Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) approved $6.4 million in new financing for Vermont businesses and farms in the quarter ended June 30. The Authority also approved an additional $11.7 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans for 268 Vermont businesses throughout the state and across a variety of industries. PPP was established by the CARES Act and is implemented by the US Small Business Administration (SBA). PPP supports small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis with forgivable loans to pay payroll and operating costs.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos last week explained the just-implemented process of universal mail-in voting and the enthusiastic response to it. The number of requests for mail-in ballots is far exceeding the state’s experience with absentee ballots by more than 12-fold. But those who still want to go to the polling place to vote in-person will still be able to for the primaries in August and the general election in November. As of Monday morning, there have been 108,721 requests. Requests have now surpassed total votes cast for the 2018 Primary elections.

Vermont Department of Health Thirty-five of 63 people with a positive antigen test for COVID-19 reported to the Health Department by Manchester Medical Center since July 10 have had a PCR test. Of those 35, 33 were negative and 2 were positive by PCR test.

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.