Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermonters are invited to comment on the future of broadband expansion in Vermont. The Vermont Department of Public Service will hold public hearings on the public comments draft of the 10-year Telecommunications Plan on Thursday, May 27 at 6 p.m. and June 1 at 6 p.m. The Department is also soliciting written feedback from the public on this draft of the plan until June 5.

The Final Draft Plan will be issued June 1 and the Department will hold additional public hearings on that draft. Members of the public will be encouraged to provide comments on the Final Draft through the month of June. The Final Adopted Plan will be released June 30. This is Vermonters’ opportunity to provide feedback on the state’s strategies for broadband rollout and other telecommunications matters.

Vermont Business Magazine M&T Bank Corporation, based in Buffalo, and People's United Financial, Inc, based in Bridgewater, CT, jointly announced today that, at their respective special meetings of shareholders yesterday, they each received the necessary shareholder approvals for the consummation of the merger of People's United into M&T. Based on stock prices when the deal was announced in February 2021, the all-stock acquisition is valued at approximately $7.6 billion. People's acquired Burlington-based Chittenden Corp in 2008 for $1.8 billion. People's United Bank has branches across Vermont.

And the Opportunities They Present

Vermont Business Magazine Achieving Vermont’s climate commitments is not only possible—it is also an opportunity to make energy less expensive for Vermont households and businesses while creating jobs for Vermonters. That’s one of the key findings of the latest Annual Progress Report for Vermont, released Tuesday by the non-profit Energy Action Network (EAN). Vermont is halfway to achieving its first greenhouse gas emissions reduction requirement of 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, with 2018 emissions 13% below those of 2005. However, Vermont is only at the starting line for the requirement to be 40% below 1990 emissions by 2030.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced that his office has reached settlements with nine different online sellers of electronic cigarettes for violations of Vermont’s Delivery Sales Ban and Vermont’s Consumer Protection Act. Under the settlements, the companies resolved claims that they sold electronic cigarettes, e-liquids, or other tobacco paraphernalia to individual consumers. As of July 1, 2019, it is illegal to sell electronic cigarettes and related “vaping” products over the internet to individual Vermont consumers. In total, the companies will pay $157,500 in civil penalties to the State of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine John Tunnicliffe, King Arthur Baking Company’s Director will serve as keynote speaker at the Vermont Specialty Food Association’s 2021 virtual Spring Annual Meeting on Wednesday, June 9th. VSFA members will convene virtually from 1:00pm to 3:30pm to learn from experts on managing production costs and selling on Instagram stories. This yearly event, typically drawing over 100 participants in person, is part of the association's ongoing effort to harness and develop educational resources for specialty food and beverage producers, retailers, and the small business community.

by Betsy Bishop, President of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, and Charles Martin, Government Affairs Director of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce At the start of the pandemic last year, it became clear that along with significant challenges posed, there were new opportunities to reevaluate Vermont’s needs and invest in our future. The Vermont Chamber identified specific critical needs for working Vermonters in child care, broadband, and housing. During the past legislative session, we saw substantial investment in these areas through a child care bill, $150 million allocated for broadband expansion, and $190 million allocated for housing.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP), Efficiency Vermont (EVT) and Vermont Dynamic Organics (DO), a Vermont software company, today announced a new pilot program designed to help business customers reduce their costs while increasing Vermont’s grid flexibility, reliability, and efficiency. The Flexible Load Management (FLM) pilot program offers financial incentives and direct technical expertise to larger commercial and industrial customers to help them shift their electrical use to reduce peak demand times on the grid.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington School District (BSD) has released the 2019-2020 Equity and Inclusion Data Report, the annual report that measures equitable outcomes for students. Available on the District website, the report analyzes data on student academic achievement, discipline, and participation in order to identify and eliminate disparities in these areas, and to show whether, and to what extent, there are different student outcomes collaborated with race/ethnicity, household income, language background, ability, or gender.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University’s College of Graduate and Continuing Studies presents “A Conversation with Guy Raz,” as the 2021 Residency Conference keynote and Todd Lecture Series speaker from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Wed, June 23. This virtual lecture is free and open to all who register.

Vermont Business Magazine The percentage of eligible Vermonters vaccinated (age 12+ with at least one dose) currently stands at 76.9%. Gov. Phil Scott said last week that COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted when Vermont reaches 80%. This would project to be around June 2 at current vaccination rates. As of today there has not been a COVID-related death in a week, which are holding at 255. And the VDH is also reporting today only 9 new cases of COVID-19. Generally the numbers across the board are better than they've been since last fall.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Representative Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ-09) Tuesday reintroduced the Crime Gun Tracing Modernization Act of 2021, their bill to modernize the capabilities of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) to trace crime guns. After a firearm associated with a crime is discovered somewhere in the United States, federal, state or local law enforcement officials contact ATF, which then must recreate the chain of custody of the firearm. But ATF is prohibited by law from electronically searching millions of gun sales records already in its possession.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, dealerships and consumers are more dependent on digital than ever. To succeed in this new era of car buying, dealerships must personalize each customer's path to purchase and cater to their diverse needs at all touchpoints—especially those taking place online. Backed by industry-leading consumer insights, Dealer.com is constantly focusing on total user experience, with technologies and tools that give their clients an advantage in a very competitive automotive retail landscape.