Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Bar Harbor Bank & Trust employees recently presented $12,000 in donations from the Bank’s employee-driven charitable giving program, Casual for A Cause, to five nonprofit organizations in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The recipients of the contributions collected in Q1 2022 are: Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center and The Ark Animal Shelter in Maine; Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter in New Hampshire; and Otter Valley Activities Association and White River Valley Education Association in Vermont.

Bank employees participating in Casual for a Cause dress casually on Fridays in exchange for a bi-weekly payroll deduction made to a pool of funds collected during each quarter. The employees then vote on the nonprofits to receive their contributions. Employees have donated more than $160,000 to more than 70 organizations since the program launched in 2018.

Vermont Business Magazine PK Coffee and Lamoille Housing Partnership (LHP) are teaming up to generate community support for affordable housing in Stowe and surrounding communities in Lamoille County.

“Housing has become a big issue for PK,” says PK Coffee Owner Katrina Veerman. “Stowe lacks housing options that are affordable, which makes it very challenging for businesses in town to hire and keep great people. Affordable housing supports a robust live and work environment, foundations for the long-term health of Stowe. Our community needs more of it.”

On Wednesday June 15, the Stowe cafe is hosting a raffle and fundraiser to benefit LHP, the region’s primary nonprofit affordable housing developer. An LHP representative will be at the cafe for a meet and greet.

Vermont Business Magazine On Tuesday, May 31, Governor Phil Scott signed S.100, the Universal School Meals Act. This act, combined with legislation passed in this biennium to increase the use of Vermont foods and farm to school, means Vermont students will all have access to Farm Fresh School Meals everyday. The Universal School Meals Act ensures that all students in Vermont’s public schools have access to a healthy, nutritious breakfast and lunch daily, at no cost to themselves or their families, for the 2022-23 school year. Approved independent schools also have the option to opt-in to the program.

Vermont Business Magazine Troopers who cover central Vermont will move late this week from Middlesex into a new barracks in Berlin, the first new Vermont State Police field station since Westminster opened in 2016. Housed in a completely remodeled building that served for years as the Mid-State Library, the new Berlin Barracks is larger, better equipped and outfitted with modern technology and spaces that were unavailable at the Middlesex Barracks.

Vermont Business Magazine Global industrial computer hardware manufacturer and solution provider, OnLogic (www.onlogic.com), has begun construction of their new $60 Million, 140,000 square foot global headquarters in South Burlington, Vermont. Governor Phil Scott and Congressman Peter Welch joined members of the OnLogic team, officials from the City of South Burlington and representatives from ReArch Company, Wiemann Lamphere Architects, and VHB for the groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported May 28 that COVID-19 cases are down and hospitalizations also have fallen and the number of patients with COVID-19 who are still in the hospital increased by one person. Total cases were 236.7 per 100,000 in the past week, down from 286.4. Hospitalizations were 10.3 per 100,000 up slightly from 10.1. As of May 31, there have been 670 deaths from COVID-19 in Vermont, with 30 in May, up from both March and April.

VermontBiz Not sure how to bridge the divide between Boomers and Millennials at your company? Author of The Millennial Whisperer Chris Tuff will share his insights on the June episode of 21st Century Business Forum.

Chris Tuff was one of the first advertisers to work directly with Mark Zuckerberg in 2006 and filmed one of the first “viral” videos, which landed him on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. The youngest partner in history 100-year-old advertising firm 22squared, he is a pioneer of the social media digital marketing space.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott signed a baker's dozen of bills today, passed by the General Assembly. This includes the Universal School Meals Act, S.100. The bill requires all Vermont students to have access to two meals per day during the 2022-23 school year. During the past two years, the federal government paid for meals for all students through pandemic waivers — this program expires in June, and without state action, 40,000 children would have lost access to school meals this fall.

Vermont Business Magazine VCIA President Richard Smith joined Governor Phil Scott as he signed on Monday new legislation passed in the 2017 session strengthening Vermont's captive legislation in a variety of areas, including adding agency captives to the portfolio of captive types allowed in Vermont.

Vermont Department of Health There is a nationwide shortage of infant formula, and Vermont families report having a hard time finding infant formula in stores. This supply chain shortage grew worse after a recall of certain Abbott Nutrition products in February. Abbott recalled seven different infant products after four babies developed bacterial infections from consuming formula that was produced at a manufacturing plant in Michigan.

The Vermont Army National Guard will host a public tour of Camp Ethan Allen Firing Range on June 7. The tour will run from 2 p.m. until approximately 5:15 p.m. next Tuesday afternoon. This particular tour will focus on unit training, with anticipated stops to view 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry (Mountain) conduct live-fire exercises during their annual training.

Vermont Business Magazine Arwen Turner, the executive director of Come Alive Outside, will be the next guest on Medical Matters Weekly at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1. Come Alive Outside is a non-profit organization that inspires collaborative community systems and creates awareness, intention and opportunity for people to live healthier lives outside. The show is produced by Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) with cooperation from Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV).