Current News

Stowe Community Fund A group of local business and community leaders announced today the launch of the Stowe Community Fund, a permanent philanthropic asset designed to build upon and evolve the work of the Stowe C19 General Relief Fund that was established to meet essential needs of our community throughout the COVID19 pandemic. Specifically, the Stowe Community Fund will honor donor intent for gifts previously designated to continue the essential needs work that ensured the people of this community remained food secure and healthy throughout the pandemic, while evolving that work over time into a broader effort to meet further needs of the workers and families of this community, as well as the broader aspirations of the community at large.

Vermont Business Magazine With the decision late today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to approve COVID-19 vaccination for children ages 5 to 11, Governor Phil Scott, the Agency of Human Services and the Department of Health announced that, starting at 8 am Wednesday, November 3, parents and caregivers can register their eligible children to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting today that COVID-19 cases remained under 200, as case counts have fluctuated for several weeks. COVID cases were 168 today, up five from Monday. The CDC late Tuesday approved vaccines for children 5-11. The state will allow parents to sign up their kids at 8 am Wednesday morning, with doses being available as early as Thursday.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Tuesday issued the following statement on the changes to the state and local tax deduction proposed to be included in the reconciliation bill: “According to media reports, Democratic negotiators are working on a repeal of the SALT deduction cap for up to five years, which would cost $475 billion and give the richest 5% $400 billion in tax cuts. As a result, the top 1% would pay lower taxes after passage of the Build Back Better plan than they did after the Trump tax cut in 2017. This is beyond unacceptable."

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.