Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) is reminding customers that enhanced rebates on products that help save energy and money while reducing carbon pollution will close at the end of the month. GMP’s popular Go, Save and Share Green initiative increased rebates on electric mowers, electric bikes, heat pumps and heat pump water heaters. To get the larger rebates, customers need proof of purchase on or before August 31.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell steeply last week and below 1,000 claims for the first time since the early weeks of the pandemic. Nationally, claims fell under 1 million. The Vermont unemployment trust fund has added over $3 million since last week and remains in a strong position. After a steep decline as the economy began to reopen in April, initial unemployment claims for the last several weeks flattened, rose slightly and now are falling consistently. For the week ending August 8, 2020, the Labor Department processed 904 Initial Claims, down 356 from the previous week and 615 more than the same time last year. Summer typically produces the lowest UI numbers.

by University of Vermont President Suresh V Garimella Hardly a day goes by without a story in the news media on the unsettled state of higher education this fall. The importance of opening our campuses is not in dispute. The question is: Can we do it safely? Colleges and universities are implementing an array of programs to answer that question affirmatively, limiting classrooms to half or a quarter of their capacity, investing in online education for hybrid teaching, banning athletic events and other large gatherings, re-engineering dining services and residence halls, and putting programs in place that test for the virus.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, along with the Shrewsbury community and the Vermont Land Trust, are celebrating the conservation of their 100th Wildlife Management Area (WMA), coincidentally, in the 100th year of department WMA ownership and management in Vermont. On August 4th, the department established the new Wildlife Management Area, a 526.7-acre property in the Town of Shrewsbury. Originally settled in the late 1700s, the site was later purchased by the Town in 1870 to create a town farm to house the poor. The town farm was abandoned by 1903 and despite exchanging hands several times over the years, it has remained undeveloped, aside from the scattered stone walls and foundations that preserve the old town farm.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan has filed an amicus brief with the Vermont Supreme Court arguing that the Vermont Constitution protects all Vermonters accused of a crime in state court—even when the evidence leading to the charge was initially obtained by a federal officer. The brief, filed earlier this week in State v. Walker-Brazie, argues that a person charged with a crime in state court is entitled to the protection of the Vermont Constitution. At issue is the admissibility of evidence in state court that was obtained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers without consent to search the vehicle or a warrant based on probable cause—all required under Article 11 of the Vermont Constitution.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman John B Larson (D-CT) responded to new findings from a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study they commissioned which found that thousands of American die or go bankrupt waiting to receive their disability benefits each year.

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine Neither Amtrak nor the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) as yet has any specific date for the resumption of the national passenger rail provider's service in Vermont. On March 26, as the COVID-19 pandemic gained momentum, Amtrak truncated service on the state's two trains, the New York-to-Rutland Ethan Allen Express and the Washington-to-St Albans Vermonter. Service on the Vermonter currently extends only as far north as New Haven, Conn., while the Ethan Allen comes no farther north than Rensselaer, New York, which serves Albany.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that the State of Vermont will distribute up to 300,000 cloth face coverings to the public, emergency responders and select agencies throughout the month of August. The State Emergency Operations Center procured the masks from those donated to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the US Department of Health and Human Services. Vermont's total population is about 626,000. As of August 1, face coverings are mandatory in all public places in Vermont. While wearing a mask is not a substitute for physical distancing and other mitigation measures, public health experts advise that masks help limit the spread of COVID-19 and should be worn in public when physical distancing is not possible.

Vermont Business Magazine Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD, joined officials and community partners from Winooski and Burlington at a press conference Wednesday to mark the formal end of the state’s first significant outbreak and community spread of COVID-19. An outbreak is considered “resolved” following two full incubation periods (28 days total) with no new cases. The VDH also announced today that there were five new cases of COVID-19 statewide to go along with 11 yesterday for a total of 1,478.

Vermont Business Magazine While we only have preliminary, unofficial results, it would appear Vermont voters turned out to vote in record numbers, with well over 155,000 Vermonters exercising their right to vote on or before yesterday’s Primary Elections.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Foundation, in partnership with area philanthropists, has announced almost $1 million in grants from the Main Street Business Relief Fund for Arlington, Dorset, and Manchester. Led by an anonymous donor’s $500,000 contribution and match challenge, community members stepped up to help regional businesses overcome financial challenges stemming from the pandemic.