Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Splash Car Wash, headquartered in Milford, CT, has announced the recent acquisitions of Eco Car Wash with two express locations in Plattsburgh, New York and Williston, Vermont, and Westport Wash & Wax, a full service location in Westport, CT. The Eco Car Wash sites were owned and operated by Aaron Vincelette.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting a relatively low number of COVID-19 cases today. There were 59 new cases but also three deaths for a statewide total of 186. Cases in Vermont and across the region and across the nation are falling. But fatalities are still high, but they too are expected to fall. Cases in Bennington and Rutland counties, which have been high of late, appear to be due more to general community spread than to any large outbreak. Also, vaccine doses are being boosted by the federal government as Walgreens will now be a distribution site for those 75 years or older. You must still pre-register.

Vermont Business Magazine With COVID-19 travel restrictions and capacity limits in place, the Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing continues to encourage businesses to consider the Paycheck Protection Program, Shuttered Venue Operators Grants, and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the US Small Business Association. The Vermont District Office of the SBA holds twice weekly webinars for businesses navigating these programs.

Vermont Business Magazine Friends of Bernie Sanders, a campaign of Senator Bernie Sanders, is donating $100,000 from mitten merchandise sales to the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO). Since the onset of the pandemic, CVOEO has seen a significant increase in the need for housing and fuel assistance. The agency has also opened a shelter for those experiencing homelessness at the Holiday Inn and a daytime warming center at the VFW in Burlington, and created a hotline for New Americans seeking assistance and resources that connects them to speakers of their own language, and more.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott announced today that the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) has licensed Vermont’s 1,200th captive insurance company. Sustainable Assurance Company was granted a license as a pure Captive Insurance Company on January 1, 2021. It was formed by the Lancaster County (PA) Solid Waste Management Authority.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Fund of the Vermont Electric Co-op recently awarded a grant to a local non-profit to smooth the way for people who have faced challenges as they work to achieve their goals. The VEC grant to the Lamoille Restorative Center (LRC) will help fund essential and concrete purchases – necessities like gasoline, groceries, cell phone minutes, work boots and shoes, winter coats, and deposits for internet connections – that are barriers to success for many people.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) launched extra rebates on heat pumps for low- and moderate-income customers today to make it easier for more Vermonters to cut carbon and increase comfort. GMP is adding to the success of its $400 rebate for each heat pump condenser a customer installs with new, extra rebates for low- and moderate-income customers, for total savings up to $1,000 per condenser.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care, has attained its fifth designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet Recognition Program. SVMC was the first hospital in Vermont to receive the designation in 2002. This fifth consecutive recognition places SVMC in an elite community of only three five-time hospitals in New England and only 28 five-time hospitals worldwide.

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Richard Durbin (D-Ill), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill) Tuesday praised President Biden’s restoration of full federal funding for National Guard missions responding to COVID-19. The executive order of January 21 re-implements 100 percent federal cost share for these missions, a step the senators had proposed in legislation introduced last August as coronavirus cases again began to surge.

Vermont Business Magazine TD Bank will be closing 6 percent of US branches in the United States in April. This includes two in Vermont, in Richmond and Waitsfield. "In reaching a decision to close specific TD Bank stores, we consider many business factors, including the number of customers visiting our stores, transaction volumes, the location's proximity to other TD Bank stores and the number of customers who use multiple store locations. We have already begun notifying impacted customers. Our goal is to make this transition as smooth as possible for them."

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan announced recent environmental actions taken by his office to protect Vermont’s environment and issued the following statement: “Vermonters should know that my team will continue to protect our environment. We also know that the climate crisis is real and the time to act is now. We are glad to again have leadership in Washington that believes in science and protecting our natural world for future generations, but our work here in Vermont will continue.”

by Devon Green VAHHS Vice President of Governmental Relations Sometimes legislative resolutions have so many “whereases” and words that the sentiment can get lost during the formality. This was not the case last week, when the full House and Senate passed a simple resolution recognizing the unwavering dedication of Vermont’s health care workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic. More importantly, both the legislature and administration have supported this sentiment with regulatory flexibilities and funding throughout the entirety of the pandemic.