Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Healthy Living Market and Café opens their new Williston, Vermont location Thursday, October 29, at 129 Market Street. The Williston location is the third store for Healthy Living, with existing stores in South Burlington and Saratoga (NY). The new location is 20,000 square feet. It includes all of the same departments that South Burlington shoppers have come to enjoy, including local produce and dairy, Vermont meats and cheeses, a robust selection of craft beer and wine, fresh sushi, and a wide selection of prepared meals created by James Beard-nominated chef, Matt Jennings.

by Julie Lowell, Public Assets Institute In 1992 Vermont saw its largest voter participation rate in the last 46 years. Seventy percent of the voting-age population came out to cast their ballot for president. For comparison, 63 percent of possible Vermont voters went to the polls in 2016. This year we can break our previous record. With over 208,000 votes already in, a little over 154,000 more votes are needed to surpass the 70 percent participation mark.

Vermont Business Magazine The Ethan Allen Institute released its officially updated legislator “Roll Call Profiles” today to reflect the key votes from the August and September 2020 legislative session. This short session’s highlighted legislation includes votes on overriding Governor Scott’s veto of the Global Warming Solutions Act, more comprehensive Act 250 development restrictions and new deadly force standards for police.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Department of Public Safety will receive $1,115,736 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for state management costs as a result of the major disaster declaration for Vermont’s COVID-19 Pandemic.

This grant is funded through FEMA’s Public Assistance Grant program which reimburses communities for actions taken in the immediate response and during recovery from a disaster. Eligible applicants include states, federally recognized tribal governments, U.S. territories, local governments, and certain private non-profit organizations. The grant applications are submitted from the state, which coordinates the process with local governments.

FEMA obligates funding for this project directly to the state of Vermont.

To date, FEMA has obligated more than $13.6 million to Vermont under the Public Assistance program.

Vermont Business Magazine Four times each year, New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) selects recipient organizations at random to receive $625 each, for a total of $10,000 annually. NEFCU’s community giving donations for the third quarter of 2020 were: The Snelling Center for Government and Berlin Elementary School.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the statement below following President Trump’s recent false statement that it is inappropriate and illegal to count ballots after Election Day, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Democratic National Committee v. Wisconsin Legislature, where Justice Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion contains incorrect information regarding voting: "In America, we count the votes to determine who wins an election."

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health is reporting today 29 new cases of COVID-19 with four hospitalized. The cases related to the Montpelier ice rink are up to 70 and they have spread beyond the original contacts and now to several schools and businesses. The VDH is reminding people to play it safe for Halloween, but you can still have fun by keeping with the usual guidance of wearing a mask, keeping your distance and avoiding crowds.

Vermont Business Magazine Rutland Regional Medical Center has opened a new Specimen Collection Center (SCC) in the former Physiatry and Physical Medicine space on the Allen Street side of the hospital. This new location will improve the service, flow, and safety of specimen collection at the hospital. (Physiatry and Physical Medicine is now part of the Vermont Orthopaedic Clinic practice located in the newly opened Thomas W. Huebner medical Office Building.)

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont President Suresh Garimella and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger today marked the university’s 100,000^th coronavirus test since the start of the fall semester by thanking students for their adherence to testing protocols, and health and safety measures. UVM administers more than 10,000 student tests per week, a testing volume that is five times higher than the average for colleges and universities partnering with the Broad Institute. The positivity rate has remained low, with the past week’s figure being less than 0.01 percent. UVM has reported 27 total positive test results for COVID-19.

Vermont Business Magazine Due to rising COVID-19 case counts throughout the Northeast, and the decisions of Massachusetts and New Hampshire officials to suspend ice rink activities due to numerous outbreaks, the State of Vermont has announced updated policies to reduce risk. Vermont-based youth and adult recreational sports are now restricted to in-state activities only, with strict limits on the number of spectators permitted in attendance at indoor sports events. Effective immediately, Vermont-based sports teams may only participate in sporting events in Vermont, and these events may only occur among Vermont-based teams. This means youth and adult recreational sports teams, programs and athletes may only practice, scrimmage or participate in ‘pick-up’ games or formal competitions within Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center and Vaccine Testing Center at the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine have been selected to take part in a Phase 3 trial for a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and manufactured by AstraZeneca. Volunteer subjects are sought from higher risk groups, including older Vermonters and those with pre-existing conditions, not from younger and healthier people who tend to be asymptomatic when they contract the virus. About a third of the volunteers will be given a placebo.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan has joined a coalition of 24 attorneys general and several cities and city agencies in calling on the Trump Administration to stop the implementation of a proposed rule that would strip workers of key protections provided under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The proposed rule — issued by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) of the US Department of Labor (DOL) — would make it easier for employers to change the classification of workers from “employees” to “independent contractors,” removing these workers from federal minimum wage and overtime pay requirements.