Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Students from Red Fox Community School participated in a hands-on environmental stewardship experience at Smokey House Center last Friday, planting persimmon trees as part of the Center's new Community U-Pick Orchard. The field trip gave students the opportunity to plant native Vermont persimmon trees as part of Smokey House's Living Lab initiative. Students worked alongside environmental educators to contribute to on-the-ground research addressing climate resilience and sustainable agriculture, forming meaningful connections with both the landscape and the broader work of environmental protection.

Vermont Business Magazine As a reminder, furloughed Federal workers impacted by the recent government shutdown have up to two weeks from the start of the shutdown to file an unemployment claim. The deadline for these impacted individuals is Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at 4:00 p.m. Individuals can apply for Unemployment (UI) benefits by calling the UI Claims Center at 1-877-214-3330 (Monday – Thursday: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. / Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.). If Congress later approves back pay for workers who were furloughed during the shutdown, any UI benefits received will need to be repaid to the state. The Department of Labor encourages federal employees who may want to apply for UI to ensure they have the necessary documentation and information prepared to file a claim.  

Vermont Business Magazine The J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation and the Community College of Vermont (CCV) today announced an extension of the Free Degree Promise to include Vermont’s high school classes of 2027 and 2028. The extension ensures that current 10th and 11th graders will have the opportunity to complete a free CCV associate degree of their choosing just one year after high school graduation, a benefit first offered to the classes of 2023 through 2026. Since launching in 2022, the Free Degree Promise has helped hundreds of young Vermonters pursue fast-tracked, debt-free degrees. Students on this pathway are graduating at twice the rate and in half the time as community college students nationally.

Vermont Business Magazine Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today warned that the Republican plan to eliminate subsidies for Affordable Care Act coverage will cause massive health insurance premium hikes for tens of thousands of Vermonters. According to new data released today by the Vermont Health Connect exchange, if subsidies are not extended, Vermonters could face devastating premium increases starting in January.

Vermont Business Magazine The Treasurer’s Office will host a series of in-person information sessions for retired teachers transitioning from Vermont Blue Advantage (VBA) to an equivalent Medicare Advantage plan provided by HealthSpring. The meetings will ensure retirees have the information they need to continue receiving the benefits they have earned after a lifetime of service. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions, and representatives from HealthSpring will participate in each session. The transition from VBA to HealthSpring was announced by the Treasurer’s Office and approved by the Vermont State Teachers Retirement Systems (VSTRS) Board of Trustees in September.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College has announced its first co-op partner, Creatio, a global vendor of an agentic CRM and workflow platform with no-code and artificial intelligence at its core. Champlain students will be able to engage in paid, full-time work with the Boston-based company, while earning full academic credit. Co-ops, or cooperative education, let students earn and learn, giving them valuable professional experience before graduation. At Champlain College, students with at least one paid work experience earn an average of $10,000-$15,000 more in salary after graduation. Champlain’s innovative co-op model allows students to do one or two co-ops and still graduate in four years. 

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC), Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), Sierra Club - Vermont Chapter, Vermont Conservation Voters, Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG), and ACLU Vermont submitted a letter to the Scott Administration expressing their deep concern that provisions in Executive Order 06-25 (EO) instruct state agencies to take actions which they do not have authority to take. "All of our organizations strongly support more housing, but Governor Scott’s legally unsound EO will in fact make things worse for housing development because anyone that relies on illegal action could face more litigation, not less regulation. At a time when Governor Scott is calling for more cooperation, this type of aggressive short cutting of the rule of law is something we are compelled to stand up against.”

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Building Burlington’s Future (BBF) announced a new partnership with the Abundance Network that establishes Burlington as the Network’s first affiliate chapter on the East Coast. The Abundance Network is a national membership organization that collaborates with civic leaders nationwide to achieve ambitious policy outcomes at the local level. 

by Christina Davenport, UVM George Bemis ’60, MD, has made a landmark estate commitment—currently valued at $16 million—to the University of Vermont (UVM) in honor of Nancy Wicks Bemis, RN, his late wife, who studied nursing at UVM in the late 1950s. As the largest gift in the history of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CNHS), the bequest will significantly expand access to nursing education through scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) is opening applications for the Local Food for Schools and Child Care (LFSCC) Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Grant. The purpose of this grant is to provide local food to early learners through CSA shares. This grant is open to non-profit organizations located in Vermont and licensed or registered early childhood education providers. The application portal is open now through November 25, 2025. $200,000 is available to award and there is no minimum or maximum award limit. Applicants will be notified of decisions in February 2026, with projects beginning in March or April of 2026.    

Vermont Business Magazine ZymoChem, the Burlington materials company decarbonizing the chemical industry through biological manufacturing, announces its recognition as a Startup of the Year by The International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF)'s 2025 Start-Up Awards, which honor start-ups developing innovative products and processes that advance the future of the textile industry. ZymoChem’s proprietary Carbon Conserving™ technology produces the chemical building blocks for nylon from renewable feedstocks, creating drop-in replacements for petroleum-based materials. These bio-based alternatives maintain the same performance characteristics, while significantly reducing carbon emissions.

Vermont Business Magazine More than 450 high school students from across Vermont came together at Vermont State University Randolph on October 9 for the annual Women Can Do conference—a one-day event hosted by Vermont Works for Women that gives students hands-on exposure to careers in the trades and STEM. From welding and aviation mechanics to heavy equipment operation, students had the chance to try new tools, meet local employers, and expand their understanding of what’s possible after high school.