Current News

by Amy Spear, Vermont Chamber of Commerce Every holiday season, restaurateurs, retailers, and other small businesses encourage customers to shop local, with the shopping season formally kicking off with Small Business Saturday. As COVID challenges continue to plague businesses in all areas of operation from employee recruitment to competition for sales against giant online marketers, Vermont’s small business community is getting creative and taking advantage of the digital marketplace.

Vermont Business Magazine Former NBA player Ulysses ‘Junior’ Bridgeman talks about his rise to incredible success as a business owner during the December episode of 21st Century Business Forum webcast.

This webcast, Nothing But Net: Scoring Big in Business, will broadcast at 11 a.m. Wednesday, December 8. Registration is free.

Mr. Bridgeman accomplished the amazing task of turning his $350,000 salary into $600 million.

Vermont Business Magazine The Champlain Housing Trust has closed on the purchase of TownePlace Suites in Williston, and announced plans to convert the hotel to 72 apartments affordable to people with a mix of incomes. The property was purchased from the Williston Inn Group, Inc for $13,450,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Initiatives in Richford to purchase an electronic community message sign and also build a safety fence around an outdoor skating rink both recently received grant support from the VEC Community Fund. Irish said that Richford residents have expressed the desire for information about the community to be more accessible.

Vermont Business Magazine In a special honor for the town, Stephen Perkins, Executive Director of the Vermont Historical Society (VHS), will travel to Brattleboro to present the annual Richard O. Hathaway Award for best historical project in the state to the five local institutions who created and led the National Endowment for the Humanities, multi-year Brattleboro Words Project. The award presentation will take place on Thursday, December 2, 2021, at noon at 118 Elliot, 118 Elliot Street, Brattleboro.

Vermont Business Magazine Looking for holiday gift ideas that are unique, special, and delicious? We've compiled a list of Vermont specialty food and beverage products that are sure to delight each and every taste bud. From maple to pickles, chocolates to craft spirits, and everything in between, Vermont’s specialty foods and beverages make the perfect gift for the food-lover in your life. Celebrate with these Vermont made products at your next holiday party or give the gift of good food to friends and family near and far.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported 214 cases of COVID-19 (down 23 from Monday) and no new deaths (410 total statewide). Health Commissioner Dr Mark Levine cautioned that while numbers appear down, because of the holiday there have been fewer people seeking to be tested. Health officials anticipate that COVID cases in December will look more like the relatively high numbers earlier in November. Hospitalizations also are elevated. More than 70 percent of those in the hospital are not fully vaccinated, even though they represent less than 20 percent of the eligible population 12 and over.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Health Network announced today that in order to care for an increased number of patients in need of acute inpatient care, as well as a growing number of COVID-19 patients in Vermont’s hospitals, the University of Vermont Medical Center and Central Vermont Medical Center are standing up additional Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and COVID-19 bed capacity, in accordance with calls from the state for more ICU beds. This means that more physical space and staff within the hospitals will be devoted to patients in need of intensive care. Currently, five ICU beds are being added at UVM Medical Center and capacity equal to three beds at CVMC; 10 COVID-19 beds are being added at UVM Medical Center.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Darn Tough Vermont hit the 1 million mark of meals donated to the Vermont Foodbank. Their long time relationship kicked off in 2003 with Darn Tough donating turkeys to feed the community. In 2017, the partnership took the next step when Darn Tough began offering 100% of their online proceeds from Giving Tuesday to the Vermont Foodbank. Darn Tough has continued its community and giveback commitment over the last four holiday seasons, as well as additional days of giving, which brings the total amount of meals donated over their 19-year commitment to 1,000,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan joined a multistate coalition of 24 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the case Ohio v. Becerra, opposing efforts to halt implementation of the new Title X rule promulgated in 2021 by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The 2021 rule removes harmful restrictions put in place by the Trump Administration and will result in the distribution of Title X funds to a greater number of family planning and related preventive health service providers that deliver care to millions of low-income or uninsured individuals and others.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently accepting applications for $1.15 billion in funding through the ReConnect Program. This program provides loans and grants to help Americans living in rural communities get access to quality, high-speed internet service. As a rural state, Vermont’s economic development hinges upon access to high-quality internet and telephone services, particularly as more Vermonters are working from home and more remote workers are moving to Vermont. As school, work and access to health care shifted even further online, access to quality, high-speed broadband service will allow more Vermonters to learn, stay in touch with loved ones, and access essential government services from the comfort of their homes.

Vermont Business Magazine iSun, Inc (NASDAQ: ISUN), a leading solar energy and clean mobility infrastructure company based in Williston with 50-years of construction experience in solar, electrical and data services and a provider of proprietary electric vehicle charging platforms, on Monday announced it has reached a definitive agreement to make a strategic minority interest equity investment in Encore Renewable Energy, a leading innovator in community-scale clean energy and Top 20 US commercial solar developer. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.