Current News
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) held a press conference Monday afternoon on Church Street with local restaurant owners to unveil bipartisan legislation that he recently introduced in Congress to create a $120 billion grant program specifically to help local restaurants survive during and after the coronavirus pandemic. Welch has held numerous e-meetings with restaurant owners throughout Vermont since the start of the pandemic and he has heard a consistent message, “we need help.” This legislation was introduced in direct response to those pleas for help.
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Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED) issued a peak alert for Tuesday, June 23 as part of its Defeat the Peak program launched during summer 2017, encouraging members of the Burlington community to reduce their energy usage from 5:00-9:00pm on that day.
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Public Assets Institute The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out more than 63,000 Vermont jobs in April, but employers began to increase their payrolls again last month. Jobs rose by 15,700 in May, by far the biggest monthly increase in at least 30 years. But even if this growth continues, it will be mid-September before the lost jobs are recovered. The service sector gained 7,700 jobs, a fraction of the nearly 50,000 lost in April. Meanwhile, Vermont’s unemployment rate dropped to 12.7 percent last month from 16.5 percent in April.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Bhaskar Patel, 69, of Horseheads, New York, was sentenced Friday in federal district court in connection with a kickback and bribery scheme conducted in connection with federal energy savings performance contracts (“ESPCs”). This includes a $42.4 million case in Vermont. While employed by Schneider Electric Buildings America, Patel unlawfully solicited and accepted $2,536,119.19 in bribes and kickbacks associated with ESPCs from subcontractors to Schneider.
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by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Vermont recorded a historic maple syrup crop this year, resulting in over 2.2 million gallons. This represents over half the official US crop and by far the most of any state. The other two big maple producers, New York and Maine, saw a slight decrease from last year, but like Vermont has seen production growing in recent years. The total US crop total also increased. The total value of the maple crop in Vermont in 2019 (the 2020 value has not yet been established) is $57.96 million and the US value is $129.5 million. The lower relative price in Vermont versus production is because Vermont sells most of its production in bulk, which goes for a lower price.
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by Vermont Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts Summer is synonymous with creemees, and well-timed ones at that: June is not only the beginning of summer, it is also National Dairy Month. This annual tribute recognizes an industry that has supported Vermonters for 150 years. A month to celebrate the food that dairy provides, and the hardworking families who have produced that food while stewarding the land and landscape that sets Vermont apart from so many other places.
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by Bruce Edwards, Vermont Business Magazine Natural and man-made disasters happen all the time. But a pandemic? Bernie Carr says given what the town of Brandon has been through in the last several years the one disaster no one could have foreseen was a global pandemic that has wreaked havoc with the global economy.
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by Bruce Edwards, Vermont Business Magazine The state’s largest ski resort is used to dealing with the vagaries of the weather but a pandemic presented a whole different set of challenges.
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by Bruce Edwards, Vermont Business Magazine Rutland Regional Medical Center was prepared for the worst - a surge in patients infected with the Covid-19 virus. It was a surge that for now hasn’t materialized but the hospital was ready just the same, closing one of its specialty procedure suites and converting it into a 10-bed, negative pressure COVID ward.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported that there were 12 new cases of COVID-19 since Saturday and a total of 15 new cases since Friday, for a total case count of 1,159. There are no new deaths, which are holding at 56 total statewide. There is no one hospitalized with COVID-19.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Northfield Savings Bank Foundation (NSBF) invested $300,000 over the past two years between two impactful projects: one to help Vermont PreK-12 educators meet financial literacy standards through the Center for Financial Literacy at Champlain College (Center); and a second to help build resiliency and social-emotional learning skills in local youth through Vermont Afterschool. As these partnerships conclude with the end of their funding terms, NSBF celebrates the accomplishments of each organization.
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Vermont State Police On 6/20/2020, at approximately 1321 hours, Vermont State Troopers responded to a fatal two vehicle crash on US Route 2 in Kirby, VT near the St. Johnsbury/Kirby Town line. Investigation revealed that the operator, Larry Bowman (64), was travelling east on US Route 2 when he lost control of his motorcycle on a curve in the roadway and entered the westbound lane.