Current News

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine Each year, the people who study such things inform us that our state's dairy farms, so emblematic of what makes Vermont, Vermont, continue to dwindle in number. According to the state's Agency for Farms, Food and Markets, Vermont had 973 cow dairy farms in 2012. Five years later, there were 796 — 18% fewer. By the first quarter of this year, the number stood at 564, a further decline of 29%. Thirty-eight farms — one or two a week — disappeared in the seven months between May and December 2020, following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which occasioned a major decline in demand as schools and restaurants shut down. In three months, the average price that Vermont's dairy farmers received for their product through the federal milk market system plummeted 27%, to $12.82 per hundredweight of raw milk, according to the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service.

Vermont Business Magazine The Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Berkshire Bank, presented the inaugural Women In Leadership Luncheon at the Wilson House in Dorset, Vermont on Wednesday, May 11 from 12pm to 2pm. The luncheon highlighted the many women leaders in the Southwestern region of Vermont, while creating connections, partnerships and networking opportunities with those in attendance.

by Meg Hansen One signature and one vote thwarted the attempt to upend heating in Vermont's built environment. Governor Phil Scott won the game of political ping pong against the Legislature, when the latter failed to override his veto of the Clean Heat Standard (CHS) bill by one vote. The CHS was touted as the most impactful plan to meet the carbon reduction goals mandated by the Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA). But Scott asked for the invoice upfront. Politicians who buy today with the promise of paying tomorrow (when they'll be gone) were then forced to defang the bill. The new version still lacked “details on costs and impacts” and delegated outsized policymaking authority to the three-member Public Utilities Commission. So, Scott rejected it.

Vermont State Police On May 1, 2022, Vermont State Police was notified of an emaciated abandoned Pitbull that was located at the intersection of Brown Hill Road an Eagle Ledge Road in Elmore, VT. With the assistance of the public through social media and local community resources, the owner of the dog was identified as Tara Smith (30) of Morrisville. Investigation revealed Smith had possession of the dog beginning in the fall of 2021. During ownership, Smith deprived the dog from adequate nutrition resulting in the dog to become emaciated as well as inhumanely containing the dog in unsanitary living conditions.

Leonine Public Affairs The Vermont legislature adjourned sine die on Thursday evening after a whirlwind final week. It was the first time in years that legislators convened and adjourned neatly within the allotted 18-week timeframe. But the first partially in-person session since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic was full of starts and stops that gave it a rocky and turbulent cadence. The final week was no different.

Vermont Business Magazine Michael Seaver has been named Vermont Regional President and Head of Commercial Banking across the state for M&T Bank, a role he has held with People's United Bank since 2009. Seaver will ensure collaboration across all lines of business and community banking activities, providing value for customers, businesses and communities across the region. M&T Bank completed its $8.3 billion acquisition of People's United on May 4, 2022.

Vermont Business Magazine State reports strong tax revenue results for March; Unemployment rate falls two-tenths to 2.7 percent in March; Bill Stenger gets 18 months for role in AnC Vermont EB-5 case; Quiros gets five years, fined over $8 million, for EB-5 fraud; DFR Commissioner Mike Pieciak to step down in May; GMCB cuts hospital rate request; Inaugural Vermont State University president named; and more.

Vermont Business Magazine The Tenth Annual Veterans Summit will be held on Northern Vermont University’s Lyndon Campus on Wednesday, June 3, and veterans, military families, and all who care about veteran's issues are invited to attend. Sebastian Junger, bestselling author, will be the keynote speaker for this year’s event. Junger is the author of Tribe, about soldiers’ struggles adjusting to life back home, and War, about American soldiers in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. His documentary Restrepo — which he shot, directed, and produced with photojournalist Tim Hetherington — won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar the following year.

Vermont Business Magazine Lawson’s Finest Liquids is marching towards summer with the release of a specialty pilsner as refreshing as the season itself. Scrag Mountain Pils Salt & Lime, a salt and lime infused Czech-style pilsner, is now available for a limited time at retailers throughout Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 403 cases of COVID-19 for Thursday (587 Wednesday). Cases have edged up in recent weeks, especially in Bennington and Rutland counties. Hospitalizations were up to 75 earlier this week, fell to 52 and are now at 69 statewide. VDH also reported today no additional deaths from the virus. The total death toll is 648 lives lost. There are nine reported deaths in May so far. There were 18 deaths in April, which surpassed March's total (17).

The 2023 state budget includes $60.4 million for the Vermont State Colleges System

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Legislature finalized the Fiscal Year 2023 state budget this week. Notably, the bill includes $60.4 million designated for the Vermont State Colleges System: $45.5 million in the system’s annual appropriation and $14.9 million in one-time funding. This historic investment in the system and in the thousands of Vermonters served by the institutions each year is particularly notable, as the state boosted the annual allocation to the VSC by $10 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Nationally recognized fundraiser and advancement leader Monica Delisa was named president and chief executive officer of the University of Vermont Foundation today by the foundation’s Board of Trustees. The appointment follows a competitive national search that attracted experienced industry leaders from across the country. When she assumes leadership of the foundation on June 1, Delisa will guide and inspire approximately 80 staff members dedicated to leveraging connections with alumni and friends to continue and build on UVM’s success as a premier public research university.