Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Student Assistance Corp is offering a free online webinar on how to appeal your financial aid offer, on Tuesday, April 26 at 6 p.m. Students and families can participate via Zoom or by visiting VSAC’s Facebook page. The event also will be recorded and available for viewing later. Appealing financial aid offers for college is not new. Every year, students and families experience unexpected circumstances that impact their original financial aid award package. A loss of a job. An increase in family size. Unanticipated medical expenses and other one-time events.

TruexCullins. April 12, 2022. It is with heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of our co-founder, mentor, and dear friend William H Truex Jr, FAIA. Bill passed away peacefully in his Burlington home on April 10 at the age of 85, with his devoted wife Jill Williams at his side. Bill was a citizen architect in every sense of the word. In 1968 he joined Gene Alexander and founded a new architecture firm, which would merge 4 years later with Bill DeGroot and Tom Cullins. From the very beginning, the firm was focused on urban planning and the design of buildings that serve a public purpose.

by Ena Backus & Dustin Degree Here in the Green Mountain State and across the country, more nurses have left their jobs in the past two years than at any other time in recent history. Chief among the lessons we have learned from this once in a century global health crisis is that we must invest in Vermont’s health care workforce if we are going to manage the avalanche of needs of our aging population and the growing mental health challenges for our communities. Governor Phil Scott’s budget proposal supports nurses living, working, and teaching in Vermont. It includes $3 million in scholarships for prospective nurses, $2 million to assist nurses with loan repayments, and a $1,000 income tax credit for those working and living here as a nurse or nurse educator.

by Rob Roper On the morning of April 15, after weeks of discussion and just hours before they voted 4-1 to advance legislation that would saddle Vermonters with a radical, economy transforming “clean heat standard” for home heating fuels, senators on the Natural Resources & Energy Committee asked a remarkable question: “What do you get to do with a [clean heat] credit when you buy them?” They did not know. They could not really explain.

Leonine Public Affairs Governor Phil Scott drew a not-so-surprising line in the sand this week on both the FY2023 budget and the plan to reform the state’s pension program. On Tuesday the governor issued statements criticizing both bills, saying the legislature focused too much on growing government in the budget and that his input was not considered in formulating S.286, the pension bill. He did not use the word “veto”, but the implication was clear - he will veto both bills if his concerns are not addressed before they reach his desk.

Vermont State Police Following continuing investigation into the shooting incident that occurred at about 6 p.m. Friday, April 22, 2022, on Adams School Road in the town of Grand Isle, the Vermont State Police has developed additional information and is seeking the public’s assistance. Investigators have determined the shooting involved a drug-related dispute between two groups of people who were known to each other. Police learned that one group of individuals was traveling on Adams School Road in a Volkswagen sedan with New York plates when they encountered the second group of individuals driving in the opposite direction in a vehicle described as a silver or gray Range Rover with Pennsylvania license plates.

​Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont for the week of April 25. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Vermont Business Magazine Historic Hotels of America have some of the most magnificent and beautiful storybook gardens. Multigenerational guests select a historic hotel, resort, or inn to explore, experience, and discover their own ever-blossoming memories in beautiful gardens where multigenerational hosts have cared for gardens over the centuries. Many the hotels feature grounds designed by legendary landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and his son, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. In Vermont, the Basin Harbor in Vergennes and Castle Hill Resort & Spa in Cavendish were among those on the 25 Most Magnificent Gardens list.

Vermont Business Magazine The Quechee Hot Air Balloon Craft and Music Festival, the longest running hot air balloon festival in New England, will celebrate its 42nd anniversary in 2022 when thousands are expected to flock to central Vermont, June 17 - 19, 2022 (Father’s Day weekend). Twenty balloonists headline the event with five flights slated throughout the weekend and additional tethered rides during the day. Attendees can visit with 50 craft vendors, indulge in a variety of fare from 16 food vendors and sit back and enjoy dozens of entertainers for all ages, over the three-day extravaganza. Children’s activities include Bubble Machines, Rock Climbing wall, Bounce House and more. A variety of festival favorites and new food offerings with local healthy options and a beer and wine garden are planned.

Vermont Business Magazine HGTV has announced the winner of the HGTV Dream Home 2022 is Karey Wolstenholm of Overland Park, Kansas. The prize package is valued at over $2.4 million and includes the brand-new approximately 3,090-square-foot home, consisting of three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms, as well as all of its furnishings. The prize package also includes an All-New 2022 Grand Wagoneer and $250,000 from Rocket Mortgage. The home in Warren, Vermont, was designed by Dylan Eastman, constructed by builder Big Country Built with interior design by Brian Patrick Flynn.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine While refunds kept the vital personal income tax from posting an even stronger month, corporate, gasoline and rooms and meals taxes pushed monthly state revenues well ahead of targets for March. Secretary of Administration Kristin Clouser today released monthly and YTD tax revenue collections. They show the General Fund, Transportation Fund, and Education Fund receipts were a combined $239.9 million, or 8.9%, above upwardly revised monthly consensus expectations.

Vermont Business Magazine The executive director of Vermont Legal Aid (VLA), Eric Avildsen, will retire at the end of October 2022. Avildsen has been executive director since 1988, when he moved to Vermont from Massachusetts. Under his direction, the size of staff and breadth of legal work undertaken has increased significantly. And VLA now has a staff of 89, organized into 11 projects and has an annual budget of over $9.5 million dollars.