Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC) has announced the results of its December 8, 2020 annual election of VMEC Advisory Board members. Newly elected to the VMEC Advisory Board for two-year terms were Dr. Christopher Koliba, University of Vermont President’s Fellow for Engagement & Professor of Community Development & Applied Economics (Burlington) and David Lynn, Senior Vice President & Top Operations Officer, Agri-Mark/ Cabot Creamery, Inc. (Waitsfield).

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington based brewery Zero Gravity, in collaboration with Kris Nelson of Citizen Cider, is launching a brand new non-alcoholic beer called Rescue Club. Rescue Club IPA is a non-alcoholic beer of the highest quality born from New England’s craft brewing culture.

This IPA is not like the non-alcoholic beers you’ve had before. Rescue Club said that it uses a proprietary technique to deliver a beer that is free of alcohol but full of flavor.

It offers a non-alcoholic option that doesn’t sacrifice the refreshing hop character you crave.

Rescue Club IPA is brewed by Rescue Club Brewing Company, a partnership between Zero Gravity Craft Brewery and Citizen Cider Co-Founder Kris Nelson.

by Janice St Onge At the core of Jeff Weaber’s business lies a simple idea: that kombucha—a fizzy probiotic drink made from tea—promotes good health and can change lives. It was with this idea in mind that Weaber, formerly a brewer for Lucky Labrador in Oregon, started making kombucha in the basement of his Salisbury, Vermont farmhouse back in 2005, primarily to support his wife’s newly opened naturopathic clinic.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) issued the following statement regarding Republican attempts to overturn the results of the November elections: “The outcome of the 2020 election is not in doubt. Let’s be clear: Joe Biden resoundingly won the popular vote by more than 7 million votes, and he won an Electoral College margin that Trump called a ‘landslide’ in 2016. On January 6, the House and Senate will ratify the results of the Electoral College, as has been done for 231 years..."

Vermont Business Magazine The Northeast Delta Dental Foundation recently awarded a $60,000 grant to the Vermont Head Start/Early Head Start programs to support the Vermont Head Start Association Tooth Tutor program. The grant period will operate through September 30, 2021. For ten years, the Northeast Delta Dental Foundation and Delta Dental Plan of Vermont have provided financial support to the Tooth Tutor program.

The Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) has been named a “2020 Top-Rated Nonprofit” by GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user reviews and ratings of charities and nonprofits. The Top-Rated Nonprofit Award is based on the five-star ratings and reviews that LCC received from volunteers, donors and community members.

Vermont Business Magazine Reacting to Senate Republicans’ refusal to provide unanimous consent for a motion by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) seeking up-or-down votes on two bills providing $2,000 in direct economic relief to working-class families today, including Majority Leader McConnell’s own proposal.

Vermont Business Magazine The UVM Medical Center is not distributing the vaccine to employees who are fully remote or who work in buildings that patients do not enter, and will continue to work with the state to determine the timing for those groups. Through December 30, they had vaccinated 3,096 employees and 1,169 community health care workers.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Supreme Court today ruled in favor of the Attorney General in an appeal in the case of State v. Aita Gurung. The Court unanimously agreed with the Attorney General’s position and has ordered a new hearing to consider the Attorney General’s request for a second mental health evaluation of the defendant, Aita Gurung, regarding sanity at the time of the charged offenses. Gurung is accused of Murder in the First Degree for the killing of his wife, Yogeswari Khadka, and Attempted Murder in the First Degree for the near-fatal attack on his mother-in-law, Tulasa Rimal.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported today 130 new cases of COVID-19 with two more deaths for 136 statewide. Commissioner Levine said, "It will take a while for all of us to get the COVID-19 vaccine, but knowing that more than 14,000 Vermonters have been vaccinated so far, we can feel change coming. In the meantime, I hope the New Year gives us all the boost we need right now to keep up everything we’ve been doing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 so that 2021 can fulfill our hopes."

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that the State of Vermont filed a notice yesterday in Franklin County Superior Court for dismissal without prejudice of criminal charges against Allen Pigeon, 57, of Swanton, Vermont, and Zachary Pigeon, 30, of St Albans, Vermont, including charges of Burglary, Kidnapping, Aggravated Assault, Simple Assault, and Obstruction of Justice. The State provided notice that it cannot meet the elements of the charged crimes beyond a reasonable doubt at this time.

COVID Recovery and Renewal – Building a Proposition for the Future of Vermont

by Paul Costello As we come out of the crucible of the pandemic and look to a new year, we need more than recovery, we need to work together to advance renewal and resilience for our communities and economy.

The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) has been asking Vermonters what recovery will look like. Almost universally Vermonters say that we can’t just go ‘back to normal’ in 2021—there’s no way to go backward, and we need to learn from this crisis. We must go forward to answer some of the fundamental challenges we faced before COVID-19 and also to prepare for the challenges from climate change that we are already seeing and that science predicts will intensify.