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by Amanda Kuhnert When Dawn Wagner took a job at Lake Champlain Chocolates as a student at the University of Vermont, she had no intention of becoming a chocolatier. Her focus, at the time, was theater. After graduation, Wagner moved to New York City, where she worked as a stage manager for on- and off-Broadway productions for the next 20 years. But her chocolate-making experience in Vermont sparked a light. In New York City, she took a side job with a chocolatier who supplied chocolates to the Bellagio.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont International Film Festival [VTIFF] is launching the inaugural Made Here Film Festival, the only film festival dedicated exclusively to films and filmmakers from the Northern New England states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts; Northern New York; and their neighbors in Québec. The Festival is a partnership with Vermont PBS.

18+ can sign up today; NEK drive-through clinic opens Tuesday. Action follows CDC findings that risk of developing blood clots is very rare

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health has announced it will resume use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine the week of April 26. The decision was made following the announcement late Friday by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that it has studied and confirmed the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine is recommended for people 18 years of age and older, and that the pause on its use since April 13 can be lifted.

Vermont Business Magazine Retreat Farm’s Thursday evening Food Truck Roundup in has become a signature event that signals the start of summer for the Brattleboro community. With the generous support of Brattleboro Savings & Loan and Park Place Financial Advisors, the Square will once again be filled with food trucks, musicians, and families, couples, and new residents eager to connect with neighbors and friends.

Unemployment rate falls another tenth to 3.1 percent

The Vermont Department of Labor has reported that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for February was 3.1 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate of 3.2 percent. The comparable United States rate in February was 6.2 percent, which was a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised January estimate. The decline is largely due to a sharp decrease in the Labor Force from January. The number of unemployed also fell. Both the Labor Force and total Employed represent about 30,000 fewer workers than a year ago, which was pre-pandemic.

Vermont vaccine schedule

Vermont Business Magazine SeaComm Credit Union recently celebrated the official opening of its ninth branch location with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, April 16, 2021. The Essex branch finalized construction at 25 Carmichael Street, and was open to the public on April 19, 2021.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Small Business Administration will reopen the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant application portal tomorrow, April 24, 2021, at 12:30 p.m. EDT for operators of live venues, live performing arts organizations, museums and movie theaters, as well as live venue promoters, theatrical producers and talent representatives to apply for critical economic relief.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) on Friday led a letter urging President Biden to include significant prescription drug price reforms in his forthcoming American Families Plan. Concerned by news reports indicating that the Biden plan will not include prescription drug price reforms, Welch led 20 of his colleagues to urge the administration to reconsider. In particular, the Members ask that the American Families Plan include critical reforms like those in H.R. 3, which was re-introduced yesterday.

Vermont Business Magazine The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended Friday afternoon to resume use of the “paused” Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Vermont officials expect to provide additional information on what the outcome will mean in Vermont as early as Saturday morning. The VDH also reported that there were 89 new cases of COVID-19 and once again no new deaths, which remain at 243.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College will award honorary doctorates to its commencement speakers—Vermont Governor Phil Scott and Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD—during its 143rd Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 15, 2021. The celebrations will also feature student speakers Angela Richard, Robbin Suggs Williams, and Paul Leendertse. Hilary Delisle, a Champlain College staff member graduating with a Master of Business Administration, will sing the national anthem.

Vermont Business Magazine Seven Days, Vermont’s free, independent newsweekly, won nine first-place awards in this year’s New England Better Newspaper Competition — including top honors in investigative, history, social issue and religious issue reporting. The paper also won nine second-place and seven third-place awards — 25 total. The contest is organized by the New England Newspaper & Press Association. This competition is the largest and most comprehensive journalism recognition program in New England.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of Dickson Corbett, of Chelsea, as Orange County state’s attorney, following William Porter’s resignation. Corbett has served as deputy state’s attorney for Orange County since 2013. Prior to that, he served as a law clerk and staff attorney with the Vermont Judiciary. Corbett received a BA at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and his JD from Vermont Law School.