Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS) Board of Trustees this evening voted unanimously to appoint interim Chancellor Sophie Zdatny to serve as the next Chancellor. Zdatny, a six-year veteran of the organization has been leading the VSCS since late April when Chancellor Jeb Spaulding announced his resignation. Trustees met this evening and offered Zdatny the role, with a renewable one year contract.

Vermont Business Magazine After a few days of higher than usual new cases, the Vermont Department of Health reported today that there were only two new cases. Between Thursday and Sunday there were 22 cases, including 11 reported yesterday. Deaths remain at 56 and there has not been one since June 16. There is one person hospitalized statewide.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $400,000 CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Northern Vermont Economic Development District, St. Albans to update economic development plans and fortify programs to assist communities in responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

by Cathy Davis, Executive Vice President of the Lake Champlain Chamber A couple weeks ago I sent notes to all of the members of the Burlington City Council thanking them for their service and introducing myself to those I do not yet know. In my note, I let them know that I’ll soon take over as President of the Lake Champlain Chamber and how aligned I believe that their work on the Council is to the Chamber’s work to create economic opportunity for all Vermonters. I asked to start a dialogue, hear their priorities, and begin a relationship so that the Chamber can serve as a resource for them as issues are considered.

I have already heard from several Councilors. I hope, amidst what I am sure are very busy schedules, that others respond and that we can forge a productive working relationship.

Vermont Business Magazine The Economic Recovery Grants application process will open on Monday, July 6th. ACCD will be administering Economic Recovery Grants, along with the Department of Taxes and other state agencies that received funding from the Vermont Legislature for certain business types and ownership structures.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced actions on the following bills, passed by the Legislature. They are: H.955, An act relating to capital construction and State bonding budget adjustment; and H.960, An act relating to miscellaneous health care provisions.

Vermont Business Magazine People's United Bank, NA a subsidiary of People's United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) today announced the launch of AlwaysChecking, a premium digital identity and credit protection service offered in partnership with Experian, designed for customers to monitor their, and their families’ digital identity from a single dashboard. AlwaysChecking is offered free exclusively to all personal checking account customers of the Bank, and for those opening a new account.

Vermont Business Magazine Thirty-four farms across the state received a combined total of $73,000 in June through the Vermont Land Trust’s new program for farmers affected by COVID-19 and the associated economic downturn. Loss of restaurant sales, increased distribution costs, and lower milk prices, among other challenges posed by the pandemic, have placed many farmers in dire economic straits.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting Sunday 11 new cases of COVID-19 and 39 new cases since last Wednesday. There are now a total of 1,249 cases statewide. The number of deaths is holding at 56. There is one person hospitalized.

Vermont Business Magazine Starting Monday, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), allowed adult hospital inpatients to have one visitor and pediatric inpatients to have two.

Vermont Business Magazine Following guidance from the State of Vermont, Central Vermont Medical Center is scaling back some limitations on visitors to the hospital. CVMC and all other hospitals in the state began restricting visitation in March to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Vermont Business Magazine Ensuring the effectiveness of policies and media campaigns targeting young people is critical to achieving substance use prevention. However, standard state surveillance systems are often not nimble enough to capture quickly changing substance use trends, leaving decision makers without the latest data to guide state-level prevention efforts. New findings from a collaborative Vermont study, published July 20 in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, highlight the study’s uniquely flexible survey instrument and use of incentives to capture the most relevant data and keep young Vermonters engaged.