Current News

Vermont Business Magazine GlobalFoundries announced today it has made a donation of tools and equipment to Generator, Inc ꟷ a local, non-profit makerspace dedicated to supporting the creative, hands-on education and production needs of 400+ members. Located in Burlington, Generator offers access to shared tools and manufacturing equipment, software and educational programs and has strong relationships with local universities, companies and other community shops in the state. The donation is part of GF’s commitment to the community’s efforts to build a Vermont-based technical workforce.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University will observe Veterans Day by conducting a Corps of Cadets review in honor of all veterans, past and present from 1:15 to 2 p.m. Tuesday, November 10. The ceremony will be livestreamed on Norwich’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/NorwichUniversity/. In the abundance of caution and for the health and safety of the Norwich and central Vermont community, the Norwich campus is closed to the public for the foreseeable future to include all buildings, fields and tracks.

Vermont Business Magazine Dana Rozycki and Vicki Wilson, co-presidents of the Bennington Rotary Club, met with Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Director of Materials Management Ron Keefer, and Tom Dee, SVHC’s president and CEO, to donate 9,000 medical-grade facemasks to the health system. Bennington Rotary Club provided a total of $4,340 for the purchase of the personal protective equipment. The club participated in the Rotary District 7870 COVID-19 Global Grant Program, in which funds provided by Bennington Rotary were multiplied by 3.5 times through a match at the district level.

by Jack Hoffman, Public Assets Institute Now that Election Day is over Congress needs to get back to work and approve another round of COVID relief to support the states. New national daily COVID cases are topping 130,000, and the first round of federal relief is running out. So far, Vermont hasn’t taken the financial hit that was anticipated last March when COVID-19 became a pandemic. That is due in large part to swift action by Congress. The CARES1Act directed more than $4.5 billion in federal aid to Vermont businesses, individuals, and state government. That included $600 a week in federal supplemental unemployment benefits, which was a lifeline to workers who had to stop working but couldn’t support their families on regular state unemployment insurance payments.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Governor Phil Scott today discontinued the state's travel map because of the growth of the coronavirus across the nation. Everyone who is non-essential must quarantine for 14 days (or 7 days plus a negative test). The state is also reporting today that Rutland Health & Rehab has seven new cases. As COVID-19 cases in the Northeast impinge on Vermont's travel map, the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) released a report today showing new COVID cases are increasing in nursing homes in the US due to the community spread among the general population.

Vermont Business Magazine National Bank of Middlebury has awarded $100,000 in twenty $5,000 grants to small business and nonprofit organizations. These grants, made under the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston Jobs for New England Recovery Grant Program, were designed to help businesses that were adversely affected by COVID-19. Small businesses and nonprofits that faced a 25% or greater decrease in revenue and were current customers of National Bank of Middlebury were eligible to apply.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 statewide today. As the state experiences a steady increase in cases, Vermonters are strongly urged to avoid unnecessary travel, including for the upcoming holidays, and to limit the size of gatherings to 10 or fewer people. If you have attended an event with people who are not in your usual social circle, including post-election gatherings over the past weekend, please avoid close contact with others and consider getting tested.

Vermont Business Magazine After serving as the Deputy Commissioner for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) for nearly four years, Sam Lincoln will be stepping down at the end of the month to pursue other professional opportunities. Among his many other duties, Lincoln championed work related to Vermont’s forest economy, including logger safety training, a workers’ compensation insurance program for employers, in-the-woods workshops for loggers designed to improve water quality, forest management mobile technology tools, and initiatives supporting forest products businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced that HUD has awarded more than $3.6 million to the City of Burlington to help protect low-income children and families from lead-based paint and home health hazards. The announcement took place at a home that is enrolled in the Burlington Lead Program. With this funding, the City’s Burlington Lead Program will be able to address lead hazards in 110 homes that are occupied by low- and very low-income families with children. The program also will use this funding to conduct education, outreach, workforce development, and capacity-building within Burlington and Winooski, and leverage local resources to further protect the community from lead poisoning.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Health Network said in a statement Monday afternoon that it continues to make significant gains in the effort to recover from a recent cyberattack event. Much work remains ahead of us, however, and significant disruptions to patient care continue. We deeply appreciate the ongoing patience and support of our patients and communities. Thanks to the hard work of our IT team, we have accessed the detailed clinical plans for chemotherapy patients at the University of Vermont Medical Center. However, there is still no access to the MyChart patient portal.

Vermont Business Magazine Commissioner of Financial Regulation Michael S. Pieciak announced today several important updates regarding the Frontline Employees Hazard Pay Grant Program. This second round of the program substantially expands the sectors eligible for the grants and includes Vermonters formerly employed in eligible sectors. An additional $8 million of Coronavirus Relief Funds was recently appropriated, bringing the total second round appropriation to $30.5 million.

Vermont Business Magazine As Covid-19 cases continue to grow in Burlington and Chittenden County, Mayor Miro Weinberger today extended his call for Burlingtonians to exercise extra caution and shared key updates. Weinberger also shared the following key updates. Limit gatherings: The Vermont Department of Health continues to strongly encourage all Vermonters to limit gatherings to 10 or fewer people and with a very limited number of trusted households, and avoid unnecessary travel. New guidance: On Sunday evening, the Vermont Department of Health also issued new guidance that all Burlingtonians should be aware of, including: “If you have attended an event with people who are not in your usual social circle, please avoid close contact with others and consider obtaining a test now as well as 7 days after the event or gathering.”