Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Technical College ranks first in the state and #7 nationally among four-year public universities with best short-term net value, according to a new report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW). Georgetown CEW’s new return-on-investment tool ranked 4,500 colleges and universities by net value at several benchmarks -- after 10 years of enrolling, 15 years, 20 years, 30 years, and 40 years. Notably, the rankings include a metric that measures the share of students at an institution whose earnings 10 years after enrollment are higher than those of workers with a high school diploma as their highest level of education. Vermont Tech also moved up in the rankings for long-term return on investment.

Vermont Business Magazine With a new gift of $50,000, NorthCountry Federal Credit Union’s support of children at the Greater Burlington YMCA has reached a remarkable total of $1,000,000. For more than a decade, NorthCountry has been the Y’s Community Partner for Youth Development, supporting the organization’s work to nurture the potential of every child. In a check presentation earlier this week at the Y, NorthCountry CEO Bob Morgan shared this milestone gift with Y President and CEO Kyle Dodson.

Vermont Business Magazine Employers like Vermont Creamery are turning back to a tried-and-true method in an effort to recruit talent – job fairs and hiring events. Thursday marked the first of two days that Vermont Creamery will host its career fair at Berlin Mall in Berlin. Job fairs provide employers like Vermont Creamery – a leading goat cheese producer in the United States based in Websterville – the opportunity for face-to-face conversations with jobseekers, to quickly answer questions about the application process, incentives and other perks (in Vermont Creamery’s case free cheese!), and to find the right fit for their growing teams.

Vermont State Police Following continued investigation into the crash resulting in the death of two people in the Town of Charleston, Vermont, the Vermont State Police announces Katelyn Deslandes was issued a citation for grossly negligent operation with death resulting. An arraignment for Deslandes is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 22, in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Newport.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 243 cases of COVID-19 for Wednesday, down from Tuesday's 375. There were four COVID-related deaths 579 statewide. The four people who died were all over 70. While cases and hospitalizations have been falling, the fatality rate has remained relatively high and has been running about two a day on average. COVID cases have been falling here and across the nation, but the fatality rate has yet to decrease substantially. The record daily high of COVID-19 cases was set January 7, with 2,975.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc, a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company based in Rutland, today reported its financial results for the three and twelve month periods ended December 31, 2021. The company also provided guidance for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022. Highlights included: Revenues were $241.8 million for the quarter, up $41.6 million, or up 20.8%, from the same period in 2020; Revenues were $889.2 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021, up $114.6 million, or up 14.8%, from the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, US Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) Reauthorization Act of 2022. This bill will extend the authorization of the NBRC and support job creation and community development in the most economically vulnerable parts of rural New Hampshire and the Northeast. The bill is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Angus King (I-ME) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Today, it is imperative that we take up and pass H.R. 6617, the Further Additional Extending Government Funding Act. This bill will keep the federal government funded and fully operating through March 11 while we work out the details of full-year appropriations bills to meet the needs of the American people. In a few moments we will vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the continuing resolution. As Chairman of the Appropriations Committee I strongly urge all members to vote aye. A government shutdown would be senseless.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, today delivered remarks at the committee hearing, “Warrior Met and Wall Street Greed: What Corporate Raiders are Doing to Workers and Consumers” to examine growing oligarchy on Wall Street through the case study of Warrior Met Coal in Alabama where workers have spent the last 11 months on strike.

Vermont Business Magazine Chris Winters of Berlin announced his candidacy for the office of Secretary of State today. Winters, 51, is currently the Deputy Secretary to Secretary of State Jim Condos, who recently announced his retirement and has stated Winters has the most experience to replace him in November. A graduate of Williamstown (VT) High School, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the California Western School of Law, Winters has worked in the office since 1997, serving as a staff attorney, then as Director of the Office of Professional Regulation before being appointed by Secretary Condos as Deputy Secretary in 2015. He is a Democrat and lives with his wife and children in Berlin.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont gasoline prices today are up 5 cents a gallon from last week to an average $3.59, are up 23 cents from last month and up $1.09 from last year. The highest price is in Killington ($3.79) and the lowest price ($3.25) is in nearby Rutland.

Meanwhile, as of Monday, average gasoline prices in Burlington have risen 8.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.62/g today, according to GasBuddy's survey of 100 stations in Burlington. Prices in Burlington are 23.5 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand $1.14/g higher than a year ago.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Burlington was priced at $3.54/g yesterday while the most expensive was $3.69/g, a difference of 15.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.30/g while the highest was $3.69/g, a difference of 39.0 cents per gallon.

Vermont Business Magazine Farm Stand Together, a mutual aid food program providing gift cards for use at farm stands across Vermont, launched this month. Through the program’s website, Vermonters experiencing food insecurity are invited to request gift cards to use at their local farm stand.