Current News

by Julie Moore, Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Climate change is all around us and yet, at times, can be hard to see clearly. The Earth’s climate is a complex, noisy system and is influenced by many factors, including human activities. Because of this, changes in our climate can feel small, or far away, while other threats feel more imminent. But the simple fact of the matter is the earth’s climate is changing, and Vermont’s climate is changing. These changes are complicated further by the fact that they are slow-moving and at times, hard to directly observe.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported 121 new cases of COVID-19 (129 Tuesday). While many regions of the country and world experienced a sharp increase and sharp decline of Delta variant cases in a 7-9 week window, Vermont is now into its 10th week and has shown a slower ascent and still no plateau in new cases. The VDH also reported today no deaths, which remain at 301 statewide. There are 42 people hospitalized (down six from yesterday) and 14 in the ICU (down five).

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer released an analysis of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development’s implementation of the Economic Recovery Grant (ERG) program. The ERG program was established to provide emergency assistance to businesses in need. In total, the Agency disbursed $117 million to 2,278 businesses through the ERG program in 2020. The award levels in some cases, the auditor found, were greater than the firm's losses.

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) issued the following statement Wednesday on upcoming votes regarding infrastructure and reconciliation legislation.

Vermont Business Magazine On Monday, State Innovation Exchange’s Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council — a network of state legislators working to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice — organized an amicus brief in support of legal abortion rights in an upcoming Supreme Court case likely to decide the future of reproductive freedom in the United States. With 12 percent of the country’s state legislators signing on, the brief represents the strongest mobilization of state legislators to date in support of abortion access. In total, 897 state legislators across the country, including 11 Vermont state legislators.

Vermont Business Magazine Today HumanCo, based in Austin, TX, announced it has raised $35 million in bridge round funding and acquired Brattleboro, Vermont-based Against the Grain Gourmet. Against the Grain produces gluten-free and grain-free baked goods. Joining existing Series A investors such as Vista Equity Partners co-founder Brian Sheth and Scarlett Johansson, this new round includes highly strategic and like-minded celebrity investors.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) Wednesday led a bicameral group of Northeastern lawmakers in urging Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to close organic loopholes, strengthen enforcement, and use every tool available to support small- and mid-sized organic dairy farmers. The letter follows news that Horizon Organic, a subsidiary of multinational food conglomerate Danone, plans to terminate contracts with 89 farmers in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, and New York.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan is calling on the US Department of Labor to reconsider its legal interpretation denying Vermonters a $25/week boost in their unemployment benefits. During the last legislative session, Vermont lawmakers passed a $25 weekly increase to unemployed Vermonters. Delivering those benefits hit a snag when the US Department of Labor determined the payments were impermissible based on an interpretation of the law made by staff at the Vermont Department of Labor.

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine A pending deal for the merger of much of New England rail network under one owner has elicited criticism from Amtrak, Burlington-based Vermont Rail System and the Vermont Agency of Transportation. Under the proposal, which the federal Surface Transportation Board must still approve, CSX, one of the nation's biggest railroads, would acquire Pan Am Railways (PAR), which owns, wholly or in part, railroads in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, as well as a few miles in Vermont's southwest corner.

by Jack Hoffman, Public Assets Institute The Washington Post recently tackled the question a lot of people have been talking about. The headline read: “Why America has 8.4 million unemployed when there are 10 million job openings.” What was refreshing about the Post story was that it didn’t offer the usual explanation about the mismatch between jobs and job skills, which seems to lay the blame for worker shortages on the workers.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College announces the addition of Lisa Ventriss as Interim Dean of its Robert P. Stiller School of Business. Ventriss retired after 19 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Vermont Business Roundtable earlier this year. During her tenure, she championed the creation of the Vermont Talent Pipeline Management, which seeks to align critical industry needs with the state’s education and training providers. Ventriss came out of retirement to assume her position as Champlain’s Interim Dean at the start of this academic year.

Vermont Business Magazine Chemotherapy is a highly effective cancer treatment, but it frequently comes with a side effect that significantly affects patients’ quality of life. Between half and three quarters of all chemotherapy patients — more than half a million Americans annually — suffer a condition called chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, or CIPN, at the end of their treatment. Many experience severe pain, sensory loss and balance issues. Care is often inadequate, especially in rural areas, where few providers have expertise in treating CIPN symptoms.