Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont Department of Health identified a positive case of human monkeypox virus infection, or hMPXV, in Vermont. The patient, an adult from Franklin County, is at home recovering under the supervision of their physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center, in coordination with the Vermont Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Confirmatory testing is being performed at the CDC. At UVM Medical Center, a multidisciplinary team has been coordinating preparedness for Monkeypox, and will continue to work with the Vermont Department of Health and CDC.

Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, and President Pro Tem of the Senate, said: “Today I was pleased to make my first official act on returning to the Capitol my signing of the CHIPS + Science bill.” His signature, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.), are requisite before congressionally passed bills can be sent to the President’s desk for his signature.

Vermont’s Department of Public Safety has announced a new public safety initiative, called SURVIVERMONT. This program is a community caretaking initiative created to educate and empower Vermonters with actions they can take to protect themselves and family members if they are confronted with an active shooter or violent threat situation. Supported by a grant from the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, SURVIVERMONT combines three easy-to-remember concepts from established federal public safety programs: See Something, Say Something; Run, Hide and Fight; and Stop the Bleed. They've also added more sessions.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) was discharged Friday from the rehabilitation facility where he has undergone a rigorous schedule of twice-daily physical therapy sessions for several weeks. He has returned with Marcelle to his house in McLean, Virginia. He, Marcelle and his medical team are pleased with the progress that he has made after two surgeries related to his hip replacement. On the way to his house, he went to the Capitol to sign the newly passed CHIPS + Science Bill.

​Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc of Rutland reported its financial results on Thursday, which show a strong second quarter. The company raised its revenue, net income, Adjusted EBITDA, net cash provided by operating activities, and Adjusted Free Cash Flow guidance ranges for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. And for the first time in Casella's history, consolidated revenues surpassed $1.0 billion for the 12 months ended June 30, 2022.

Vermont Business Magazine The state economists are expecting historic tax revenues to continue to grow through the next two fiscal years, though easing back by FY24. Personal and corporate taxes, along with rooms & meals and the sales tax, will lead the way, as they have over the last two years. Downside risks include a tight labor market, housing costs, inflation, supply chain issues, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the ongoing pandemic and the frankly uncertain effects of the Fed action to increase interest rates. On the other hand, there is no expectation of a spike in the unemployment rate nor in a housing collapse. Americans have an enormous amount of stored-up wealth and pent-up demand.

Vermont Auditor of Accounts Vermont policymakers have grappled for years with how to tackle the state’s persistent homelessness challenge. Prior to the pandemic, Vermont’s Point-in-Time (PIT) Count – an annual one-day snapshot of persons experiencing homelessness – hovered around 1,100 people, but the number increased significantly during the pandemic. We conclude that Vermont has spent more than $455 million in the last six years, with $300 million of that just in the last two. Throughout that time period, 200-300 households per night were typically housed in state-funded motel rooms. By April 2021, more than a year into the pandemic, there were more than 2,000 households staying in a motel or hotel funded by the GA Emergency Housing program. While these investments benefited the many Vermonters who received shelter, services, financial support, and/or new housing, it is not clear that there is a unified vision of what a steady state system to address homelessness should look like.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont is set to receive another substantial settlement in its ongoing work to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for their role in the opioid crises. For the second time this week, a drug manufacturer, Abbvie, disclosed a proposed settlement to its investors in its earnings report released today. The proposed settlement will require Allergan, acquired by Abbvie in 2020, to pay up to $2.37 billion to participating states and local governments, Vermont Attorney General Susanne Young announced today.

Vermont Business Magazine Comcast will expand its fast, reliable and fiber-rich network to five new communities – Elmore, Eden, Sudbury, Wardsboro, and Wolcott – and further into four communities it already serves – Hubbardton, Jamaica, Stratton, and Morristown – as part of its latest project to make broadband available to more Vermonters. This network expansion delivers Comcast’s innovative portfolio of Xfinity and Comcast Business services, including residential broadband speeds up to 6 gigabits per second (Gbps) and business speeds up to 100 Gbps, to more than 2,000 additional residents and businesses in the Green Mountain State.

Vermont Business Magazine Non-traditional educational institutions designed to support creative students of all learning styles and abilities have been under threat, according to the Goddard College faculty union. Students who need degree credentials but who find standard grading systems, enormously high price tag, and bureaucratic requirements that hem in creativity extremely prohibitive have had fewer choices for college that fit their needs in recent years.

Vermont Business Magazine Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced in a press release dated today that Seth Andrew was sentenced to 366 days in prison in connection with his execution of a scheme to defraud Democracy Prep Public Schools, a charter school network that he founded, of more than $218,000. United States District Judge John P. Cronan imposed today’s sentence. An educational entrepreneur, Andrew was the public face of the nonprofit that purchased the Marlboro College campus in 2020. After more than a year of "messy" negotiations and legal haggling, the campus was acquired last September by the operators of the Marlboro Music Festival.

Vermont Business Magazine GlobalFoundries (Nasdaq: GFS) (GF) today hailed the US House of Representatives’ passage of legislation to increase US semiconductor manufacturing known as “CHIPS and Science Act." The CHIPS legislation now moves to the White House and awaits President Biden’s signature. The Biden Administration has been a strong supporter of increasing semiconductor manufacturing and the many jobs it creates in the US, an effort that has been led by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. GF has a major semiconductor plant in Essex Jct, Vermont, which employs about 2,000 people.