Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Scott today signed eight bills into law, including the natural burial bill. Scott also vetoed H.606, An act relating to community resilience and biodiversity protection. H.606, he said, is unnecessarily tied to – and unreasonably limited to – permanent protection. The ANR has repeatedly said that permanent preservation has not been, and cannot be, the state’s exclusive conservation tool and this bill, intentional or not, would diminish the existing and successful conservation tools we have. The VNRC objected to the veto saying, given current and future development pressures on Vermont’s landscape, alongside historic biodiversity loss and climate change, this bill would have created a statewide conservation plan that would identify a full range of conservation approaches to employ. The bill passed the Senate without objection.

Vermont Business Magazine Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials will visit the Waterbury Wastewater Treatment Facility to recognize its innovative phosphorus removal system—the first application of this technology in Vermont—on Friday. The Waterbury facility’s “Co-Mag” system removes phosphorus from water by bonding it to heavy iron sand that causes it to settle more easily. Before installing this system, water leaving the Waterbury facility contained anywhere from 5 to 8 milligrams per liter of phosphorus. This met regulatory requirements at the time, but not stricter standards being phased in under the EPA’s 2016 Lake Champlain Total Maximum Daily Phosphorus Load.

Vermont Business Magazine Every year, shelter and service providers count sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. All regions of the state participate in the point in time count on the same night. The sheltered count is of people living in emergency shelter including hotels and motels through the General Assistance Emergency Housing Program, as well as transitional housing, and Safe Havens. The unsheltered count is of people experiencing homelessness who are living in a place not meant for human habitation such as outdoors or in a car. The Point in Time Count in January 2022 found a 7.3% increase in persons experiencing homelessness in Vermont compared to the prior year, from 2,591 individuals to 2,780. This comes on the heels of a 133% increase from 2020 (pre-pandemic) to 2021.

Vermont Council on Rural Development As a member of the Partnership for the Future of Vermont, we want to share with you some exciting updates on The Vermont Proposition and the Future of Vermont Action Team's platform for action. As we shared in February, the Future of Vermont Action Team reviewed the 10 elements of The Vermont Proposition which were established in 2021 with the input of thousands of Vermonters. From there, the Team decided on three areas of focus including climate change and the working landscape, education equity and transformation, and broadband access and affordability. The Action Team also determined several “lenses” through which they should focus work in any of these areas. These include racial equity, economic opportunity, disability and access, and civic engagement.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University’s College of Graduate and Continuing Studies (CGCS) is honored to announce that Norwich University Provost and Dean of the Faculty Dr. Karen Gaines will deliver the 2022 CGCS commencement address to approximately 360 students at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 24 in Shapiro Field House. Gaines has served as Norwich University’s provost and faculty dean since 2022, overseeing academic affairs and its internal operations.

Vermont Business Magazine The Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC) has been awarded a $500,000 Brownfields Assessment grant by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA’s Brownfields Program provides grants and technical assistance to communities to assess, safely clean up, and sustainably reuse contaminated properties. Addison County is home to a variety of abandoned 19th and 20th century industrial and commercial properties (brownfields).

The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation’s county foresters help private landowners – who own about 80% of Vermont’s forestland – manage their land responsibly. One of the Department’s thirteen county foresters, Ethan Tapper, Chittenden County Forester, was presented with the Cooperative Forest Management Forester of the Year Award from the Northeast-Midwest State Foresters Alliance.

Vermont Business Magazine Satori Investment Partners (Satori), a Vermont-based cannabis company, announced today that they have worked with Efficiency Vermont to incorporate substantial energy efficiency measures into the retrofitting of their 116,000-square-foot indoor cannabis facility in Middlebury, Vermont.

“Satori has partnered with Efficiency Vermont to ensure that this facility incorporates many energy-efficient technologies to achieve the lowest energy consumption possible,” said Scott MacGuffie, a partner at Satori. “This includes high-efficiency lighting and air circulation and water source heat pump technology.”

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott signed nine bills into law Wednesday, passed by the General Assembly. With reluctance he signed S.285 An act relating to health care reform initiatives, data collection, and access to home- and community-based services. Scott said that while he disagrees with some aspects of the bill he knows there is a sense of urgency. So, his administration will conduct oversight of the GMCB process. He also vetoed S.234 because he said it makes Act 250 even more cumbersome than it is today and it will make it harder to build the housing we desperately need. These concerns were raised by elected leaders on both sides of the aisle, though were not addressed by the Legislature.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) will close both northbound lanes of Interstate 89 between Waterbury exit 10 and Richmond exit 11 from 10 p.m. Friday, June 3 to 6 a.m. Saturday, June 4 to expedite the construction of crossovers that will get traffic off the southbound lanes where a sinkhole has formed due to deterioration of an aging culvert. During the closure, a signed detour will be in place routing traffic to U.S. Route 2 between Waterbury and Richmond.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Vermont University broadcast and digital journalism students swept the Multimedia Journalist category in the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Boston/New England Chapter of the 2022 College/University Student Production Awards. NVU also took Honorable Mention in the News Report - Serious News category, and an Honorable Mention in Sports Story or Segment.

“I couldn’t be prouder,” said Meaghan Meachem, professor and chair of the Journalism and Communications department at NVU’s Lyndon Campus. “They [the students’ submissions] are a fantastic representation of everything we teach and what our students are doing all the time – storytelling and shooting.”

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officials, and other federal and state officials today celebrated Vermont joining the House America initiative at the groundbreaking for the Stuart Avenue Apartments in Colchester. In joining the House America effort, the Scott Administration has pledged to continue leveraging available resources to address homelessness.

“Last year, Vermont joined the Biden Administration’s House America initiative, where we pledged to continue using federal and state funds to address homelessness, alongside our overall efforts plan to add more housing,” said Governor Scott. “Over the past two years, I’ve proposed, and the Legislature has approved, over a hundred million dollars to support those experiencing homelessness, identify permanent housing options, and build more affordable housing. Once again, I want to thank our Congressional Delegation of their work, and our friends at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development for their continued partnership.”