Current News

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.

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.