Current News

Vermont Business Magazine This March, the Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living (DAIL) joins the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Vermont’s five Area Agencies on Aging and nutrition service providers across the country in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the national Senior Nutrition Program. Since 1972, the Senior Nutrition Program has supported nutrition services for older adults. Funded by the Older Americans Act, local senior nutrition programs, often senior centers, serve as hubs for adults age 60 and older to access nutritious meals and other vital services that strengthen social connections and promote good health.

Vermont Business Magazine Listen Up is kicking off the next phase of the teen-focused social-emotional resilience project as it offers screenings and pop-up workshops in schools and community programs. For the past three years Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont has been involved in the project, an original musical inspired, created and performed by Vermont teens that addresses the many challenges they face, while celebrating their resilience and hope for change. The show digs deep into the heart of issues Vermont youth are navigating today, including mental health, resilience, racial justice, sexual identity, friendship, love, family, community, social justice and current issues including COVID, climate change and the future of Vermont for young people.

Vermont Business Magazine Vail Resorts, Inc (NYSE: MTN) today reported a net income boost of over $75 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 as the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions subsided. In addition, Vail is providing ski season-to-date metrics through March 6, 2022. The owner of Okemo, Mount Snow and Stowe Mountain resorts in Vermont also announced that it will increase the minimum hourly wage offered across all 37 North American resorts to $20 per hour and increase wage rates for hourly employees as they maintain all leadership and career stage differentials. Roles that have specific experiences or certification as prerequisites, such as entry-level patrol, commercial drivers, and maintenance technicians will start at $21 per hour. Tipped employees will be guaranteed a minimum of $20 per hour. Here in the Northeast, the wage hike represents a $5 per hour increase (33%) at Stowe, Okemo, Mount Snow and Hunter and a $7 per hour increase (54%) at Attitash, Crotched, Sunapee and Wildcat.

Vermont Business Magazine With low levels of severe disease and effective tools to prevent COVID-19, Vermont health officials announced that starting today, March 14, COVID-19 public health recommendations have been updated. The new prevention guidance focuses on recommending Vermonters consider their own circumstances and risk in deciding what precautions to take – including wearing a mask around others – to protect themselves, loved ones and those at higher risk from COVID-19. The guidance had previously recommended wearing a mask in all indoor public spaces.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 23 cases of COVID-19 for Sunday, down from 79 on Saturday and 153 on Friday, as cases continue to fall. There have been no deaths since March 3 and hospitalizations have also come down. The new statewide COVID health guidance begins today (March 14), meaning for the general public and in school, mask wearing will be up to individual discretion. Businesses, etc, could still decide to require them, as hospitals still do.

MIT’s Election Data & Science Lab Releases Its 2020 Elections Performance Index

Vermont Business Magazine Today Secretary of State Jim Condos announced that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Election Data & Science Lab has released its post 2020 Elections Performance Index (EPI), ranking Vermont 1^st overall nationally in elections administration for the 2020 election. This marks the second #1 ranking for Vermont following the last two Presidential elections.

The EPI is widely considered by state election administrators as the most reputable elections management index. It provides a non-partisan, data-driven measure of how well each state is performing in managing the conduct of elections, using a number of indicators ranging from voter turnout to the availability of online tools for voter accessibility.

Vermont Business Magazine In 2021, Vermont Humanities and the Vermont Arts Council gave $1.2 million in Covid-19 Cultural Recovery Grants to 146 cultural organizations, located in all 14 counties in Vermont. This collaborative grant program was made possible by American Rescue Plan Act funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts. Seventy-four percent of the applicants received grants, and the average grant was $8,114.

Vermont Business Magazine At a meeting on January 26, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board Awarded $4.6 million in state funds and $5.82 million in federal funds to purchase, construct, and rehabilitate housing in Putney, Monkton, St Albans, Essex, Williston, St Johnsbury, and Bennington and to plan for housing development in West Brattleboro. These awards will advance the development of new rental housing for our workforce as well as for low-income and homeless households, seniors and citizens with disabilities, while also maintaining long-term affordability with necessary repairs and maintenance to properties.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate in Vermont for January was 3.0 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth from December. Adjusted population and labor force estimates have resulted in an overall increase in the number of unemployed in Vermont. The December 2021 rate was adjusted upward to 3.1 percent from the original estimate of 2.5 percent. At the beginning of each year the Vermont Department of Labor adjusts rates based on revised data from the US Census. This results in a lag in reporting of the January rate. This can also result in significant readjustments to the prior months, such as this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Starting TOMORROW, Tuesday, March 15, at 6:30 a.m., Locust Street will be closed to through traffic between Caroline and Shelburne Streets. Shelburne Street will be reduced to one lane with alternating one-way traffic at the intersection with Locust Street to facilitate waterline work beginning at 9 am. The closure of Locust Street at its intersection with Shelburne Street will take place during daytime hours. Locust Street will reopen in the evening of Tuesday, March 15. The closure will be in place again on Wednesday, March 16 for the daytime hours and re-opened in the evening. During the closure period, access to residences and businesses along Locust Street will be maintained.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets It’s been a busy few months for Vermont dairy, but there are some bright spots in these turbulent times. The Northeast Dairy Task Force, stimulated by Horizon Organic’s plan to end contracts with dozens of Northeast organic dairy farms, released recommendations that paved the way for a new infusion of dollars.

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine Talk about finding a niche and filling it! The married couple Lisa and Roland Groeneveld, both 49, started their computer company as Logic Supply in 2003 in a one-bedroom apartment in Boston. Now called OnLogic, it is based in South Burlington with facilities in Taiwan, the Netherlands, Malaysia and North Carolina. They employ 200 people and have just reached $100 million in sales. They are also in the permit process to build a new, $50 million,125,000-square-foot corporate headquarters, which will include a production facility for the assembly of their rugged computers as well as a warehouse and shipping component to handle the growing demand.