Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger, along with City staff and community partners, on Thursday announced the grand opening of Water Works Park. The city’s newest public park, Water Works Park is located at the edge of Lake Champlain, and includes walking paths, large garden beds planted with native trees and shrubs, LED lighting, nine benches, stormwater improvements, a boardwalk, and greater access to Lake Champlain.

Vermont Business Magazine Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Thursday welcomed the House passage of the $4.6 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill to address the escalating humanitarian crisis on the southern border. The bill is a bipartisan compromise forged between Leahy and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), which passed the Senate earlier this week with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 84 to 8. The bill now heads to the president’s desk where it is expected to be signed into law. The bill passed the house with a bipartisan vote of 305 to 102.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont Public Utility Commission issued a report that describes ways to promote the ownership and use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Vermont. The report sets forth extensive recommendations for actions to be taken by State government, electric utilities, and third-party suppliers and installers of EV charging equipment to accelerate the transition to electric transportation. Recommendations include creating state incentives for the purchase of EVs and encouraging electric utilities to develop new rate structures that make Vermont an economically welcoming place for both EV drivers and charging station operators.

​Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and The Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) announced on Wednesday the expansion of its Stay to Stay Weekends, an economic development tourism program launched as a pilot in 2018 that has successfully relocated over a dozen people from across the country to Vermont. The new communities that will host Stay to Stay Weekends include Newport (July 26-29, December 13-16) and St. Johnsbury (September 13-16, October 4-7), located in what is known as the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development has announced Zoning for Great Neighborhoods, a project aimed at helping Vermont cities and towns address regulatory barriers to providing housing choices for more Vermonters. The project will provide guidance and model regulations to build a better pipeline for the development of all types of housing, particularly multi-family housing and walkable communities.

Decent, affordable, and reasonably located homes, more than anything, determine the well-being of every Vermonter. Location and transportation connection are especially important: Where we live can ease or complicate our access to work, schools, recreation, and services.  Many Vermont households – including the majority with moderate incomes – must make difficult trade-offs to find a home that is both conveniently located and within their means. 

Vermont Business Magazine Tuesday, around 200 people attended the 4^th Annual Opioid Forum at Green Mountain Technology and Career Center in Hyde Park. This year’s forum was a community call to action and gathering of hope, in honor of Jenna Rae Tatro (1992-2019). Governor Phil Scott began the evening by signing S.146, an act relating to substance misuse prevention and touched on the important work happening to combat substance use disorders. 

“I can’t underscore enough, the importance of connecting with other people and knowing that someone is there to give you a helping hand while in recovery,” said Governor Scott. “Tonight, we must recommit ourselves to the important work ahead and continue to work together, because in order to win this battle, we need to prioritize prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery,” Governor Scott added.

Vermont Business Magazine A range of non-profits that support downtown and community revitalization, energy education, and public safety received grants this spring from Vermont Electric Cooperative’s Community Fund. The Community Fund is a program voluntarily funded by VEC members who round up their electric bills, and from one-time donations, and donation of patronage capital dollars. The fund makes grants to local organizations that support economic security, energy education, emergency and disaster relief, and community development.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), with Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and 16 other senators, Wednesday sent a letter to Phyllis K. Fong, the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), to request an investigation into potential instances of suppression and alteration of scientific reports, documents, or communications produced by USDA.

Vermont Business Magazine The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced a public meeting to be held in Vernon to discuss the best practices and lessons learned associated with community and citizen advisory boards (“CABs”) associated with decommissioning plant activities, like those ongoing in Vernon relating to the decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. The meetings are required under a provision secured by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) in the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act. The public meeting is tentatively expected to take place between August and October.

“Communities experiencing the safety and economic impacts of nuclear plant decommissioning deserve a role in shaping those decommissioning plans for nuclear reactors near them,” Sanders said. “This input is especially critical given the potential for non-operational plants to sit for decades before removal and decontamination.”

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan announced today that the State of Vermont has taken a major environmental action to protect Vermont’s drinking water and natural resources by filing two lawsuits against companies for the manufacturing and distribution of PFAS chemicals and PFAS-containing products in Vermont. The lawsuits name the 3M Company and EI du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) and related DuPont companies as the major chemical makers who manufactured and distributed PFAS chemicals and related products.

Vermont Business Magazine The Peck Company (NASDAQ:PECK), a leading commercial solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company, announced Wednesday an initial agreement to construct a portfolio of solar PV arrays generating 7 megawatts for one of its customers. This customer currently owns several hundred million dollars in solar assets and also has a backlog of several hundred million dollars in new projects where they need partners for EPC development, a core competency of The Peck Company.

The projected revenue from the portfolio of projects is approximately $17 million, and each project is subject to a customary EPC contract. The customer's named has not been publicized. The Peck Company will provide further updates on each specific contract.

Vermont Business Magazine The US House of Representatives last week approved a bipartisan bill authored by Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) that will protect Vermont seniors and others from abuse and neglect by bad actors in the Medicaid program. The bill was co-authored by Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) and approved on a strong bipartisan vote of 371 to 46.

Under current law, state-based Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs) are only authorized to investigate fraud and abuse that occurs in health care facilities. Welch’s legislation expands their authority to detect, investigate, and prosecute fraud and abuse in non-institutional settings as well. In most states, MCFUs are overseen by state attorneys general.