Current News

by tim

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on Monday announced more than $42 million, that he requested on behalf of 51 Vermont projects, has been included in the annual Senate Appropriations bills released last week. The bills have to be negotiated before being passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law by the President. Sanders’ Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) requests for the Fiscal Year 2023 would meet needs across the state and across a number of issue areas, including child care, infrastructure, clean energy and water, farming and agriculture, education, health care, and housing.

by tim

Vermont Business Magazine Bank of Burlington has received a certificate of insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) and a Certificate of Authority from the State of Vermont Department of Financial Regulation effective August 2, 2022. Bank of Burlington is the newest Vermont Charted Bank since 1989. Bank of Burlington offers custom lending solutions to Vermont businesses and a full suite of deposit products/services to individuals and businesses. Bank of Burlington is a community bank that is looking toward the future; both in the use of technology and differentiating products.

by katie

VermontBiz Whitney Johnson is CEO of the tech-enabled talent development company Disruption Advisors. Whitney is an expert at smart growth leadership. She has worked at FORTUNE 100 companies, and as an award-winning equity analyst on Wall Street. She co-founded the Disruptive Innovation Fund with Harvard Business School’s late Clayton Christensen. She has coached alongside the renowned Marshall Goldsmith, selected by Goldsmith in 2017 as a Top 15 Coach out of a pool of more than 17,000 candidates. Whitney understands how companies work, how investors think, and how the best coaches coach.

by tim

​by Frank Cioffi At times, I think we take our health for granted. Until something goes wrong, we are not inclined to think about the incredible facilities and providers that we have available to us. No doubt, the pandemic touched and awakened each of us in some life altering way. Over the past few years members of my family and close friends have had significant medical conditions that resulted in them having to seek treatment and care at the University of Vermont Medical Center. In each of their situations the medical care they received and the quality of service and treatment was life changing, life sustaining and compassionate.

by tim

Vermont Business Magazine The annual Rabies Bait Drop is scheduled to begin on August 5, 2022. The week-long bait drop is part of a nationally coordinated effort between the State of Vermont and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to prevent the spread of rabies – a fatal disease. Rabies vaccine — in the form of a sweet-smelling oral bait that is attractive to raccoons and skunks — will be dropped in rural areas of Vermont from low-flying aircraft and placed by hand in residential centers. Pilots are able to control the release of bait in order to avoid residential areas. When an animal bites into the bait, it takes in the oral vaccine and will develop immunity to rabies. Approximately 450,000 quarter-sized blister packs containing rabies vaccine will be distributed in nearly 100 Vermont communities across 8 counties.

by tim

​Vermont Business Magazine Jennifer Davis, MD, is a critical care pediatrician, a lifestyle medicine physician, and the next guest on Medical Matters Weekly at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, August 3. Known as Dr. Jenn, Davis completed her undergraduate studies at Wellesley College where she majored in Philosophy. She earned her medical doctorate at New York Medical College and completed one year of General Surgery at Indiana University Medical Center before discovering a love of pediatrics. She completed a Pediatric Residency at Westchester Medical Center and fellowship training in Pediatric Critical Care at Montefiore Medical Center, both in New York.

by tim

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont General Fund tax revenues, as expected, continued to exceed expectations for the month of June and for fiscal year 2022, which ended June 30. The vital personal income tax once again led the way, exceeding targets for the month by more than $25 million. With the General Fund and Education Fund revenues comfortably above targets for the year, state revenues will be well above the projected fiscal year total, despite the Transportation Fund missing its target. The T-Fund has struggled to maintain consistency, but the increase in fuel costs could bolster revenues in the near term. Meanwhile, the Ed Fund in June fell back as sales tax receipts under-performed, despite an otherwise strong year.

by tim

​Vermont Business Magazine The Public Service Department (PSD) today announced an extension in the deadline to respond to the Request for Input (“RFI”) on the review Vermont’s Renewable Electricity Policy and Programs. On July 5, the PSD issued an RFI to solicit feedback on the process for this review as well as gather initial input about what is important to Vermonters regarding the State’s supply of electricity. Responses to the RFI were initially due on August 5, however the PSD is extending the deadline to August 15 to allow the RFI to continue to be circulated to a broad array of stakeholders and offer additional time for them to submit comments.

by tim

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Blakely H Jenkins, Sr, 61, of St Johnsbury, Vermont, was sentenced today to one year and one day of imprisonment for evading taxes and committing identity theft while running his St. Johnsbury-based painting business, Blake Jenkins Painting, Inc. United States District Judge William K Sessions III also ordered Jenkins to serve a two-year term of supervised release. In February 2022, Jenkins pleaded guilty to two counts of evasion of employment taxes and one count of identity theft.

by tim

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, on Monday announced that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $395,201 to the Vermont Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) to support Farm to School initiatives across the state, including those getting local foods to childcare centers and preschools. Leahy authored the Farm to School program as part of the 2010 Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act, and has introduced legislation to reauthorize the program.

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Vermont Business Magazine On Wednesday, August 3, 2022, join members of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Clean Water Initiative Program (CWIP) to learn about funding resources that support clean water in Vermont, including upcoming opportunities and eligibility. Vermont’s rivers, lakes, and ponds are one of the joys of summertime and are an important environmental and economic resource for residents and visitors. Protecting and restoring the water quality in Vermont is a priority. The State of Vermont funds clean water projects to prevent pollution from washing into these waters from the landscape.

by tim

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Monday announced that more than $212 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) for 38 projects across Vermont were included in the Senate Appropriations bills that he released at the end of last week. The 12 annual Appropriations Bills fund the federal government. Leahy was also able to secure formula funding increases and programmatic changes to support longtime Vermont priorities. The bills must now go through conference negotiations before being passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by the president.