Current News

​Vermont Business Magazine The J Warren & Lois McClure Foundation announced on Tuesday the McClure Free Degree Promise through the Early College Program at CCV for Vermont’s high school classes of 2023-2026. The McClure Foundation’s promise will cover tuition and fees after any federal and state financial aid, and provide enhanced career and education advising as well as stipends to help with books, transportation, and other costs associated with going to college. The state’s Early College program allows Vermont high school seniors the option to complete their last year of high school and their first year of college at the same time, earning free college credits that also count toward graduation from high school.

Vermont Business Magazine CEOs and business owners from across Vermont, representing nearly every industry, joined Vermont’s Child Care Campaign today on the steps of the state house and declared their collective support for a publicly funded child care system that meets the needs of all Vermont’s children, families, businesses, and economy. Employers including Lisa Groeneveld, Co-Founder of OnLogic, Mark Foley Jr, CEO of Foley Services, Dimitri Garder, CEO of Global-Z International, and Sam Hooper, President of Vermont Glove, during the event identified the extreme lack of high-quality child care as a central barrier to rebuilding Vermont's workforce and economy. The Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR), Vermont Regional Development Corporations, Main Street Alliance, and Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility also participated and affirmed their support for public investment in child care.

Vermont Business Magazine As Amazon refuses to recognize the historic vote to unionize a warehouse on Staten Island, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Tuesday sent a letter to President Joe Biden asking him to fulfill his campaign promise to stand with workers and strengthen the union organizing movement by preventing companies engaged in illegal anti-union activities from receiving federal contracts paid for by the taxpayers of the United States. In the letter, Sanders urged President Biden to sign an Executive Order to implement this plan.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Regional Development Corporations of Vermont (RDCs of VT) announced their collective support for prioritizing investment in an early childhood care and education system that meets the needs of all Vermonters. For the RDCs of Vermont, prioritization of early childhood care and education as a primary public investment also means that public revenue sources must be transparent, equitable, competitive, and sustainable. All Vermonters must share the burden. We also believe that a truly impactful system must use data that is accountable to the outcomes produced. Our support stems from the belief that these goals can be achieved while ensuring every Vermont child has access to the care they need.

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermont continues its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to build resilience for future challenges, schools across the state are investing in ventilation systems to improve indoor air quality and make classrooms healthier for students and staff. This spring, the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) and Efficiency Vermont launched the second round of the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Grant Program, which makes $13.5 million of federal funds available to schools with qualifying projects, through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.

Vermont Business Magazine Coinme, a leading cryptocurrency cash exchange in the US, today announced entry into Vermont with the launch of 23 bitcoin-enabled Coinstar kiosks located at select Shaw’s, Hannaford Supermarkets and Tops Friendly Markets grocery stores, giving Vermonters simple, instant and trusted access to bitcoin with cash in their local neighborhoods. This expansion brings the Coinme-enabled Coinstar kiosk network to over 9,500 locations across 49 states and provides far-reaching access to digital currency with cash.

Vermont Business Magazine Commercial real estate broker V/T Commercial from Burlington has reported its most recent transactions. They include: Yves Bradley of V/T Commercial announced that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company leased industrial space at 34 Catamount Drive, Milton from Catamount Holdings, LLC; Group Five Investments, LLC leased 1,736 square feet at 150 Kennedy Drive, South Burlington to the Stram Center; Jersey Mike's signed a lease for its first Vermont franchise location at Finney Crossing, Williston; and, among others, Bill Kiendl, of V/T Commercial as exclusive representative for TD Bank NA, announced the sale of the bank's property at 215 Main Street, Brattleboro to JMS Mich, LLC.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today visited “Vermont’s Largest Job Fair” at the Essex fair grounds to promote the many trades jobs available in Vermont and to champion proposals to reverse Vermont’s workforce shortage. Labor economist and Director of Economic and Labor Market Information Mathew Barewicz presented data on Vermont’s labor force and demographic trends, illustrating the significant challenge these trends pose to the state.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 327 cases of COVID-19 for Monday (179 Sunday). There were 251 on Saturday and 372 last Friday, as cases have edged up in recent weeks and 8.5 percent in the last week. One more Vermonter has died of the virus. The total death toll is now 630 lives lost. April, with 9 to date, is still on track to have the fewest COVID-related fatalities since last July.

​Vermont Business Magazine The Universal School Meals Act, S.100, received preliminary approval from the Vermont House of Representatives on Tuesday. If passed by the Senate, students in Vermont will continue to receive nutritious school breakfast and lunch for the upcoming school year, at no cost to their families. The one-year model for the program will provide stability for students and schools while collecting more data about the permanent implementation of Universal School Meals and to see if the federal government acts before the 2023-24 school year. The current federal program expires in June.

Vermont Business Magazine The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending nearly $1.5 million to the State of Vermont to reimburse the costs of providing emergency meals for residents in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. The $1,473,362 Public Assistance grant will go to the Agency of Commerce and Community Development for providing meal preparation and delivery service to high-risk populations under the state’s emergency feeding program “Vermont Everyone Eats” between January and February 2022. FEMA also will be sending more than $2 million to the State of Vermont to reimburse the costs of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Support staff at the Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB) voted yesterday to join Community Health United, part of AFT Vermont. Support staff cited improved wages, fair and consistent pay scales, and safe staffing as key issues prompting the organizing drive. Both parties are committed to maintaining ongoing collaboration and mutual respect in the shared goals of serving our communities with the highest level of care. The final count in the election monitored by the NLRB was 59 to 11.