Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has launched a new online commercial vehicle permitting system, called VT Haul Pass, that will drastically reduce the time required for the commercial vehicle industry to obtain permits to operate oversize or overweight vehicles on Vermont highways. The new system is designed to keep industry moving without delay. If an emergency move is needed, it can be done outside of regular business hours. Previously, permit applications were submitted manually.

Vermont Business Magazine The Walter Cerf Community Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation recently awarded $97,000 in grants to 25 organizations in its 2025 competitive grants round. These awards build upon an additional $53,500 distributed in first-year payments to the fund’s multiyear cohort, bringing the total grantmaking for 2025 to $150,500. The fund is pleased to support one applicant with a large, single-year grant award: the town of Whiting has been awarded $10,000 to support the restoration of their town hall. Additional grants include a combination of awards to organizations supporting youth and families, education, historic preservation, arts, health, and community enrichment in Addison County and statewide.

Vermont Business Magazine Gordini, based in Essex Junction and a leader in outdoor accessories innovation since 1956, greets its 70th year in 2026 by becoming a 4-season brand. New product offerings for Spring/Summer 2026 include low-rise, quarter and crew height performance socks in ultra-light, light, and mid weights for outdoor adventures, including running, trail, hike and everyday wear styles. The eight new sock styles for men and women feature Gordini’s OrbitFit technology that fuses performance fibers in anatomically mapped 3D zones throughout the sock to deliver support and comfort in a way that has never been available in outdoor adventure sock design.  Historically known for its cold-weather gear solutions, Gordini’s expansion of its OrbitFit technology into warm weather performance socks marks a natural evolution for the brand.

Vermont Business Magazine State Auditor Doug Hoffer released an audit today of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation’s (DFR) handling of consumer insurance complaints. The audit, the third of four the Auditor’s Office is producing relating to how State government responds to Vermonters’ complaints, assessed whether the Department investigates complaints within expected timeframes. In addition, the audit evaluated whether the Department uses performance measurement to improve complaint response services for Vermonters.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Foundation of Recovery, the largest recovery residence organization in the state, has opened six new recovery residence beds and four transitional apartment beds for women in Essex Junction. Applications for membership are now open. This expansion brings Vermont Foundation of Recovery’s presence in the Essex Junction community to 32 beds and increases its statewide network to 79 beds. The project was completed in partnership with Champlain Housing Trust. As Vermont begins 2026, recovery residences remain a critical part of the recovery continuum. These non-clinical, peer-led environments provide daily structure, clear expectations, and accountability for individuals actively working toward sustained recovery.

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermont lawmakers and municipalities debate new regulations on short-term rentals (STRs), the Vermont Short-Term Rental Alliance (VTSTRA) is gathering homeowners, property managers, business leaders, and policymakers for the annual Vermont Short-Term Rental Conference & Trade Show on March 26-27, 2026, at the Stoweflake Mountain Resort & Spa in Stowe. This year’s VTSTRA Conference will focus on how legal, well-managed vacation rentals create income opportunities for local entrepreneurs, sustain a wide range of jobs, and direct visitor spending to local businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today released the following statement regarding ongoing protests in Iran: Iran is in turmoil. Millions of people are rising up against their autocratic government. Not surprisingly, the regime is responding brutally by killing thousands of protesters, according to some estimates. The Iranian people have the right to determine their own future, and the United States should support their legitimate aspirations for freedom and democracy. But we must not do so at the barrel of a gun.

Public Assets Institute After years of steady growth, the number of Vermonters working fell below pre-pandemic levels in late 2025. It took more than three years for Vermont employment to return to normal in the wake of Covid. By early 2024, the number of Vermonters working exceeded the number employed before the crisis. Monthly employment reached an all-time high in January 2025, at 348,340. Then it dropped every month through November.1 Employment is a count of individuals who are working, including those who are self-employed. The number of people working is different from the count of jobs. For example, one individual can hold more than one job. While the number of working Vermonters dropped in 2025, employers did increase the number of jobs between December 2024 and November 2025. Still, Vermont has not recovered the jobs lost during the pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Legislators, supporters and advocates from Hunger Free Vermont, the School Nutrition Association of Vermont and the Vermont Farm to School & Early Childhood Network gathered at the State House on Tuesday to celebrate five years of Universal School Meals and the state's continued commitment toward this essential program. First implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, Universal School Meals became law in Vermont in 2023 via Act 64. Now, more than 14 million free meals are provided to Vermont children at school every year thanks to the program. 

Vermont Business Magazine On Jan. 12, Building Bright Futures (BBF), Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council, convened policymakers, community leaders, service providers, and advocates for the annual State of Vermont’s Children briefing, highlighting new data and lived experiences that point to a deepening crisis in housing stability and access to basic needs for families with young children. The briefing marked the release of The State of Vermont’s Children: 2025 Year in Review, which provides a snapshot of child and family well-being across the state and Vermont’s 12 regions. This year’s briefing placed particular emphasis on housing instability, homelessness, and the growing difficulty many families face in meeting basic needs, including food, transportation, and the cost of living.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today joined 11 other attorneys general in suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for unlawfully conditioning hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding on states’ agreement to discriminate against transgender people. Under a new HHS policy, recipients of federal health, education, and research funding must certify compliance with a presidential executive order that seeks to deny the existence of transgender people and impose rigid, unscientific definitions of sex. Attorney General Clark and the coalition argue that HHS has no authority to impose these conditions and is illegally using federal funding to coerce states into discriminating against their residents, in violation of state laws protecting transgender people from discrimination. They are asking the court to step in and strike down the unlawful funding conditions. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (VTAEYC) and Let’s Grow Kids Action Network (LGKAN) today released their joint child care policy priorities for 2026. The organizations say long-term public investment is driving progress and growth statewide, but that child care demand still exceeds availability, programs need more qualified educators, and costs remain too high for many families. As part of their 2026 Child Care Agenda, VTAEYC and LGKAN are asking state lawmakers to focus on four key areas: protecting the child care funding that is delivering results; strengthening the early childhood educator (ECE) workforce; fixing the state’s fingerprint and background check system delays that worsen staffing shortages at child care programs; and continuing to expand access and lower costs for families.