Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Price Chopper/Market 32 launched its November campaign to help raise funds for the nonprofit organization, Disabled American Veterans (DAV). From Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, Price Chopper/Market 32 customers will be given the opportunity to round up their change at checkout, 100% of which will go directly to DAV. Price Chopper/Market 32 will kick start the fundraising with a $5,000 donation. DAV is a nonprofit charity that provides cost-free lifetime support to more than a million veterans of all generations and their families, each year.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting today that COVID-19 cases fell back to 235 after another surge yesterday drove them to 376 cases, the third highest on record. Cases Friday were 377 and there were 487 cases on Thursday, which was the all-time record. The 12 worst days have all come since mid-September, following from the Delta variant surge that began in July. There were no additional COVID-related deaths, which still stand at 384 statewide. However hospitalizations and ICU stays increased.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education announced state-level results from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Program and the Vermont Science Assessment along with the release of the Vermont Education Dashboard Version 4.0. While overall results are being called "invalid," because of the impacts of the pandemic, the assessments provide evidence that substantial performance gaps between students in historically marginalized groups, when compared to their non-historically marginalized peers, remain.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Public Safety has revoked the explosives license issued to the proprietor of a Castleton slate quarry where a blasting operation this summer propelled rocks onto surrounding properties. The blasting operation occurred July 16. According to investigation by the Department of Public Safety, including the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Vermont State Police, assisted by the Castleton Police Department, residents living near the quarry on Blissville Road were not given adequate notice in advance of the operation; no blasting mat was used; and the explosion ejected rocks from the quarry onto multiple adjacent properties, doing damage to one home, and posing a risk to public safety.

Vermont Business Magazine With the regulatory review process complete and approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received, Price Chopper/Market 32 and Tops Markets today announced the closure of their merger, as proposed earlier this year. There are several Price Chopper/Market 32 stores in Vermont and three Tops Markets. Financial terms were not released.

Vermont Business Magazine A lawsuit (2:21-cv-01508 Kennedy et al v. Warren) filed today against Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) alleges the senator violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution by seeking to stop booksellers from selling and/or promoting the plaintiffs’ book, “The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal.” The book’s co-authors, Dr Joseph Mercola and Ronald Cummins, along with author of the foreword, Robert F Kennedy, Jr, and White River Jct publisher, Chelsea Green Publishing, Inc, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) at a press conference at Burlington International Airport today touted the benefits of the just-passed infrastructure bill that will bring at least $2.2 billion into Vermont. More than two months after the US Senate passed bipartisan legislation to invest $1.2 trillion to the nation’s infrastructure, the House of Representatives late Friday night gave final approval to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The bill next goes to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law. Leahy said that infrastructure used to mean roads and bridges. It still means that, he said, but he also emphasized the hundreds of million of dollars also coming into Vermont for broadband, electric vehicles and water and stormwater projects.

Vermont Business Magazine The Canadian border reopened today and with it Governor Phil Scott announced the selection of Montréal -based economic development firm, CIDEP, as the new Vermont Trade and Investment Representative and Liaison in Canada. CIDEP’s main priority will be to initiate contact with Canadian businesses looking to expand into the U.S. market and then generate quality leads that have high potential to turn into Vermont investment projects. CIDEP will also represent Vermont at key trade events in Canada touting Vermont as a business and tourist destination.

Vermont Business Magazine Encore Renewable Energy and Vermont Electric Cooperative announced today the commissioning of two new community-scale solar projects comprising 4.5 megawatts (MW) of new, clean energy generation in Jericho. The two new solar arrays include a 2.3MW project on the town’s former gravel pit and a 2.2MW project on the former municipal landfill. These new arrays support VEC’s goals of achieving a 100% renewable power supply by 2030 and represent the fourth and fifth utility-scale solar projects commissioned by VEC, four of which have been developed in collaboration with Encore Renewable Energy.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Blue Advantage has been awarded their second contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Vermont Blue Advantage offers three comprehensive plans with premiums starting at $0 a month. All Vermont Blue Advantage plans include medical and Part D drug coverage, along with dental, hearing, vision, fitness, and more.

​by Don Turner Workforce woes aren’t new to Vermont—but COVID-19 has made them worse. And our low unemployment rate doesn’t tell the whole story. There are nearly 25,000 fewer Vermonters in the workforce then there were just before COVID-19 hit. The number of unemployed Vermonters hasn’t changed—it’s that thousands of employed Vermonters have left the labor market altogether, despite near record wage growth.

Vermont Business Magazine A total of 19 incarcerated individuals and four staff members at Northeast Correctional Complex (NECC) in St Johnsbury have tested positive for COVID-19 in the current outbreak. Outbreak testing on November 5 returned three new COVID-positive cases in the incarcerated population and four cases among staff at Northeast Correctional Complex (NECC) in St. Johnsbury.