Current News
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Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Monday released a letter joined by 12 other Senators calling for additional relief for state, localities, and tribal governments in the next COVID relief package, including a strong all-state minimum to ensure every state can meet the economic and public health challenges the nation still faces.
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Vermont Business Magazine Northern Vermont University (NVU) Center for Professional Studies was awarded a three-year Northern Border Regional Commission-Regional Forest Economy Partnership (RFEP) grant of nearly $1 million to establish the Do North Wood Product and Forestry Accelerator initiative in Lyndonville, Vermont.
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Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that Vermont businesses will see another rate decrease in workers’ compensation insurance in 2021. This is the fifth straight year workers’ compensation rates have decreased, and when combined with decreases from 2017-2020, Vermont employers will pay an average of 36% less in workers’ compensation premiums than they did in 2016. The new rates take effect on April 1, 2021.
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Vermont Business Magazine The State of Vermont finalized an agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont to support the state’s All Payer Model health care payment and delivery system reform effort by attributing the members of the State Employees Health Plans to OneCare Vermont, the Accountable Care Organization, for the 2021 plan year. The programs and payment structures are designed to encourage providers to focus on patient wellbeing instead of traditional fee-for-service compensation. An estimated 13,300 Health Plan members will be newly attributed to the ACO model.
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Vermont Business Magazine The ACCD has a presentation available to review the governor's $6.8 billion FY22 budget proposal and recovery plan. Also, in-person annual town meetings are strongly discouraged this year. Three grant programs are now available for farm to school and will begin taking applications soon. And PPP webinars continue on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
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by Paul Lesure, Green Mountain Solar As one of the founders and president of Green Mountain Solar, I want to take a minute to celebrate the consistent efforts of Vermont’s congressional delegation to address the climate crisis with the urgency it requires. A federal tax credit will continue to cover 26% of the installed cost of a new solar system through the end of 2022. This investment tax credit (ITC) is the most significant national solar incentive, providing a valuable return on investment for homeowners and small businesses that invest in clean, local, renewable energy.
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Vermont Business Magazine Before we had heard of the Internet or email and long before Facebook or iPhones or Google, there was Vermont Business Magazine’s Vermont 100. In January 1987, we ran our first Vermont 100, predicated on 1986 revenues. Since then there have been only four companies that have been Number One: National Life Group, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Fletcher Allen Health Care (now The University of Vermont Medical Center) and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc (now Keurig Dr Pepper and based in Plano, TX).
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by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine While the COVID pandemic has put some sectors of the economy into the doldrums and worse - spawning the closures of restaurants, bars, and retailers – there are plenty of businesses that are thriving. Count South Burlington computer manufacturer OnLogic among them.
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by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine Community Health Centers of the Rutland Region, based in Rutland, is the largest of the 12 federally qualified health centers (FQHC) in the state of Vermont. (FQHCs, created in 1965 during Pres. Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, was designed to provide health care services in rural and underserved areas. In Vermont, they provide care to approximately one in four Vermonters.)
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Vermont Teddy Bear We are excited to announce our partnership with Jen Ellis to produce Vermont Swittens, the mittens famously worn by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at the 2021 inauguration. A portion of the proceeds to benefit Make a Wish Vermont. Sign up below to learn more about this exciting partnership and when Vermont Swittens will be available to purchase.
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Vermont Business Magazine Thirty-five years ago, Ronald Reagan was President of the United States; Live Aid concerts raised funds for famine relief in Ethiopia; and NBC premiered “The Golden Girls”. It was also the year twenty-seven men, many civic leaders in the community and representing a wide variety of local businesses and services, officially launched the South Burlington Rotary Club. John Davis, a member for 34 years, recalls why he joined.
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Leonine Public Affairs On Tuesday, Governor Scott unveiled a proposed $6.83 billion budget for FY22 (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022). The governor highlighted the challenges the state has faced since the pandemic reached Vermont almost a year ago, but emphasized that his budget does not increase taxes, raise fees or cut essential government services. The governor’s proposed budget includes $123 million in capital construction projects; $680 million in roads, bridges and other transportation projects; $1.99 billion in General Fund spending; and $1.89 billion for Pre-K-12 education. The budget includes $210 million in one-time funding for a variety of initiatives such as $20 million for broadband expansion, $25 million for weatherization projects and $20 million for the state college system.