Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Boutique Air’s inaugural flight from Burlington International Airport to Boston Logan International Airport took off today at 1:15 pm. The new flight is important to the growth of the local economy with an introduction of new markets and opportunities.

Vermont Business Magazine Anaïs Mitchell, acclaimed playwright, composer, and musician, will deliver the 2021 Middlebury College Commencement address on Saturday, May 29. A native Vermonter and 2004 Middlebury graduate, Mitchell is the creative force behind the hit musical Hadestown. Mitchell gained international recognition following the premiere of Hadestown in Alberta, London, and then New York, where it opened in 2019. Later that year Hadestown went on to win eight Tony Awards and Mitchell won the Tony Award for Best Original Score. In 2020 the show also won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Senate passed H. 439, the FY2022 Budget Bill. This budget appropriates a total of $7.17 billion to meet the ongoing costs of operating state government including the programs providing services and benefits to Vermonters, and to make investments in Vermont’s infrastructure and human capital from the federal funds available from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the CARES Act (CRF).

Vermont Business Magazine Today Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos announced the completion of the 2020 Vermont General Election Audit, which was conducted on April 28^th at the Pavilion Auditorium located in Montpelier. No significant abnormalities or discrepancies were found between the audit results and the Official Returns of Vote.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont program that helps homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage or property taxes during the COVID-19 pandemic will re-open on Monday, May 3, 2021. The Mortgage Assistance Program, will provide grants covering up to 12 months of past due mortgage payments and property taxes for eligible homeowners.

Funded through the federal CARES Act, the program operated first in July through December 2020, providing 636 Vermont households with grants averaging $6,000. With average monthly mortgage payments of $1,200, most of these households owed three months or more of payments and the majority were in a forbearance.

The program is administered by Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) but is open to all eligible homeowners regardless of loan servicer.

Vermont Business Magazine Bee’s Wrap, the Middlebury manufacturer of reusable, all-natural food storage wraps, announced today that Tara Murphy will take the helm as CEO on June 1, succeeding Sarah Kaeck, who has led the company since founding Bee’s Wrap in 2012. Murphy comes to Bee’s Wrap after four years as Chief Executive Officer at Hinesburg-based Vermont Smoke & Cure. Previously she spent three years at Keurig Green Mountain, rising to Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Cold Beverage Appliance Division.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University has earned two grants totaling more than $187,000 from the National Security Agency (NSA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to host two virtual cybersecurity summer camps. These comprehensive programs, free to all participants, will be taught by standout Norwich faculty and students including Director of the Center for Cybersecurity and Forensics Education and Research Professor Dr. Huw Read.

Vermont Business Magazine FEMA recently awarded a $1,972,612 grant to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development for the state’s Emergency Feeding Program. The grant covers 100% of the costs of the state’s “Vermont Everyone Eats” program, which provides nutritious meals to high-risk populations impacted by COVID-19 throughout Vermont. The program is administered by the Westminster-based Southeastern Vermont Community Action.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced Vermont Everyone Eats, an innovative COVID-19 response program, is marking one million restaurant meals served to Vermonters experiencing food insecurity. The program was launched in August 2020 to leverage Vermont’s independent restaurants and robust local food system to help feed families and Vermonters in need. Over 200 Vermont restaurants have contributed to the one million meals, which have contained nearly $1 million of Vermont-produced ingredients.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Labor today announced the award of five grants totaling more than $103 million to five state agencies to continue and expand pilot projects to help newly injured and ill workers remain in the workforce. Agencies in Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio and Vermont will receive funds to begin the second phase of demonstration projects in the development of the Retaining Employment and Talent after Injury/Illness Network. RETAIN focuses on implementing and evaluating stay-at-work and return-to-work strategies to help people to remain effective contributors to the labor force following illness or injury.

Vermont Department of Public Safety On the evening of April 25th, 2021, the St Johnsbury Fire Department responded to a report of fire at the Canterbury Inn Residential Care Facility in St Johnsbury. The facility is a wood framed three story structure, which contained accommodations for approximately 42 residents. Upon arrival, crews found heavy smoke conditions on the first floor and patients were being evacuated from the building. At that time a second alarm was struck and local ambulance crews were dispatched to begin assisting with relocating patients to local hotels.

Vermont Business Magazine Manufactured homes, formerly referred to as mobile homes, comprise over 6 percent of America’s housing stock and represent an even larger share of housing for low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. A new, two-volume report from the nonprofit Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA) argues that this market should receive targeted attention so that solar is developed equitably and more segments of society are able to realize the economic benefits from solar.