Current News

Vermont Business Magazine In recognition of the “Giving Tuesday” movement, Vermont Federal Credit Union recently donated over $14,000 to a variety of local charities and non-profit organizations.

“At Vermont Federal Credit Union, we believe it is incredibly important to support our communities, especially during these challenging times” said Jean Giard, CEO. “We are delighted to be able to provide financial support for a variety of wonderful organizations”.

The charities selected include: Hunger Free Vermont, Northwest Family Food, Out Community Cares Camp, VT Sustainable Job Fund, Jenna’s Promise, Spectrum’s St. Albans Drop in Center, Common Roots, South Burlington Food Shelf, Addison County Parent Child Center, Homeward Bound, Essex Chips, Outright VT and Champlain Valley Junior League – VT Diaper Bank.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department for Children and Families (DCF) announced today that 3,463 families enrolled in the Reach Up and Post-Secondary Education (PSE) programs have received a one-time payment of $375. This one-time payment of $375 per family is in addition to monthly cash grants families receive and will help pay for increased costs related to the pandemic. Households who had active Reach Up grants between September 1, 2021 through October 15, 2021 are eligible for the benefit.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets November is National Native American Heritage Month, and as it comes to a close we reflect and pay tribute to the rich ancestry and traditions of Native Americans of our region. There is still time to celebrate through events, projects, and organizations to support this November and beyond.

Vermont Business Magazine In yet another exciting battle between Mikaela Shiffrin and Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, Shiffrin has once again been crowned the Queen of Killington, winning her fifth consecutive slalom race Sunday on home snow in Vermont. Shiffrin came out in her second run guns a-blazin' to close the gap between her and her closest rival, who led the field by two-tenths after the first run. Thanks to an aggressive push, and an agile recovery in the mid-section of the course, Shiffrin was able to best Vlhova by 0.75 seconds, after Vlhova made a significant mistake second run. Switzerland's Wendy Holdener rounded out the podium in third.

The Vermont State Police is investigating a shooting that occurred late Saturday night, Nov. 27, 2021, in the town of Alburgh. Two men were killed, and a third was injured. Police responded at about 10 p.m. Saturday to a home on Cameron Drive for a report of a shooting. First responders located two men deceased on the scene. The injured man was taken by ambulance to the hospital for treatment; his condition is currently unknown. The two men who were killed are David Mohamed, 51, and Larry P. Cameron, 41, both of Alburgh. The injured man is Devin Cameron, 27, also of Alburgh.

Vermont Business Magazine A $25.8 million project to renovate and expand the Emergency Department and Main Entrance of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), requires a lot of coordination and communication. The health system has launched a website to facilitate sharing news and developments about the project directly with patients.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott is again encouraging Vermonters to help show Vermont Lights the Way, an effort to literally brighten communities and neighborhoods around the state by decorating homes, businesses, buildings or other creative ideas to help celebrate the holidays during the pandemic. In addition to decorating, Vermonters should share pictures of their displays - or favorites from around the community - on social media using the hashtag #VTLightsTheWay. This will allow those who are unable to tour the lights to take part in the celebration, and photos will be shared through the Governor’s channels and at his weekly press conferences.

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine For the Green Mountain State, the most conspicuous development in railroading this year has been the resumption of passenger service on both of Amtrak's Vermont trains, the Washington, DC-to-St Albans Vermonter and the New York City-to-Rutland Ethan Allen Express. The July 19 relaunch of the services ended a COVID-imposed suspension that began in March 2020. Celebrations at all of the state's 11 Amtrak stations marked the event. Patronage on the two trains rebounded nicely.

by Bill Schubart Is economic growth in and of itself the sole answer to all our problems or might it now be the time to forge equitable economic policies that allow everyone access to the opportunities that economic growth affords?
We know the world’s natural resources are finite. We can continue to expand the money supply — “monetary easing” to be polite or “printing money” to be blunt, — but is growing the money supply an appropriate solution to the well-being of people and communities if resources themselves are finite? What will all this money buy?

​by Amanda Kuhnert “It all began about 13 years ago, the first time I tried running with a jogging stroller and hated it,” said Heather Hayes, founder and CEO of StrollRunner, LLC. She quickly abandoned the idea. But over the years, when she would see other parents awkwardly trying to jog with their strollers, she thought to herself: “I’m going to make this better one day.” That day finally came when Hayes stumbled upon the book “You are a Badass” by Jen Sincero. “That sparked something in me,” she said. “I thought, ‘why wait? If you’ve got an idea, go do it.”

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont gasoline prices rose 1 cent per gallon since last week to $3.43/g. The are 7 cents higher than a month ago and $1.34 higher than a year ago. The Vermont high is $3.72/g in Woodstock and the low is $3.20 in Middlebury. For the US average, prices also rose 1 cent from last week to $3.43/g. They are up 7 cents from last month and $1.28 since last year.

Vermont Business Magazine Pandemic food insecurity remains elevated in the Northeast – affecting over 27% of households in Vermont and Maine – and in response, many families have increased the amount of food they grow, fish, raise, forage or hunt themselves. New research from the University of Vermont and University of Maine shows nearly 60% of households in both states engaged in some form of home food production since the COVID-19 pandemic, half of whom did so with increased intensity or for the first time. While the prevalence of food insecurity in Vermont and Maine has decreased since the height of the pandemic, when nearly 1 in 3 households were experiencing food insecurity, it remains significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to new survey data from spring and summer of 2021.