Current News

Jonah Richard, Village Ventures Governor Phil Scott held a press conference (October 14, 2025, in Fairlee) on the site of our future 26-unit mixed-use project in Fairlee to announce this year’s Downtown Tax Credit awards. Thanks to Austin Meehan, two of our projects made the cut. First, our historic quadplex from 1836 received $210,000 in state tax credits, along with $130,000 in federal historic credits. Paired with low-interest debt from Vermont Housing Finance Agency, this will allow us to bring the building back to life as workforce housing — with construction slated to start this winter. Our 19-unit LIHTC project also received $225,000, just days after landing a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant. With those pieces in place, we’ve now closed $4.5m of a $7m capital stack.

Vermont Business Magazine A new report from The Sentencing Project, Voting from Prison: Lessons from Maine and Vermont, highlights that incarcerated citizens in Maine and Vermont still face significant barriers to casting a ballot. The report reveals a troubling disconnect: having the legal right to vote while incarcerated does not guarantee the ability to exercise that right. This webinar will explore key insights from the report, featuring perspectives from currently and formerly incarcerated individuals, advocates, reform leaders, and Department of Corrections staff, offering a deeper understanding of accessing democracy during incarceration.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont has made progress helping future early childhood educators access higher ed programs. At the same time, Act 76—passed in 2023 to expand the state’s child care capacity—has created new classrooms that need qualified educators. Yet many students don't complete the credentials they need to lead these classrooms. A new report from the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (VTAEYC) shows where students are stopping or leaving programs and highlights ways the system can better support them so more can enter Vermont’s child care workforce.

Vermont Business Magazine Neagley & Chase Construction, one of northern New England’s most respected and diverse commercial construction firms, has announced that Rob Higgins has been named President after 25 years with the company. Known for his collaborative approach and practical problem-solving, Rob has long served as a trusted Project Executive and leader in the company’s operational and financial systems. His strong relationships with subcontractors and trade partners have contributed significantly to the firm’s reputation for excellence. Rob started as a Field Engineer for Neagley & Chase in 2001.

Public Assets Institute Facts still matter, and the proof of that is becoming more and more evident as we continue to lose access to valuable federal government data. Today is the day we would normally be getting information about the number of jobs employers added or cut last month. We would have learned if the number of Vermonters who are out of work rose or fell. And we should have gotten data on the ratio of job openings to the number of people looking for work, which could shed light on Vermonters’ employment prospects heading into the fall. Today, however, we can’t tell you whether Vermont’s unemployment rate went up or down last month or jobs increased or decreased because the BLS stopped publishing new data when the federal government shut down October 1.

Vermont State Police On October 21, 2025, at approximately 0058 hours, Troopers from the Vermont State Police – Rutland Barracks responded to the intersection of Country Club Road and Forest Dale Road in the Town of Brandon for a report of a single-vehicle crash into a utility pole. It was reported that the operator, David Fletcher, was unresponsive, and members of Green Mountain Power were performing CPR upon Troopers’ arrival. He was transported from the scene by Brandon Rescue and was later pronounced deceased by medical staff at Rutland Regional Medical Center.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Chartered Bank, formerly known as Bank of Burlington, officially steps forward as The Business Bank, marking three years since opening its doors and continuing its mission to deliver straightforward, local banking built for businesses. In a statement the bank said its new name “reflects the success of this model” and their “clear focus to serve business customers, while continuing to grow across Vermont and expanding into New Hampshire and Massachusetts.” The Business Bank remains headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, with expansion underway in Portsmouth, NH, and East Longmeadow, MA.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported last week that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations fell again slightly after a recent increase in cases that began in August. Neither the VDH nor the CDC are any longer reporting COVID fatalities or total cases in Vermont or in the US. WastewaterSCAN testing of treatment plants indicates that in Vermont both COVID-19 and Norovirus levels are higher in Vermont than they are nationally. There were 5 outbreaks last week (5 the week before), with 5 in Long-Term Care Facilities and 0 in schools. Like hospitalizations, outbreaks increased slightly since mid-summer.

Vermont Business Magazine Finance Committee member Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) today introduced the No Big Blockbuster Bailouts Act (NOBBBA), a bill to reverse Republicans’ policies in the so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ that block Medicare from negotiating the price of blockbuster drugs. The NOBBBA will ensure seniors, people with disabilities on Medicare, and families can access the lower-priced prescriptions they need. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found this week that the Republican tax and spending bill’s exemption and delay of Medicare drug price negotiation on certain drugs provided a staggering $8.8 billion bailout to Big Pharma—nearly double the original estimate. This exclusion included several blockbuster cancer and rare disease drugs, including Keytruda (Merck), Opdivo (Bristol-Myers Squibb), and Darzalex (Johnson & Johnson). 

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington School District today announced a major milestone in the pursuit of equity. In 2024–25, Students of the Global Majority made up 42% of BSD’s student population yet represented only 33% of suspensions. This means that last year, for the first time, BSD eliminated racial disparities in suspensions. In addition to reducing racial disparities, BSD also reduced the total number of suspensions across the district from 248 to 207. Still, Flanagan was quick to note that there is more work to be done.

by Julie Curtin, Champlain Housing Trust, and Brian Stark, Stark Law For most Vermonters, a home is more than just a place to live–it’s the biggest investment they’ll make. For roughly 35 to 40 percent of Americans, owning a home is the number one way to build wealth. For some, a home continues a legacy that began generations ago. For others, it’s the first step in creating one. Either way, homeownership is a powerful achievement–and protecting that achievement is just as important as reaching it. There’s no better time than now to begin your estate planning, and CHT has the course to put you on that path. 

Vermont Business Magazine When Kathy Johnson of Williston learned earlier this year that she would need heart surgery to unblock her left coronary artery, she wasn’t surprised – or even all that worried. Johnson, a 65-year-old mother of two and now three-time grandmother, has dealt with a lifetime’s worth of serious medical issues, diagnoses and treatments with a take-on-all-comers attitude, starting at age 13, when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkins Lymphoma.