Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott said Vermont officials are watching the “forest fire” of cases spreading in the nation’s South and West. Alongside these national trends, and with K-12 schools and colleges reopening in the fall, he is considering a mask mandate, which could come as early as Friday. The state has now gone more than 30 days since we've had a death associated with COVID-19. Vermont also has the lowest total case count in the nation, with seven new cases for a statewide total of 1,366. There also was a recent situation at a Williston childcare facility in which an unmasked adult gave more than one child the virus.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Community Foundation announced $3.6 million in place-based mission investments focused on expanding access to affordable housing and strengthening the state’s agricultural sector—two community assets that are essential for Vermont’s resilience in the face of COVID-19. The suite of loans and equity investments completed over the last four months channels $2.2 million towards building new affordable housing projects throughout the state, and $1.4 million towards securing the land base and expanding markets for Vermont’s farmers.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich Technologies announced today that the company has been awarded a $1.1 million dollar US Department of Energy (DOE) grant to develop a low cost hybrid solar power system that can deliver renewable energy 24 hours a day with the use of long duration thermal energy storage.

Vermont Business Magazine Having received approval from the state of its feasibility study on improving Internet connectivity in Central Vermont, CVFiber is moving forward aggressively in building partnerships and seeking funds to reach its goal of providing fast Internet access throughout the underserved areas of its 20 member towns. Towns in the CVFiber Communications Union District are Barre City, Barre Town, Berlin, Cabot, Calais, Duxbury, East Montpelier, Elmore, Marshfield, Middlesex, Montpelier, Moretown, Northfield, Orange, Plainfield, Roxbury, Washington, Williamstown, Woodbury, and Worcester.

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) is working with Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) to produce and deliver free weekly farm shares to 150 families in Washington County this summer and fall. Even in normal times, nearly one in 10 Vermont households experiences food insecurity. COVID-19 has exacerbated the challenges faced by those families, and increased the overall number of households in need of food assistance.

Vermont Business Magazine Beginning this fall, students will have four additional pathways to high-demand careers through new certificate programs at the Community College of Vermont (CCV). The new certificate offerings are afterschool and youth work, cybersecurity fundamentals, IT service desk specialist and pharmacy technician. These join the College’s fourteen existing certificate programs to provide a comprehensive offering of high-value credentials that prepare students for the workplace or further education. Most certificates can be completed in just one year.

Vermont Business Magazine The 2020 VPR - Vermont PBS Debates series continues today at 8 pm on Vermont PBS and at 7 pm on Vermont Public Radio’s Vermont Edition. The third of four primary debates scheduled in partnership with VPR, the pre-recorded debate will be moderated by Vermont Edition Host Jane Lindholm and will feature Democratic governor candidates Ralph Corbo, Rebecca Holcombe, Patrick Winburn and David Zuckerman.

Vermont Business Magazine A study by researchers from White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth shows VA hospitals across the country outperform or are equal to neighboring non-VA hospitals in surgical quality and overall patient safety satisfaction. The study’s findings were published June 26, in the Journal of Surgical Research.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) has received the award for being one of Vermont’s Best Places to Work in 2020. It is SVHC’s 6^th consecutive year as an honoree, and SVHC is the only hospital ever to be named in the contest.

Vermont Business Magazine Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security Ranking Member Jon Tester (D-Mont.) Tuesday called on Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Deputy Director For Policy Joseph Edlow to postpone plans to furlough 13,000 USCIS employees after revised revenue estimates show the agency will end the fiscal year with a surplus, not the originally projected $571 million deficit. Leahy previously suggested about 1,100 USCIS workers could lose their jobs in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) Tuesday released a letter calling on president Trump to utilize resources already passed by Congress and signed into law to increase production of personal, protective equipment (PPE) and testing capacity. Leahy is Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee and Durbin, Murray and Tester also are leading Democratic members of the panel.

Vermont Business Magazine Moody’s Investors Service affirmed the Burlington International Airport (BTV) credit rating of Baa2 with a stable outlook on Tuesday, July 14, 2020, citing BTV’s continued stability in liquidity and debt service coverage ratios (DSCR), as well as a multi-year airline agreement, as key components of the affirmed rating. The Baa2 with a stable outlook rating is unchanged since an upgrade in May 2018.