Current News

​Vermont Business Magazine Planning For Vibrant Communities, an upcoming Housing Summit workshop hosted by Lamoille Housing Partnership (LHP) and the Working Communities Challenge (WCC,) invites community members to collaboratively develop housing-related action plans in an effort to solve some of Hardwick and Lamoille County’s pressing housing challenges.

The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) is inviting Vermonters of all backgrounds who are working with a goal of improving life in their community to attend the2022 Community Leadership Summit on Wednesday, August 10, at Vermont Technical College. The Summit agenda will include skills workshops, networking opportunities, community project panels, and forum discussions.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets The first round of Working Lands Enterprise Initiative applications for fiscal year (FY) 2023 is launching! The Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) is releasing two requests for applications (RFAs) that allow Vermont working lands service provider organizations and producer associations to invest in projects focused on governance, leadership, building workforce development, and executive business skills. To allow time for organizations to prepare, the application portal will be open from August 12th through September 23rd.

Vermont Business Magazine Last Friday, NorthCountry Federal Credit Union CEO Bob Morgan announced the financial institution’s contact center ranked first nationwide for its interactions with members during the second quarter of 2022. “I am extremely proud of this result and of the outstanding service our staff deliver to members every day. I am appreciative and grateful for their efforts, and for having each of them as co-workers,” said Morgan. The first-place ranking was reported by Qualtrics, an independent firm that measures customer loyalty using a metric called Net Promoter Score (NPS).

Vermont Business Magazine State Director Linda Rossi announced that Sarah Kearns has been selected as the 2022 State Star of the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC). The award, bestowed annually and recognized nationally, celebrates a member of the organization’s team for exceptional commitment to small business success. Kearns is a statewide advisor for strategic projects as well as the area business advisor for Addison County. She specializes in working with Vermont’s college-age entrepreneurs.

Vermont Business Magazine This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern VT Economic Development District (NVEDD) has launched a new website. This District includes six Vermont counties located in close proximity to the Canadian border. The counties share economic interests that include a rural working landscape, stable manufacturing sector, and a robust tourism trade. NVEDD's redesigned website contains a valuable Funding Opportunities Search Tool available to businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities for planning and infrastructure-related projects. Looking to leverage ARPA money? Users can filter the database by category, eligible recipient, and funding source to access specific up-to-date funding opportunities.

Vermont Business Magazine Citizens announced Friday that the national Citizens Business Conditions Index (CBCI) dropped to 52.9 in the second quarter of 2022, down from its eight-year peak of 59.5 at the end of the first quarter, but extending its streak to seven straight quarters above 50, indicating continued growth conditions for businesses. Citizens has bank branches across Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine For the eighth consecutive year, farmers across Vermont will once again open their barn doors and garden gates to welcome the public for a behind-the-scenes look at Vermont’s vibrant working landscapes. Vermont Open Farm Week 2022 will be held Sunday, Aug. 7 through Sunday, Aug. 14, and feature over 105 events at over 53 farms across the state. Events are live and sorted by day and location on DigInVT.com. Open Farm Week is a celebration of Vermont farms offering visitors a backstage pass to learn more about local food origins, authentic agritourism experiences, and the chance to build relationships with local farmers.

Vermont Business Magazine Heritage Aviation Inc, a 100% Employee-Owned company and Certified B Corporation located at the Burlington International Airport, has been recognized by B Lab as one of the Best for the World 2022 B Corps for their excellence in the “Workers” category. Heritage ranked in the top 5% of the Best for the World – “Workers” out of all B Corporations in the world in the 50 – 249 employee class. Heritage Aviation also received this distinction in 2019 and 2021 after becoming a Certified B Corporation in 2018. In addition, Heritage Aviation has been a “Best Place to Work in Vermont” company for six consecutive years (2017-2022).

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine For Burlington, July 29, 2022, was a red-letter day. The Queen City witnessed - and celebrated - the return of regularly scheduled intercity passenger rail service after a 69-year hiatus, as Amtrak extended its geographic reach for the first time since 2017. The launch brought the national passenger rail provider's Ethan Allen Express train 67 miles north of its previous northern terminus, Rutland. The daily train's southern terminus is New York City's Penn Station. The daily service will traverse the 308 miles between there and Burlington Union Station in just over seven and a half hours, leaving southbound at 10:10 am and arriving back in Burlington at 9:55 pm. The newly served stops also include Middlebury and Ferrisburgh-Vergennes.

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine Passenger trains began serving Vermont's largest city in 1849, when rail routes were completed from White River Junction and Rutland by the rival Central Vermont and Rutland and Burlington railroads, respectively. The R&B got to Burlington first, with an inaugural departure on December 24. The CV's first train pulled out the next day – Christmas. The R&B had its first depot near the corner of what are now Battery and Maple streets, while the CV's long-vanished route looped through the heart of what is now Burlington's downtown, with a depot on a site that currently accommodates the city's library. Via onward connections from Rutland, the R&B offered a ride to Boston for the princely sum of six dollars. For many decades, passenger traffic was abundant – and there was plenty of milk and butter for the freights to carry – but better roads, the advent of automobiles and trucks, and, at least for the Rutland, a succession of labor disputes began to take their toll in the first half of the 20th century.