Current News

Vermont Business Magazine To mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Shelburne Museum is highlighting works in the collection that symbolize, idealize, and mythologize a nascent America. Shelburne’s curators have assembled a self-guided tour throughout the museum’s American paintings, folk art and textile galleries that for the most part look back through a nostalgic lens and carry the patriotic narrative forward. A series of lectures is being offered through the summer and fall that also focus on patriotic themes.

by Shawn Tester I grew up on my grandparents' farm in the Northeast Kingdom. It's where I learned what community means — not as an abstraction, but as the neighbor who helps you pull a tractor out of the mud, the school that sees something in a kid that no one else does, the hospital that's there when everything else falls apart. My grandparents are buried on that land. I had always hoped I would be, too. That hope feels less certain every year. I share this not for self-pity, but because I believe it's important for people to understand what is actually at stake in the never-ending debate over Vermont's independent schools and school choice.

Vermont Business Magazine The WheelPad StudioPAD modular home on display at the Community Services of Addison County (CSAC) offices in Middlebury is a demonstration of affordable, inclusive, universally accessible housing design made possible by a collaborative public-private partnership of multiple organizations and the State of Vermont. 

by Devon Green, VAHHS As we get into the last few weeks, it’s a total time vortex. Every issue is shifting and requires an hour-by-hour, instead of day-by-day approach. With that in mind, I won’t waste any time jumping into the update from last week: Reference-Based Pricing: S.190 is ever-evolving. The House Health Care Committee advanced Chair Black’s amendment in a 7-4-0 straw poll to do the following: remove the 3.5% number from the amount the Green Mountain Care Board could direct towards Qualified Health Plans and VEHI remove the exemption of Critical Access Hospitals and Medicare Dependent Hospitals/Rural Community Hospitals from reference-based pricing for FY 2027 remove the increase of the prescription drug price cap from 120% to 130% ASP

Vermont Business Magazine First Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt announced on Monday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont collected $4,437,008.08 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2025. Of this amount, $1,722,712.24 was collected in criminal actions and $2,714,295.84 was collected in civil actions. The District of Vermont also worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $73,705.04 in criminal cases pursued jointly by these offices. 

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College conferred 598 degrees to undergraduate and graduate students, representing both the College’s on-campus and online communities during its 148th commencement ceremony on May 9. More than 3,000 students, families, faculty, staff, alumni, Board of Trustees, donors, friends and community leaders convened for a morning of reflection, recognition, and celebration on Saturday, May 9. The college welcomed Kyle Clark, founder and chief executive officer of Vermont-based electric aerospace company BETA Technologies, Inc. as the keynote commencement speaker. Clark, a native of Essex, Vermont, is widely recognized for his leadership in advancing aviation technology and sustainable transportation solutions, and during the Spring 2026 semester, BETA and Champlain College embarked on a multiyear partnership connecting students with real-world projects at the company.

Vermont Business Magazine The annual New England Society for Healthcare Communications (NESHCo) conference will be held at the end of the month (May 27-29) in Burlington, marking the first time it has been held in Vermont. Healthcare communications, marketing and strategy professionals from across New England will attend. The 2026 conference theme, “The Craft of Connection,” is inspired by Vermont’s culture of craftsmanship, creativity, and community, and will focus on how healthcare organizations can build stronger, more human-centered communication with patients, employees, and communities.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott announced action on the following bills, passed by the General Assembly. He signed four bills into law, but vetoed H.674, An act relating to the creation of the Vermont Sister State Program. This bill would create a 9-person Sister State Program Committee, allocate significant authority to the Committee for choosing Sister State applicants for recommendation to the Governor, and would have sole authority to terminate partnerships with a simple majority vote of those present at a meeting.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today signed Executive Order 01-26 establishing the Vermont Artificial Intelligence Economic Task Force, positioning the state to use its scale, institutional networks, and tradition of fast coordination to adapt to AI more quickly and deliberately. The Task Force will assess how artificial intelligence is reshaping Vermont’s economy sector by sector and deliver an agenda of workforce, investment, and policy actions, beginning with priority opportunities identified within 90 days.

Vermont Business Magazine As President Trump and congressional Republicans tout so-called “No Tax on Overtime” while simultaneously denying the right to overtime pay for more than 4.3 million workers, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) today introduced the Restoring Overtime Pay Act to expand and strengthen overtime protections for nearly 30 million workers.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation’s State Highway Safety Office joins the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles Enforcement and Safety Division, and law enforcement agencies across the state and nation to urge drivers to “Buckle Up” today and every day as part of a seat belt campaign from May 18-31. Law enforcement officers and first responders from Vermont and New York held a press conference today at the foot of the Champlain Bridge at the historic fort located in Crown Point, NY, to raise awareness about the Buckle Up seat belt campaign, a high-visibility seat belt enforcement effort, which coincides with the Memorial Day holiday.

Vermont Agency of Transportation On May 6, 2026, at approximately 5:33 p.m., Inspector Johnson responded to a two-vehicle crash involving a commercial motor vehicle on I-91 North in Lyndon. The investigation revealed that an involved operator, Mia Scannell, 18, from Newport City, was operating a 2012 Honda Civic north on the I-91 North on-ramp when she failed to yield while merging into the travel lane of I-91 N, striking a commercial motor vehicle. Austin Lathe, 19, of Newport Center, was operating a bobtailed 2013 Kenworth Truck Tractor owned by Kelley View Farm Inc. on I-91 North in the travel lane when struck by the merging car.