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by John McClaughry On November 3, 1927, Vermont took a hell of a shellacking. October had been extremely rainy. Then in two days nearly a foot of torrential rain fell on most of Vermont. The soggy mountain forests couldn’t hold it. Down it came in gushing brooks and wild brown rivers, sweeping away nearly two hundred years of settlement and improvement. The flood waters made nine thousand people homeless, damaged or destroyed 1,258 bridges, washed out 250 miles of the Central Vermont Railroad; and claimed the lives of 84 people.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor has announced it will continue its Virtual Town Hall events this week. The Department announced the events in response to the impact of COVID-19. Update on the application process and implementation of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance will be held Tuesday at 2 pm.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott said today that he would rather the Vermont State Colleges close the Williston campus of Vermont Technical College, than close three other residential campuses in rural Vermont. Last Friday Vermont State Colleges System Chancellor Jeb Spaulding proposed closing three of the VSC campuses, in Lyndon, Johnson and Randolph Center. The plan was for trustees to vote today on the plan. They put off that vote for at least a week.

Senator Bernie Sanders I appreciate the Board of Trustees' decision to delay a vote on the proposal to close three Vermont State College campuses. Clearly, there is no easy answer to the challenges facing our state college system, but delaying the decision is an important step forward. We need the time to have a statewide discussion which includes all of the stakeholders. Unfortunately, that kind of discussion cannot take place in the middle of a pandemic and stay-at-home practices.

Vermont Business Magazine Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD, said today that as the state continues its work to protect the health of Vermonters, and begins measured steps to restart Vermont’s economy, they will continue to keep their eyes on the growing body of data to inform decision-making. There was an increase of four new cases for a total of 816 statewide and the number of deaths associated with COVID-19 held at 38. The number of hospitalizations continues to slowly decline and is now at 24 patients positive with the coronavirus and another 25 under investigation. There were 53 such cases as of Sunday and 56 on Saturday. These numbers are below the best-scenario presented two weeks ago.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine A surprisingly strong General Fund revenue report will not stave off the impending economic and tax impacts of COVID-19 and the mitigation measures the state has imposed on businesses and workers. The corporate (+34.9 million) and personal income (+$6.5 million) taxes pushed the GF nearly $38 million ahead of projections and over $40 million for the fiscal year, despite losses in other areas.

Vermont Business Magazine The Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce recently surveyed over 400 business and nonprofit chamber members to get a sense of the COVID-19 Crisis’ impact on them. Vermont Governor Phil Scott, in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus, issued multiple declarations that have impacted small businesses throughout Vermont starting with an order to close all Vermont prek-12 schools and an order to have all bars and restaurants close or offer take out. This was followed by a “Stay Home Stay Safe” order that had a deep impact on businesses and the Vermont economy.

Vermont Business Magazine The NFIB Research Center released a survey today on the small business loan programs. Small business owners were asked about the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan on April 17, the day after the programs ran out of money. About 20% of submitted applications have been fully processed with funds deposited in the borrower’s account, but 80% of respondents said they are still waiting, and many do not know where they are in the application process.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is among 36 Democratic senators, led by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich), Ranking Member of the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, urging Vice President Mike Pence and other members of the Trump Administration to take action to help ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply and protect essential workers in the food supply chain. Leahy, a leading member of the Agriculture Committee, is a former Chairman of the panel and now is Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) also signed the letter, which they sent on Monday.

Vermont Business Magazine Adam Higginbotham has won the 2020 William E Colby Award for his book, “Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster.” Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, presents the award, now in its 21st year, annually to a first solo work of fiction or nonfiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of military history, intelligence operations, or international affairs.

Higginbotham’s narrative nonfiction and feature writing has appeared in magazines including GQ, The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine. Many of his stories have been optioned for development for film and television. “Midnight in Chernobyl” (Simon & Schuster, 2019) was named one of The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of the Year, and awarded the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction.

Vermont Business Magazine This weekend the Vermont State Colleges United Professionals, The VSEA Staff Federation, and the faculty assemblies of all four Vermont State Colleges overwhelmingly voted "No Confidence" in Chancellor Jeb Spaulding. These votes have been under consideration for several weeks, but Friday's announced plan to close three campuses increased their urgency.

Linda Olson, Vice President of Higher Education for AFT Vermont stated "There are many reasons for this vote of no confidence, but the most important is that Chancellor Spaulding has repeatedly made decisions without adequate consultation, without a thorough analysis of the data and without thoughtful consideration of the long-term consequences."

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Vermont Business Magazine As of Sunday, nearly 32,000 claim issues had been cleared, allowing claimants to proceed with filing a weekly claim and start collecting benefits. For the remaining eligible claimants (8,384 people) that did not have issues cleared, Governor Scott asked the Treasury to issue payments to them in the amount of $1,200. These checks were processed over the weekend and will be mailed out to claimants on Monday, April 20.