Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Southern Vermont Economic Summit, day-long event will be held on Thursday, May 28th at the Grand Summit Resort at Mount Snow in Dover, Vermont. Registration can be found at www.SoVermontZone.com. The theme is “Power in Numbers”. The 2020 Summit will feature two outstanding keynote speakers.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims, which had shown a steady decline since the beginning of the year, increased slightly last week. Initial claims for the week of February 15, 2020, were 543, up 68. Claims were 64 more than they were at this time last year.

Vermont Business Magazine Springfield Regional Development Corporation (SRDC) has launched the new Springfield Area Revolving Loan Fund, which is a source of debt financing for small and medium-size companies in Southern Windsor County, as well as those looking to start a business. The Springfield Area Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) utilizes funds from the Economic Development Administration to complement other funding sources in helping area companies to create and retain jobs as well as stimulate the creation and relocation of new businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine Two Vermont National Guard Soldiers leave Saturday to assist in developing two potential natural disaster scenarios, with their focus on planning and logistical issues faced in a real-world crisis. The development process will occur next week, with subsequent supporting events scheduled over the year.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine State tax collections were solid last month as corporate taxes and motor vehicle receipts bounced back from December results and exceeded expectations. The sales tax, however, slumped against expectations. Vermont’s revenue results for January 2020 show that the General and Transportation Funds were above their target for the month while Education Funds were slightly lower than their respective target, with the sales tax being the principal culprit. General Fund revenues collected for the month totaled $178.71 million, 2.39% or $4.18 million above the monthly consensus revenue target.

Vermont Business Magazine With interest growing in local food systems as a community development tool, scholars and practitioners are looking for methods to count progress toward benchmarks. A new article, Counting Local Food Consumption: Longitudinal Data and Lessons from Vermont, released by the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) reports on efforts to count local food consumption as part of Vermont’s statewide strategic plan for food systems development.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont House approved H.688, the Global Warming Solutions Act, on a vote of 105-37. The bill establishes greenhouse gas emission reduction requirements and deadlines for action. H.688 creates a roadmap to a coordinated, coherent strategy for Vermont to build more resilient communities and reduce our greenhouse gas pollution.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced a settlement with three Genesis Healthcare subsidiary-operated nursing homes in Vermont – Burlington Health & Rehab, St Johnsbury Health & Rehab, and Berlin Health & Rehab – resolving allegations of neglect that resulted in serious injury to three residents and the death of a fourth. Each of these incidents was related to inadequate staff training and orientation, the use of visiting or third-party contractors, and the failure to adequately document and monitor the delivery of resident care services. The settlement requires the Centers to pay $740,143 in damages and penalties to the State of Vermont, create a new Patient Care Coordinator position, and engage the services of an independent monitor to review the quality of care provided by each facility.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has been awarded more than $850,000 from the US Department of Transportation in airport safety and infrastructure grants for four State airports. The federal funding is intended to keep the nation’s airports in a state of good repair and make air travel a better experience for passengers.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger and community partners today announced the progress of the first year of the Burlington Early Learning Initiative’s First Steps Scholarship Program and plans for an expanded year two. In its pilot year, the scholarship program achieved its goal of supporting and placing at least 20 children whose families have low incomes in high-quality child care in the Burlington area. Now, in the program’s second year, the City plans to double the size of the program from 20 to more than 40 children. The second year application period will be open from March 2 to April 17.

Vermont Business Magazine VBSR has announced that Roxanne Vought will be its new executive director. Vought brings over 20 years of experience in Vermont’s private, public, and non-profit sectors, including business development, education, human resources management, workforce development, and non-profit management. She takes over from Jane Campbell, who announced she was stepping down last November.

Roxanne Vought

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness & Sports is pleased to announce recipients of 2020 Exercise is Medicine Community Wellness Grants. Funds for the grants are raised by the annual Vermont Corporate Cup Challenge and State Agency Race. The 2020 race will take place on Thursday, May 7, 2020 in Montpelier. The grants are guided by the principles of Exercise is Medicine (EIM), a global health initiative led by the American College of Sports Medicine. EIM is committed to the belief that physical activity plays an integral role in the prevention, treatment, and management of chronic diseases and should, therefore, be considered and promoted as a vital sign of health.