Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) today announced that it is now accepting grant applications for the SFY 2023 Municipal Park-and-Ride Grant Program, which provides funding for improvements of small park-and-ride facilities in Vermont communities. These facilities will assist in the effort of reducing the number of single occupancy vehicles on the roadway, which in turn helps to reduce vehicle pollutants and traffic congestion.

A total of $215,275 is available for this program for the 2023 state fiscal year. Applications are due by e-mail by September 2, 2022.

To learn more about this year’s grant program and to access the Municipal Park-and-Ride Program information and applications, visit http://vtrans.vermont.gov/highway/parkandrides.

VermontBiz Looking to up your positive leadership? Needing a way to improve communication among your team? Join us on July 13 as Jon Gordon dives into the many ways he champions positivity and combats negativity on The 21st Century Business Forum. Learn how to keep connection and commitment to the mission in your team’s performance.

Jon Gordon's best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and nonprofits.

Vermont Business Magazine At 8:00 AM on Sunday July 3, a passerby in downtown Morrisville noticed a fire at the Village Center Apartments affordable housing development and contacted emergency responders. Area fire departments responded quickly. Firefighters successfully contained and put out the fire, and remained on site for several hours to ensure that the fire did not reignite. Village Center Apartments is currently under construction and does not have residents residing in it presently. Work crews were not at the job site the day of the fire. No injuries to people or property damages in the vicinity related to the fire are known at this time.

Local and state police and fire professionals have begun an investigation into the cause of the fire, and a building assessment is underway by insurance professionals. At this time, these efforts are currently inconclusive.

Vermont State Police Sometime during the Holiday weekend an antique 1958 John Deere Tractor was stolen out of a garage on Moody Hill Road in Vershire. Through the course of investigation and the tire tracks on scene, it is believed the tractor was loaded onto a trailer and driven out of the area. Vermont State Police are asking anybody with any knowledge of this incident or anyone who might have seen anything in the Moody Hill Road area over the weekend to contact Trooper Haley of the St Johnsbury Barracks at 802-222-4680.

Vermont Business Magazine Selective Insurance, a leading carrier for business insurance, is now open for business in Vermont. Selective is offering its unique commercial insurance solutions and bonds to small, mid-sized, and large companies operating in the state. Partnering with many of Vermont's high-caliber independent insurance agencies, Selective offers customized policies to meet each business's unique risk management needs.

"Vermont is home to a variety of extraordinary businesses, each deserving tailored coverages that help them mitigate risks that are unique to their work and recover after a loss. Selective and our elite network of independent Vermont insurance agencies have extensive market knowledge and expertise with more than 80 types of businesses," said Thomas Purnell, Senior Vice President, Regional Manager, Northeast Region. "In addition, our innovative, customer-centric solutions enable us to deliver a superior customer experience."

Vermont Business Magazine “Thirty years ago my Dad called and ask me to help out for a summer at a roadside market he was buying in Woodstock,” said Patrick Crowl, owner of Woodstock Farmers’ Market (WFM), which now has two stores in Woodstock and Waterbury, 85 employees, and grosses $15 million in sales between both locations. “Needless to say, it’s been a long summer. I can’t believe we’re celebrating 30 years.”

This summer the WFM team is putting a special spin on their annual celebration, “Local Food Is Love,” with a focus on their 30-year history as a destination for locally grown produce, meat, and dairy products, as well as Vermont-made grocery items.

Vermont Business Magazine After two years of virtual programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Governor’s Institutes of Vermont (GIV) is once again holding their signature summer programs in person. More than 500 rising 10th–12th graders, representing seventy-five high schools from every corner of Vermont, are spending 1-2 weeks on a college campus diving deeply into the topics they love: Arts, Astronomy, Engineering, Entrepreneurship, Environmental Science & Technology, Global Issues & Youth Action, Health & Medicine, Mathematical Sciences, and Technology & Design.

GIV kicked off the 2022 summer session at Champlain College with the Technology & Design Institute. Celebrating its 20^th year, this Institute provides an opportunity for tech savvy students to explore the intersection between art and science and hone their ability to develop solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

Vermont Business Magazine Due to circumstances related to and created by the coronavirus pandemic, the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Farm Show, Inc., is cancelling the 2023 show and assessing how to ensure the event successfully serves the state’s agricultural interests in the years to come.

In a recent meeting, the Board unanimously agreed that the Vermont Farm Show should return in 2024, after a period of critique, evaluation and review to ensure the event evolves with current needs and wants of the Vermont agriculture community in the 21^st century. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) will coordinate a focus group with agricultural sector stakeholders to help meet this goal.

Vermont Business Magazine During the final days of June, Supreme Court rulings rolled out, each alarming in their own way.

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen, the Court restricted states’ authority to regulate concealed-carry weapons in public places. In West Virginia v. EPA, the Court handed a win to fossil fuel companies by curtailing the EPA’s authority to regulate carbon emissions.

Most brazenly, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Court overturned Roe v. Wade, stripping Americans of their fundamental right to reproductive liberty. As of July 1st, eight states had moved to outlaw abortion – putting the lives of millions of American women at risk.

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on July 1, 2022, Justin Zayas-Sanchez, 22, of Springfield, Massachusetts, was sentenced in United States District Court in Burlington, Vermont, to serve 20 months in prison after his guilty plea to one count of distribution of fentanyl. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered Zayas-Sanchez to serve a six-year term of supervised release and to pay a $100 special assessment.

According to court records and proceedings, on April 14, 2021, Zayas-Sanchez sold crack cocaine and ten bags of fentanyl to a confidential informant in the Rutland area. He also sold crack to an informant on May 26, 2021 and fentanyl to an informant on July 19, 2021. Zayas-Sanchez was arrested in November 2021 and has been detained since then.

​Vermont Business Magazine Speech therapy patients in areas near Manchester and Wilmington, Vermont, can now schedule appointments closer to home. Speech-language pathologist Kate O’Neill, MS, CCC-SLP, will be traveling from SVMC Outpatient Rehabilitation in Bennington to the primary care offices in Manchester and Wilmington. All three practices are part of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) and Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) in Bennington. Appointments in Manchester and Wilmington are open to all SVMC speech and language patients, regardless of where they receive primary care.