Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Twenty-six specialty food products from fifteen Vermont companies were recently named by the Good Food Foundation as finalists for a 2022 Good Food Award. Selected from nearly 2,000 entries to the 12th annual Good Food Awards, these Vermont products will compete against 351 entries in seventeen categories, hailing from 42 states plus D.C. having passed vetting for category-specific sustainability standards. The fifteen Vermont businesses in the running for the 12^th Good Food Award craft products in the categories of Spirits, Cider, Charcuterie, Honey, Confections, Elixirs, Grains, Pantry, Pickles and Preserves.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott, Congressman Peter Welch and Vermont Community Broadband Board Executive Director Christine Hallquist announced Monday in Montpelier $9.9 million in grants to accelerate broadband expansion in four Vermont Communication Union Districts (CUDs). The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) is awarding Preconstruction Grants to four Communication Union Districts (CUDs). The Broadband Preconstruction Grant Program is to provide grants to Communications Union District (CUDs) for preconstruction costs related to broadband projects that are a part of a universal service plan.

Vermont Business Magazine The Small Business Administration Vermont District Office supported approximately $1 billion in loans and COVID-19 relief funds from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, the agency’s fiscal year. The SBA assisted small business obtain loans through its traditional 7(a), 504 and microloan programs, but the vast majority was through the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans. In Vermont, small businesses received 9,541 PPP loans worth $564,206,007.

​Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Federal Credit Union announced today that its field of membership has expanded to include the entire state of Vermont. The additional counties for potential membership now include Essex, Rutland, Windsor, Bennington and Windham.

Vermont Business Magazine A $3 million gift from the Juckett Cancer Research Foundation will be celebrated with the investiture of UVM Cancer Center Director Randall Holcombe, MD, MBA, as the inaugural J. Walter Juckett Chair in Cancer Research at the UVM Larner College of Medicine. This formal ceremony marks Holcombe’s stature as a national cancer care leader and the respect the Juckett Foundation holds for the Cancer Center’s mission to prevent, treat, and cure cancer.

by Betsy Bishop, Vermont Chamber of Commerce Every day there is a news story about policies Vermont is addressing to further diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many organizations, including the Vermont Chamber, are focusing on this internally and programmatically to do our part to foster equity and inclusion in our areas of influence. And yet, recently, I’ve seen reports of public slurs and hate directed at people of color. This is most disturbing when we hear about it at school events because these students – all of them – are our future.

Vermont Business Magazine Before the Olympics, before the X Games, and before the U.S. Open, there was the 1982 National Snow Surfing Championship held at Suicide Six in Woodstock, VT. In 1982, Paul Graves launched the first national snowboarding event that would go on to become the longest-running event in snowboarding history. Forty years later, Paul does it again. An entrepreneur at heart and a snowboarding OG, Paul brings us a new event - The OG Invitational. Once again at Suicide Six, the best in the snowboard industry, and many of the original riders from the 1982 event will gather to celebrate the 40th Anniversary this coming February.

Vermont Business Magazine A public lecture on November 9 by Jolivette Anderson-Douoning -- the Inaugural Saint Michael’s College African American Scholar in Residence -- will map the American Dream as it has been lived by Black Americans going back six generations in two northern Louisiana parishes. It will be held Tuesday, November 9, 2021 - 4:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., Colchester, Saint Michael’s College McCarthy Arts Center - Recital Hall.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group has announced a net income increase of 15 percent for the third quarter of 2021 and a $0.01 increase to its quarterly dividend. The dividend of $0.21 is payable December 3, 2021, to shareholders of record as of November 19, 2021. Ledyard reported record quarterly earnings for the third quarter and year-to-date 2021. Net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2021, was $1,974,838 or $0.61 per share compared to $1,717,884 or $0.54 per share for the same period in 2020, an increase of $256,954 or 15%. Net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, was $5,767,982 or $1.80 per share compared to $4,975,996 or $1.57 per share, an increase of $791,986 or 16%.

by John McClaughry Next January the General Assembly will address its decennial responsibility for redistricting both houses of the legislature. The first step in that process is receiving the recommendations of the Legislative Apportionment Board, that has been at work for several months. That Board will – again – recommend a very important change in how representatives are elected. It proposes to establish single member House districts. Fifty eight representatives are presently elected from single member districts; 92 are elected from 46 two member districts.

by Jeff Tieman, President & CEO VAHHS Last week was difficult in the health care world, and left many of us searching for bright spots. Among the many ongoing challenges is a stressed health workforce constantly being asked to do more. But that same workforce is also the brightest of bright spots. In March of 2020, when the pandemic took hold and our lives changed in so many ways, caregivers in Vermont and everywhere did what they instinctively do: They got up, went to work and continued to treat patients and deliver the best care they could.

Vermont Business Magazine Giving back to the communities it serves has long been central to New England Federal Credit Union’s (NEFCU) mission. As an ongoing part of this effort, four times each year, NEFCU selects recipient organizations at random to receive $625 each, for a total of $10,000 annually.