Current News

by C.B. Hall, VermontBiz Some 150 local residents packed the dining hall of Poultney's former Green Mountain College Thursday evening to hear entrepreneur Raj Peter Bhakta describe his plans to transform the 121-acre campus into a resort complex with seemingly everything that anyone could want – and the economic base that the struggling Rutland County town has longed for since the college closed its doors in 2019. The ambitious development venture, with its price tag in the $100 million range, is likely to come to naught without the moral and financial support of the town, the latter in the form of a tax stabilization initiative on which Poultney voters will render their verdict on Town Meeting Day.

by ACCD Secretary Lindsay Kurrle It’s no secret, Vermont needs more Vermonters. The shortage of residents currently calling Vermont home impacts everything from tax rates and school funding to community infrastructure and business retention. Just look at the State’s labor force participation rate, which dropped 5% in the last two years, from 66.4% in December 2019 to 61.3% in December 2021. This decline represents 26,000 fewer Vermonters who are working or actively looking for work, as compared to 24 months ago.

​Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced the final approval of the $26 billion opioid agreement with the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors – Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen – and Johnson & Johnson. Following successful state sign-on and subdivision sign-on periods, the distributors will start releasing funds to a national administrator on April 2, 2022. Vermont will receive approximately $64 million from the agreement.

Vermont Business Magazine A citywide winter PARKING BAN will go into effect in Burlington tonight at 10pm. This begins at midnight in the downtown core – more info below. Public Works has deployed their full fleet of tractors and trucks today clearing snow from city sidewalks, bike lanes and roads. Overnight, crews will focus on scraping the roads and pushing snow to the curbs across the city. Depending on snow amounts, snow removal operations will continue into next week.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) announces the selection of Brault's Market of Troy in the Northeast Kingdom as the second Vermont meat processing establishment in Vermont to participate in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) Program, allowing the small business to process product locally and ship to consumers outside of Vermont’s borders.

Vermont Business Magazine Agilent Technologies Inc and the University of Vermont announced Thursday the establishment of the Agilent Laboratory for Chemical Analysis (ALCA). The facility will be a hub for advanced instrumentation that will allow students, institutional colleagues, industrial partners, and regional high-tech start-ups to study the composition and structure of chemical samples. It is intended as a shared educational and research space that will play a central role in the education and training of undergraduate and graduate students at UVM, while also serving as a valuable technology resource to local and regional businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine The Addison County Chamber of Commerce and the Addison County Economic Development Corporation have announced a series of business webinars in 2022. Each webinar covers a different topic relevant to the Addison County business and non-profit communities, presented by local business owners and support organizations.

Vermont Business Magazine President Joe Biden today nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Senator Patrick Leahy said in a statement, "President Biden’s nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve as a Justice on the Supreme Court is an historic moment for the Court, and for the country. The federal judiciary can and should reflect the diversity that is at the heart of our nation. Only then do we move closer to achieving a more perfect union."

Vermont Business Magazine In response to the challenges of the pandemic, many arts and culture organizations increased their digital capacity and expanded online programming. Engaging with audiences through digital media will be an ongoing need for Vermont’s arts and culture sector. In response to this, the Vermont legislature approved $1.15 million last year in one-time funding to the Arts Council to help build the digital capacity of Vermont cultural organizations.

by Jack Hoffman, Public Assets Institute The Legislature is actually looking at two big changes to education funding this session. There are misconceptions about each, but both, if done right, can strengthen the school funding system and make it fairer. The change that has generated the most attention and discussion is a plan to provide more money to students who require additional resources, such as English-language learners, kids from poor families, and those attending small, rural schools. The money isn’t really the sticking point, although there are questions about the latest cost estimate for teaching English as a second language. The main point of disagreement is how to distribute additional resources to the districts that need them.

Vermont Business Magazine In advance of Town Meeting Day, Burlington School District (BSD) has published a number of resources designed to help voters have all the information they need to vote on the School District’s proposed budget. BSD’s 2021 Annual Report is now available online along with a budget one-pager that explains next year’s proposed budget, and a line-item budget. All the documents are available at www.bsdvt.org.

Vermont Business Magazine In light of ongoing developments related to the current geopolitical tensions involving the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and its impact on US financial markets, the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) is reminding investors in Vermont to have patience and use caution. The S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite, and Dow Jones Industrial Average have each lost more than 5% of their value over the last week, and while every investor must be prepared to live with a certain amount of risk and uncertainty, financial upheavals can be emotionally distressing. Our recommendation is to maintain your long-term financial strategy.