Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The VDH is reporting 52 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths for 217 total statewide. As of today, 156,590 Vermonters have received at least one dose of the vaccine, or nearly 30 percent of the adult population. It was one year ago today in the afternoon that Governor Scott closed restaurants and bars for in-person service. The COVID-19 virus is still circulating in our communities, and the only way to know if you have it is to get tested.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today signed S.110, An act relating to extending eligibility for Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation. This bill proposes to permit individuals to continue receiving Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits if the individual is otherwise eligible to establish a new unemployment insurance benefit year, but doing so would result in a reduction of at least $25.00 in the amount of weekly benefits the individual is eligible for.

Governor Phil Scott Friday, March 19, 2021, marks the one-year anniversary of Vermont’s first confirmed fatalities to COVID-19. In the year since, we’ve lost over 215 of our fellow Vermonters and over 535,000 fellow Americans. These are not just numbers. Each and every one represents a human being, with families who loved them and friends and colleagues who cared about them. Each of them, in their own way, made their mark on those around them and in their communities.

Vermont State Police On 03/17/2021, at approximately 1056 hours, Vermont State Police in St Johnsbury were notified of a single vehicle collision at 831 Richard Crossing Road in Walden, VT.Preliminary investigation showed that Vehicle #1 was traveling northbound at a high rate of speed for the road conditions present, traveled off the western portion of the roadway and collided with a tree head on. As a result of the collision, Operator #1 collided with the windshield of the vehicle and died at the scene due to his injuries.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power today announced an agreement with GlobalFoundries (GF) to support its petition to the Public Utility Commission to become a self-managed utility at its Essex manufacturing site starting in 2023. If approved, GF would directly manage its own transmission connections, distribution system, and power supply costs according to its own goals, needs and operational standards. The agreement is aimed at strengthening GF’s position in Vermont with its nearly 2,200 manufacturing jobs, while also helping to protect all other GMP customers from rising costs.

Vermont Business Magazine Mack Molding, a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services, announced today the Company’s East Arlington Road facility crossed a significant safety milestone this week, reaching 1,000 days without a lost-time accident.

“This is a significant achievement,” Mack Molding President Jeff Somple said, “made only more so by the fact it happened in an environment where the team is managing both COVID risk mitigation and an increased demand for products we make for the medical and energy markets. It truly is a testament to great things the Mack team can achieve, and proof of why our employees are our most important asset.”

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan and Secretary of State Jim Condos are warning Vermont businesses that a Florida-based company, Centurion Filing Services, LLC, calling itself VT Certificate Service, is mailing businesses a request for payment for a “certificate of good standing.” The mailing—which looks like a bill requesting a “fee” of $87.50—has the recipient’s information pre-printed on the form and creates a false sense of urgency by using the terms “Notice Date” and “Please Respond By.” It also deceptively suggests officiality by referring to the “State of Vermont” and the “Secretary of State” when it is not affiliated with any State agency.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger released the following statement: “I made a mistake and I am now sharing a plan to fix it... Starting immediately, Tyeastia Green and the Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Department will manage the operational and functional assessment of the Burlington Police Department."

Vermont Business Magazine As part of the Vermont Community Leadership Network, the Vermont Council on Rural Development is forming a new “action center” to convene and provide targeted support to a cohort of Vermonters working locally on response to the pandemic and a robust recovery. The Community Response and Recovery Corps (CRRC) will come together beginning in April to build connections with peers, learn from each other, provide mutual support, and connect with resource providers.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) is excited to announce the selection of Sherpa Foods LLC, of Burlington as the first food processing establishment in Vermont to participate in the Cooperative Interstate Shipment (CIS) Program, allowing them to locally process and ship its products outside of Vermont. The 2008 Farm Bill created the CIS program, an agreement between USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) and participating state meat inspection programs, to allow selected state-inspected meat and poultry processors to ship their products across state lines without a federal grant of inspection.

Vermont Business Magazine Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today is holding a hearing titled, The Income and Wealth Inequality Crisis in America. "Today, we are going to discuss an issue that is of enormous consequence to our country, but gets far too little discussion. And that is the crisis of income and wealth inequality in America. The simple truth that in America today the very rich have become much richer while tens of millions of Americans are struggling to put food on the table and live in dignity."

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) along with Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) on Wednesday introduced the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act to take on corporate greed by raising taxes on companies that pay their top executives at least 50 times more than the pay of a median worker. Americans across the political spectrum are outraged by the extreme gaps between CEO and worker pay. According to a nationwide survey, the typical American would limit CEO pay to no more than 6 times that of the average worker. About 62% of all Americans – 52% of Republicans and 66% of Democrats – favor capping CEO pay relative to worker pay.