Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Representatives Peter Welch (D-Vermont-At Large) and John Curtis (R-Utah-3) today reintroduced legislation that will more than double funding for the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). Since 1991, the RTP has provided funding to states to develop and maintain outdoor recreational trails, allowing millions of Americans and their families to enjoy activities such as hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and 4-wheel driving.

Vermont Business Magazine The Securities Division of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation today reminded investors to be on the lookout for investment schemes pitched through the internet and social media, particularly those involving precious metals, cryptocurrencies, promissory notes, and foreign exchange markets. Schemes related to these products were identified as the top threats facing investors this year in a survey by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), of which the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation is a member. The survey includes responses of enforcement officials with state and provincial securities regulators throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Agency of Natural Resources staff scientists were alerted last week that an aquarium plant sold within Vermont and throughout the country may contain an invasive aquatic animal species, zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha). The aquarium plant commonly known as moss balls, may be sold under names including “Beta Buddy Marimo Balls,” “Mini Marimo Moss Balls,” and “Marimo Moss Ball Plant” and were available to purchase in large department stores or through online sales. While the plant is benign, the plants may harbor zebra mussels within the plant, or within the packaging.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Department of Corrections (Vermont DOC) is reporting nine new cases of COVID-19 among incarcerated individuals and one new staff case in the outbreak at Northern State Correctional Facility (NSCF) in Newport. The cases were detected in testing conducted March 8. The outbreak began after one staff member and 21 incarcerated individuals tested positive for the virus in testing conducted February 23, 2021. There are currently 115 positive incarcerated cases and 12 positive staff cases at the facility.

Vermont Business Magazine It’s a new Spring and excitement is already growing for Green Up Day 2021, which will be held with all safety protocols, on its traditional first Saturday in May – May 1^st. A big part of Green Up Day is the art contest and there were record numbers of submissions from students all over Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on Thursday introduced the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium Act to authorize the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to work with the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC) to help prepare for and respond to cybersecurity risks at the national, state, and local levels.

Vermont Business Magazine Elizabeth R Wohl rejoined the northern New England law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC. Wohl will practice Health Law from the firm’s Brattleboro office.

Wohl returns to DRM after having served for four years as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for the Brattleboro Retreat, Vermont’s only private independent psychiatric hospital, and a regional resource for mental health and addiction services.

In her role at the Retreat, Wohl served as a senior member of the executive leadership team, advised the Board of Trustees, supervised and directed several outside law firms, led labor negotiations with the hospital’s union and provided support to other lead negotiators, and advised providers across the facility in a wide range of health law matters.

The Coalition for Equal Educational Opportunities Our Vermont legislators recently commissioned a state-of-the-art study to investigate how best to apportion funds to schools equitably. Unfortunately for the students of Vermont, it detailed serious inequities in school funding. What this study unveiled was an outdated distribution of funds to its districts. For twenty years the tax structure in Vermont has skewed away from fully supporting our most vulnerable students and families. Nearly 60% of Vermont schools have had their equalized students undercounted, some by more than 20%. This has led to higher tax rates and fewer resources for these schools. This has left lasting scars on our kids, and the deepest scars are in the poorest school districts.

by Christine McGowan When the water pump on Allard Lumber’s boiler went a few years back, Trevor Allard finally had the excuse he needed to begin building the Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system that he had been considering for years. “I couldn’t justify throwing out a good boiler,” said Allard, “but the CHP system promised efficiency, and therefore savings, that I wanted to invest in other parts of the mill.” One of Vermont’s oldest and largest family-owned sawmills, Allard Lumber in Brattleboro was founded by Cliff Allard, Trevor’s father, in 1974.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Lantern Solar and Vermont Academy are pleased to announce that Vermont Academy is now a participant in Vermont’s net metering program. Vermont Academy is located on 450 acres at the foothills of the Green Mountains in Saxtons River, Vermont, and is one of Vermont’s oldest private secondary schools.

Vermont Business Magazine iSun, Inc (NASDAQ: ISUN) a leading solar energy and clean mobility infrastructure innovator with 50 years of construction expertise for solar, electrical and data services, has announced that the Company will redeem all of its outstanding public Public Warrants to purchase shares of the company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share.

Vermont Business Magazine It has now been a year since the first case of COVID-19 was identified in Vermont and to date 16,371 total Vermonters have been diagnosed with it. Starting tomorrow, people age 16 and older with certain high-risk health conditions can make appointments for COVID-19 vaccine (Thursday, March 11 at 8:15 am.) As of Wednesday there have been over 130,000 Vermonters who have received at least one vaccine dose. The VDH is also reporting today that there are 80 new cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths, which remain at 211.