – people helping people – is what United Way of Northwest Vermont is all about. It’s the coming together of local people to find local solutions that address the community’s most complex problems,” said UWNWVT CEO Jesse Bridges.

Our world looks different than any of us could have imagined a few years ago.

From social, racial and health inequities exposed and exacerbated by COVID to continued economic uncertainty – the challenges our community faces are great.

At the same time, our community’s ability to come together to address shared priorities has never been more inspiring – or more essential.

VermontBiz The Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) is warning Vermont business owners, non-profits, and employees about an uptick in business imposter email scams. In the last two months, CAP has received five reports of business imposter email scams resulting in a total loss of $210,799. Scammers are impersonating employees or familiar business representatives’ emails and contacting company bookkeepers and office administrators asking them to change bank account information, direct deposit information, or asking them to write checks. By impersonating an employee’s email address or creating a fake personal email for the employee, scammers can steal money from businesses and steal paychecks from employees.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets Applications are now open for the Capital Equipment Assistance Program (CEAP). The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets' Water Quality Division has funding for new or innovative equipment. The funding is for equipment that will aid in the reduction of surface runoff of agricultural waters, improve water quality, reduce odors from manure application, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and more! Vermont farms required to comply with the Required Agricultural Practices, custom operators, non-profit organizations, and phosphorus extraction equipment producers are welcome to apply.

by Rob Roper The mood at recent Vermont Climate Council committee meetings is bleak as the folks tasked by the legislature to come up with a plan to meet the greenhouse gas reduction mandates of their Global Warming Solutions Act do not have one. It’s not entirely their fault. The task is and always was politically and logistically impossible. The whole thing has echoes of the legislature passing a law to deliver a single payer healthcare system before looking at the details of what it would cost and what it would take. When the public finally saw the price tag, dreams of single payer very quickly evaporated.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Army and GlobalFoundries (GF) signed off Friday on a partnership agreement that could boost jobs as the semiconductor plant in Essex Junction. The deal would put servicemembers leaving the Army front and center with job openings at GF's plant in Vermont. There are about 200 job openings. GlobalFoundries VP and GM Kenneth McAvey told VermontBiz at the signing that many of the technical skills servicemembers are a perfect fit for positions available at the Vermont plant. They also bring a great work ethic.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Warden Service is actively investigating a hunting related shooting incident that occurred on Saturday, September 10, on private land in the town of Huntington. Game Wardens with the Vermont Warden Service and Troopers with the Vermont State Police responded to the area along with medical personnel after a 911 call was placed by a third hunter on Saturday morning. The victim was walking to a tree stand in a wooded area off Main Road when he was struck in the abdomen by a single gunshot fired by another hunter, who claimed that he mistook the victim for a bear.

Vermont Business Magazine Prior to the pandemic, Rutland Regional Medical Center embarked on crucial upgrades to the PSIU to comply with safety guidelines as well as create an updated and more patient-centered psychiatric unit. The celebration for the $4.1 million PSIU renovation will take place on September 14.

Vermont Business Magazine KeyBank has awarded a $20,000 grant to World Learning for the program Pathway to Financial Literacy, a new initiative under World Learning’s New Vermonter Education Program (NVEP). This critical support will expand NVEP’s curriculum offerings and help World Learning ensure the long-term success of the program, which is quickly becoming a national model for refugee resettlement. NVEP is a partnership between World Learning and School for International Training (SIT) and the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) in which refugees receive short-term housing and education in Brattleboro. More than 100 Afghan refugees have received temporary housing and English language and cultural orientation classes on SIT’s campus since January.

Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont for the week of September 12. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Vermont Business Magazine Farm, food, and forest businesses can apply now for Working Lands Enterprise Initiative Business Enhancement Grants. The Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) is releasing a request for applications (RFA) totaling $450,000 that will allow Vermont farm, food, and forest businesses to invest in business enhancement initiatives, such as market, infrastructure, and workforce development. Please read the RFA (link below) to learn about eligible projects, the application process, and review the application questions. The application will open for submission September 23, 2022.  The application deadline is October 28, 2022.  

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR), the statewide, nonprofit business association with a mission to leverage the power of business for positive social and environmental impact, has announced the 2022 recipients for three awards that encourage and showcase the growth and impact of socially responsible business activity in Vermont. Registration for the 21st Annual VBSR Awards Ceremony, Tuesday, October 4, 5:00-8:30 pm, at Basin Harbor, Vergennes, has also opened.