Current News

Vermont Business Magazine In response to concerns related to COVID-19 Shelburne Museum will temporarily close to the public effective Saturday, March 14, 2020, Museum Director Thomas Denenberg announced. All public exhibition buildings, the grounds and the Museum Store will be closed. All exhibitions will be suspended, and events and activities, educational programming and rental events will be cancelled or postponed. Administrative offices will continue to be open regular business hours.

Vermont Business Magazine Outdoor Gear Exchange (OGE) is excited to announce a series of events running throughout the spring and summer. The aim is to create a welcoming experience for all members of the LGBTQIA+ community from purchasing gear to finding like minded participants in sports such as rock climbing and mountain biking.

“The Outdoor Gear Exchange has always believed in making the outdoors accessible to everyone, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community,'' says Carolyn Lawrence, Outdoor Gear Exchange, Events and Grants Program Manager. “We are excited to take steps to make the gendered outdoor industry more inclusive to everyone through our Queer Shopping Night and other event activations. By creating safe and inclusive spaces for under-supported populations, we hope to encourage more folks to enjoy outdoor recreation and establish a relationship with the natural world. We look forward to sharing more upcoming events throughout the year!”

Vermont Business Magazine As a follow up to the Governor’s Executive Order, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) and the Department of Labor are assessing and responding to the community impacts of COVID-19 on Vermont businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued an executive order to declare a state of emergency in Vermont in response to COVID-19, commonly known as the new coronavirus. Emergency measures include limiting public gatherings to a maximum of 250 people and strict limits on visiting longterm care facilities to protect the elderly. But at least for now, the governor told a news conference Friday evening, the elementary schools will remain open.

With this executive order, the Governor can exercise his emergency powers to take important community mitigation steps to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect the most vulnerable.

Vermont Business Magazine As a residential campus with a global reach, Norwich University in Northfield is closely monitoring the worldwide spread of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its potential impact in Northfield and in locations where our students are studying away and abroad. Due to concerns over the spread of the virus, Norwich University is canceling or rescheduling many campus-based and university-sponsored events as well as all athletics contests. Norwich is also moving to teaching the remainder of all classes online.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott will hold a press conference today (Friday March 13) at 5:30 p.m. to provide update on Vermont’s response to COVID-19 and announce additional mitigation measures. The press conference will be livestreamed by Vermont PBS at vermontpbs.org/live/ and aired live on television on WCAX, Local 44 and WPTZ.

Vermont Business Magazine After careful consideration regarding the health and safety of everyone at the Best Places to Work awards ceremony, VBM has made the difficult decision to reschedule the ceremony to June 2020. We will let you all know the exact date soon. Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented situation. We are very disappointed but we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today. We will continue to monitor the situation and pay close attention to public health advisories in the coming months and will post any further updates.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont General Assembly will suspend the 2020 legislative session for one week, at which time the Joint Rules Committee, composed of bipartisan leadership of both chambers, will reassess based on public health information. This suspension is out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of the statewide public health as well as concern for staff, legislators, press, and public given the prevalence of COVID-19.

Champlain College Effective March 23, all Burlington campus courses will be conducted through remote instruction. Remote instruction means that students will participate in courses online from home, except for hardship circumstances approved by the Dean of Students. Remote instruction will be in effect for at least three weeks, and students and faculty should expect that a longer period of remote instruction is likely. Review of circumstances will be ongoing, and I will update the community on the status of remote instruction the morning of Monday, April 6.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger on Thursday, shared the following update with the public about the city’s response to the coronavirus. Read the Mayor’s previous updates about the coronavirus, and find additional information, on the city website.

by David Coates, KPMG Managing Partner (Retired) Vermont’s $4.6 billion liability for the state workers and teachers pensions and retiree health care benefits (OPEB) increased by $171 million for this past year ended June 30, 2019, and over 110 percent since 2008. This increase was despite continued assurances by policymakers that they had a plan to pay off these obligations over the next 20 years. Certainly, there is no evidence to date to corroborate the state’s claim, without some combination of increasing taxes, reducing benefits or cutting existing programs, which the state has been reluctant to do.

Vermont Business Magazine As of yet, there has been little impact on jobs from the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Vermont or nationally. Weekly unemployment claims (which lag the actual economy by several days), surprisingly fell in Vermont and across the US last week after rising in consecutive prior weeks. Initial claims for the week of March 7, 2020, were 446, down 417, to the lowest level this year. Claims were 16 more than they were at this time last year. Stocks cratered Thursday but are rebounding early Friday as the Fed is putting $1.5 trillion into short-term financing and Congress and the White House have apparently reached a deal on a new stimulus package.