Current News

Vermont Business Magazine TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank today awarded a total of $5.8 million through the 16th annual Housing for Everyone grant program. The TD Charitable Foundation selected 33 non-profit organizations across TD Bank's footprint to receive Housing for Everyone grants ranging from $150,000 to $250,000. In Vermont, the Champlain Housing Trust received $150,000 and the Downstreet Housing & Community Development, Inc received $175,000.

Vermont Business Magazine On March 24th the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation will begin a new workshop series for small businesses designed to increase financial acumen. Join BDCC’s Business Technical Assistance Provider, Eyad Salha, for training sessions designed to help small business owners navigate today’s financial challenges. The workshops will provide practical tools, resources and steps to help your financial expertise.

Vermont Business Magazine M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE: MTB) and People's United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) jointly announced Monday the closing of the previously announced merger between the two companies is expected to occur on or about April 1, 2022, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of the remaining customary closing conditions set forth in the merger agreement.

Customers will continue to be served through their respective M&T and People's United branches, websites, mobile apps, financial advisors, and relationship managers until systems conversion is complete, which is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2022.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Organic Valley announced today the single largest effort to save small organic family farms in the Northeast following news last year that Horizon and Maple Hill Creamery would be terminating contracts with more than 130 family farms. Wisconsin-based Organic Valley, a farmer-owned cooperative since its founding in 1988, is offering 80 small, Northeast organic family farms a market for their dairy through a letter of intent. While those 80 families decide, 10 Northeast organic family farms have already been offered membership. Last July, Horizon Organics notified its Northeast organic milk suppliers that it would be dropping all of its eastern suppliers, including 27 dairies in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) is ranked the fifth Most Innovative Company in North America by Fast Company. Fast Company highlighted GMP’s pioneering work to deliver real world, first-of-its-kind solutions to fight climate change through grid transformation using microgrids and battery storage saying GMP “continues to build greater energy resiliency and grid stability without fossil fuels,” adding that GMP "reflects the best values of their region: brilliant problem-solving and an irrepressible spirit.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Department for Children and Families announced today that many 3SquaresVT households will continue to receive a higher benefit in March and April. This extra help is part of the federal Coronavirus Relief Bill. It will not permanently change a household’s monthly benefit. It is a temporary increase from the federal government to help those affected by the pandemic. Households at a zero benefit will not receive a benefit. Everyone else will receive the maximum benefit for their household size.

Vermont Association of Hospitals & Health Systems As we hit the middle of the session and crossover week, I’m struck by how much has changed since January. Going into the session, I wrote a letter to key legislators laying out the fragile state of our hospital system and what we were up against with workforce and capacity challenges in addition to COVID. VAHHS appreciates the quick legislative action on extending COVID regulatory flexibilities and move to increase clinical slots for nurses, but the tone has massively shifted towards health care reform. This week, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee will be looking to quickly pass S.285, which provides the Green Mountain Care Board with $5 million to pay consultants to develop a process for establishing and implementing hospital global budgets.

Vermont Business Magazine Recovery Vermont is proud to announce that Senator Patrick Leahy was awarded the Peter Mallary Legislative Champion Award “for a lifetime of dedication to the health of Vermonters and for his national leadership in serving those with substance use disorder" at their annual Recovery Day at the State House, which was held virtually on February 16, 2022. The award’s namesake, Peter Mallary, served as the vice president for advocacy for the Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery and Recovery Vermont for more than eight years, as a legislator prior to that, and in numerous other capacities in service to Vermont for decades.

​by John McClaughry This year and the ensuing biennium are likely to be landmark years for the future of parental choice in education in Vermont. In June 2020 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Espinoza v. Montana that if a State offers education tax credits, it must offer them to students choosing sectarian schools as well as public schools. The Court said that excluding sectarian schools burdened the plaintiffs’ right to the free exercise of their religion. That ruling triggered at least three similar cases by Vermont plaintiffs seeking to use state tax dollars to benefit their children in independent and sectarian schools.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr Trey Dobson is pleased to welcome Adam Pruett, MD, MPH, at noon on Wednesday, March 9. He is a psychiatrist at Taconic Psychiatry in Manchester, VT, which offers treatment for ADHD, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, and trauma. It is among the first practices to offer ketamine-assisted therapy.

Vermont Business Magazine Recovery Vermont is proud to announce that we will be holding a Recovery Leadership Conference on April 4, 2022. The conference’s theme is: “It Takes a Village: New Approaches to Vermont’s Addiction Epidemic” This is an all-day event and will be held in-person for up to 128 guests at Jenna’s House in Johnson, Vermont. The event will simulcast via a Zoom Webinar for any and all who would like to join us for this very special day. You can learn more about the agenda and purchase tickets at https://recoveryvermont.org/leadership-conference/. The day will feature three renowned speakers as well as a special presentation by Recovery Vermont and Jenna’s Promise about the Recovery Village that is being created in the Lamoille Valley.

Vermont Business Magazine KeyBank on Monday announced several steps it is taking to support humanitarian efforts currently underway for the people of Ukraine. In a message to employees, Chris Gorman, KeyCorp Chairman and CEO, including: KeyBank Foundation will give a $100,000 grant to the American Red Cross to support its efforts to provide food, water, and other essential items and services to the people of Ukraine. The Red Cross has teams on the ground in Ukraine and neighboring countries helping families and working to repair vital infrastructure, support health facilities with medicines and equipment, and support families with food and hygiene items. KeyBank Foundation will also make a $50,000 grant to UNICEF for its work supporting children and families impacted by the war in Ukraine.