Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health continues to investigate 63 positive antigen cases tested in Manchester. The VDH as of Sunday had been able to confirm only two of those cases of 33 tested. The antigen test is a new one. The VDH only counts cases as a positive test if confirmed by a PCR test. According to Health Commissioner Dr Mark Levine, the antigen test offers a rapid response and is useful for general screening but the VDH so far is not using them as its primary platform. As of Sunday morning, there were 12 new cases of COVID-19 spread across the state and 16 since Friday for a statewide total of 1,350. Deaths associated with COVID-19 are holding at 56 as they have for over a month. Meanwhile, 82,500 people have been tested.

Agency of Commerce & Community Development In the days and weeks to come we will work to restart Vermont’s economy in the wake of COVID-19. Understanding the need to restart the economy as soon as possible and improve our overall social wellbeing, we cannot allow for a resurgence of COVID-19 that would undermine or lose the important public health outcomes achieved to date.  Our work to transition Vermont out from under the Stay Home order swiftly and responsibly will take just as much effort and goodwill as we have all expended in recent weeks. Working closely with the Health Department, the State Emergency Operations Center, and dedicated professionals across State government, we have developed, and will continue to refine, critical steps to ensure the health and safety of Vermonters and the continuity of our healthcare system.

Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy On The Passing Of John Lewis

John Lewis was an American hero among us, a lodestar who drew us closer to our ideals. He was a dear friend and mentor to me on civil rights and so much else.

I felt honored when he called me his brother and when he came to Vermont last year for a night at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington that none of us will forget. Our work together on the bill to restore the Voting Rights Act that I’ve introduced in the Senate, as John and others have done in the House, has also generated such profound and lifelong memories.

This loss is felt so deeply by Marcelle and me and by so many in Vermont and across our nation.

Vermont Business Magazine An economic relief grant program has been announced which will provide grants of $5,000, $7,500 or $10,000 to qualifying sole proprietors through a lottery draw. The program is funded through $1.5 million from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development’s CDBG Program, and passed through ACCD. The application window will open Monday, July 20, 2020 and grants will be awarded through a lottery system on August 14, 2020. And while $33 million in grant awards were paid to Vermont businesses through the Department of Taxes this week, grant payments from ACCD are expected to go out starting next week. There is still money available and time remains to apply. Grants are worth up to $50,000 for businesses and nonprofits.

Vermont Business Magazine NBT Bank, with branches in Northwestern Vermont, has expanded its services to include full branch lobby access with the implementation of protocols to protect the safety of its employees and customers. Appointments are no longer required for customers to visit a branch lobby.

Vermont Business Magazine Emily Mulherin has always loved working with children. She’s currently an assistant teacher in the infant room at Brattleboro Centre for Children; in addition to her full-time job, she’s a student at CCV, pursuing an associate degree in early childhood education, and she has her sights set on finishing her degree and becoming a lead teacher. “She’s so determined,” said her CCV advisor, Leigh Marthe, “and so committed to working with kids.”

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott announced today that Vermont's K-12 public schools will open in the fall with in-person instruction. Scott said it is important for the intellectual, emotional and social development of children to be back at school. He said the health data indicate that children are far less likely transmitters of COVID-19. School districts will be given as much flexibility as possible to tailor their school reopening plans to their local needs, with assistance from the state. Health guidance includes a mask mandate. As for the possible Manchester region COVID-19 outbreak, so far there are only two positive cases confirmed with over 400 people tested.

Public Assets Institute Four months into the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 50,000 Vermonters are relying on unemployment benefits each week. As of July 4, regular state unemployment insurance (UI) was paying about 40,000 weekly claims; in addition 9,500 people were collecting federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), a program for workers, including self-employed, who don’t qualify for regular jobless benefits. Meanwhile, Vermont’s unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent in June, as 10,000 more Vermonters went to work last month.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell slightly last week after a spike the week before. After a steep decline as the economy began to reopen in April, initial unemployment claims for the last several weeks have flattened and are holding at just under 2,000 claims.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest mountain resort in Eastern North America, is partnering with Vermont Community Foundation and NeighborWorks of Western Vermont to launch the Play It Forward Business Relief Fund, which will award a total of $130,000 in grants up to $2,500 each to eligible businesses in the Town of Killington.

Vermont Business Magazine The current pandemic and necessary resulting public safety measures have taken a toll on businesses of many kinds in the State of Vermont, including Sole Proprietors. In order to provide some relief to the economic pain that Sole Proprietors have had to endure, the launch of an economic relief grant program has been announced which will provide grants of $5,000, $7,500 or $10,000 to qualifying Sole Proprietors through a Lottery draw. The program is funded through $1.5 million from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development's CDBG Program, and passed through the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD).

Senator Patrick Leahy We write today to urge you to withdraw your confusing and harmful changes to hospital reporting requirements for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). In the midst of a global pandemic, these changes pose serious challenges to the nation’s response by increasing the data management burden for hospitals, potentially delaying critical supply shipments, compromising access to key data for many states, and reducing transparency for the public. The Trump Administration’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 response and refusal to heed public health expertise continue to put the country in a dangerous position.