Current News

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.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, the City of Newport and the Northern Vermont Development Authority today announced the award of about $1.5 million in Newport Development Fund (NDF) grants. Available for projects, businesses, and organizations within the City of Newport, the NDF provided for two multi-stage application grant programs – the Newport Development Grant Program and the Discover Newport Business Grant Program. Increased consideration was given to properties and entities that demonstrated they were adversely impacted by the fraud surrounding local projects perpetrated by Ariel Quiros, Sr.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Business Magazine As the national annual median cost of long-term care services increased across the board this year, in Vermont costs for assisted living facility care actually decreased since 2020, costs for home care services rose at a lower rate than those seen nationally, and costs for nursing home care increased at a higher rate than national trends. Nursing home costs in Vermont now run, on average, from $127,020 (semi-private) to $133,225 (private) a year.

​Vermont Business Magazine On the weekend of February 4th, The Governor’s Institutes of Vermont (GIV) hosted an intensive, online climate change Winter Weekend in partnership with AT&T and Norwich Solar Technologies. Over thirty-five Vermont high school students were in attendance, working together to propose actionable solutions to climate change issues in their communities. Over the course of the weekend, the students met with Vermont legislators and climate experts, including State Representative Becca White, State Senator Becca Balint, and US Senator Bernie Sanders.

Vermont Business Magazine Faculty and staff members from Vermont’s public higher education institutions delivered petitions and testified in the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, asking lawmakers to require representation by these groups on the University of Vermont and Vermont State Colleges boards of trustees. The bill, S.248, would also add additional students to the boards and impose two-term limits on both boards. Over 26 percent of public universities in 13 states have faculty representation on their board.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR), which owns and manages the Perry Hill Block within CC Putnam State Forest, announces the continuation of a pilot winter recreation monitoring and management program. This pilot program aims to reduce negative impacts from winter trail use to an important deer wintering area while maintaining an enjoyable and popular winter recreational experience for the public.

Vermont Business Magazine Fairfax School District introduced two zero-emissions Blue Bird school buses to its fleet this school year. The school district’s Blue Bird electric school buses were purchased from the Agency of Natural Resources Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund. This pilot program is managed by the Vermont Energy Investment corporation, which is testing how well electric school buses work in Vermont’s climate and terrain.

Vermont Business Magazine Described as an “idea man,” Paul Percy, an Agri-Mark/Cabot dairy farmer from Stowe, Vermont, was honored last week by the National Council of Farmers Cooperatives with the Farmer Cooperative Director of the Year award. Percy, who retired from Agri-Mark’s Board of Directors in December 2021, has served his fellow farmers on the cooperative’s board for 37 years. He has been a witness to and an influence on nearly every major cooperative decision made during that time, including Agri-Mark’s acquisition of the Cabot brand.

Vermont Business Magazine The Town of Hinesburg worked with the Hinesburg Land Trust, the Vermont Land Trust (VLT), and the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB), to purchase 291 acres from the Carse Land Company to expand the existing 834-acre Hinesburg Town Forest today. The resulting 1,125 acres was permanently protected for the enjoyment of community members and visitors. The Hinesburg Town Forest, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, hosts over 15 miles of trails and serves as a popular destination for hiking, biking, hunting, birding, and more.

Vermont Business Magazine US Attorneys Trini E Ross, of the Western District of New York, and Nikolas Kerest, of the District of Vermont, announced today that Lisa Miller, 53, formerly of Virginia, pleaded guilty before US District Judge Richard J Arcara to international parental kidnapping, which carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Defendant Miller was in a civil union with Janet Jenkins under Vermont law. Miller was artificially inseminated during the civil union and had a child, IMJ. In 2003, Miller sought termination of the civil union and disputes arose regarding Miller’s and Jenkins' parental rights of IMJ.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 375 cases of COVID-19 for Tuesday, more than double the number from Monday's 158. COVID-related deaths held at 575 statewide. 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.

Vermont Business Magazine The conflict between Ukraine and Russia made its presence felt Wednesday in parts of South Burlington and Williston. In the early morning of February 16, F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the 34th Fighter Squadron, 388th Fighter Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, departed the Vermont Air National Guard Base in transit to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.