Current News

​Vermont Business Magazine As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact revenues for small businesses across the state, Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation and Two Rivers - Ottauquechee Regional Commission have announced a second round of the Vermont Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) economic relief program to support sole proprietors. $1.6 million is available to fund grants between $1,500 and $10,000 to qualifying sole proprietors on a first come, first served basis.

Vermont Business Magazine COVID-19 vaccination windows continue to open on schedule with the 60+ now open and the 50+ registration window set to open Monday, March 29th. The remaining age bands will become eligible for registration over the next three weeks, with the last of them, 16 and older, beginning April 19. Also, the US Small Business Administration (SBA) plans to open applications for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program (SVOG) on April 8th. Also on Sunday, the Vermont Department of Health is reporting another elevated number of new cases with 194 and one more death for 225 statewide.

by Weiwei Wang and Steph Yu, Public Assets Institute A lot has already been said about last week’s shootings of six Asian women and others at spas in Atlanta – that it was shocking but not surprising, that it was the predictable result of a year of hate spewed by political leaders, that it doesn’t have to be totally racially motivated to be a hate crime and can in fact be the product of racism and misogyny and fetishization all at the same time, that it was the result of lax gun laws that allow the violent to act on their worst impulses.

There’s also been an understandable look back at systemic racism against Asians in the US, from the massacres in Wyoming and Los Angeles and the Chinese Exclusion Act to the internment of Japanese-Americans in the 1940s.

Leonine Public Affairs The Vermont House spent much of the week on the floor, working through a wide range of budget and tax bills that recently cleared crossover. The FY2022 budget, transportation bill and capital construction bill were all up for consideration along with legislation relating to housing, broadband expansion, economic development, childcare and ongoing COVID-19 recovery efforts. Most of these bills passed the House by Friday, clearing the way for the Senate to begin consideration next week. Meanwhile, the Senate approved H.315, the expedited COVID-19 relief bill. The House and Senate will now work to reconcile the differences in their respective versions of the bill.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and the City of Burlington Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging both issued statements Friday evening in response to a Seven Days story that found that Director of Police Transformation Kyle Dodson both plagiarized portions of what was a very short final report (1,542 words according to Seven Days) and made scathing comments about the community. Dodson was quoted in the article as saying, “The community didn’t want transformation. Blacks and activists want revenge, that’s understandable, but it’s deeply problematic.”

Vermont Business Magazine Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) Commissioner Michael Pieciak reminds those impacted by yesterday’s severe storm activity that DFR stands ready to assist Vermonters with their insurance claims.

Vermont Business Magazine Based on median earnings for full-time, year-round workers, women are paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men. Vermont Commission on Women (VCW) presented the second in a series of (un)Equal Pay Day video podcast conversations, which was first broadcast on March 24th. March 24 was the day into the year women needed to work before their earnings caught up to those of men in 2020 due to the wage gap.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Arts Council (VAC) in partnership with the Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA) has received a $23,000 award from the National Assembly of State Art Agencies (NASAA) and Aroha Philanthropies to advance creative programming for older adults. In 2020, CVCOA created the “Creative Care Kit” program, which provided over 160 free Creative Care Kits to people age 60+. The kits included several activities along with supplies, instructions, and resources needed for practicing and producing artwork. In addition, each participant in the Creative Care Kit Project could access a trained “Creative Companion” volunteer.

Vermont Business Magazine AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) of “a-” of Agrinational Insurance Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, ADM Insurance Company (collectively referred to as ADM Insurance Group). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable. Both companies are headquartered in Burlington, VT.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting a surge in new cases. There does not seem to be a single reason, but the new variants of the novel coronavirus are likely playing some role. Cases were elevated yesterday also, but today's 251 new cases is an all-time high for Vermont. There was also one more death for a statewide total of 224. Health Commissioner Mark Levine said at Friday’s press conference that we are meeting our primary public health goal of reducing the number of deaths and severe illness, and protecting those among us who are most vulnerable. He said, however, that the high number of new cases reported today is concerning, and yet another reminder that we still must do everything we can to keep this virus from spreading.Finally, beginning at 8:15 am on Monday, March 29, Vermonters age 50 and older will be able to make an appointment for the COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 190,000 Vermonters have now received at least one dose of vaccine.

Vermont State Police As of 5 pm Friday, search efforts for missing Canadian kite-surfer Pierre Dunningan have been suspended for the day due to weather. Crews plan to resume the search, weather-permitting, over the weekend.

Vermont Business Magazine This week, US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Todd Young (R-IN), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced bipartisan legislation to provide a temporary stopgap to quickly address our nation’s shortage of doctors and nurses. The Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act would recapture 25,000 unused immigrant visas for nurses and 15,000 unused immigrant visas for doctors that Congress has previously authorized and allocate those visas to doctors and nurses to help in the fight against COVID-19.