Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) has released a round of funding for the Agricultural Clean Water Initiative Program (Ag CWIP) to support agricultural water quality programs that address Vermont water quality. Local and regional partners play a vital role in the education, outreach, and technical assistance for farmers as well as verification of conservation practices that will achieve reductions in nutrient runoff from agricultural operations. Additionally, partners provide a critical link between state agency programs, federal agency programs and landowners.

Vermont Business Magazine The long-term health of Lake Champlain’s ecosystem—currently under threat from a number of man-made factors—is crucial to economic vitality and quality-of-life in the entire region.  For this reason, F. Peter Rose (Class of 1954) has made a new $1 million gift to support the use of research vessels by the University of Vermont’s Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory.  The gift will create a permanently endowed fund that will yield vital annual support for the operation, maintenance, and repair of the Rubenstein Lab’s fleet of watercraft and their instrumentation. 

Vermont Business Magazine The International Association of Insurance celebrated IAIP week in May.  In honor of this week The Vermont Association of Insurance Professionals chose to give back to the community.

Vermont Business Magazine A team of assessors from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) will arrive July 8, 2019 to examine all aspects of the University Of Vermont Department Of Police Services’ policy and procedures, management, operations, and support services. Verification by the team that UVM Police Services meets the commission’s state-of-the-art standards is part of a voluntary process to retain accreditation---a highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence, according to Chief Lianne M Tuomey.

As part of the on-site assessment, agency employees and members of the community are invited to offer comments at a public information session on Tuesday, July 9, 2019 at 4:00 p.m.  The session will be conducted in room 403, located in the Dudley Davis Center, UVM campus, Burlington, VT.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont improved six places in the 2019 senior health rankings over last year, placing at number 8, and a recent study found that most earthworms in Vermont soil are invasive species introduced in the 18th and 19th centuries. The state was ranked at 47 out of 50 by Forbes in its rankings of states for business, and other research news from CRVT.

Vermont Business Magazine The 32nd Annual Circus Smirkus Big Top Tour opens on Saturday June 29, 2019 in Greensboro, Vermont for two shows at 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm. The opening day performances are the first on a 69-show tour that will visit 5 states and 16 towns over 51 days this summer. Upcoming area shows include St Johnsbury July 2 & 3 and Essex Junction July 5, 6 & 7. Tickets and show information are available at www.smirkus.org.

Governor Phil Scott The budget I’ll sign today is a good, fiscally responsible budget, which funds many of the legislature’s priorities as well as initiatives I proposed. And it does all this while keeping new spending to a level Vermonters can afford.

Let’s Grow Kids Today Governor Phil Scott signed the state budget into law that invests $7.4 million to expand Vermonters’ access to high-quality, affordable child care. Of all the many priorities for legislators and the administration, child care rose to the top with unprecedented tripartisan support for much-needed investments including the first major state funding increase for child care financial assistance in nearly a decade.

Vermont Business Magazine At its meeting Monday night, the Burlington City Council approved the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget by an 11-1 vote. The $79 million general fund budget represents a $3 million (4 percent) increase from the FY 2019 budgeted amount.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, US Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing the Department of the Interior’s budget, Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, called on Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary David Bernhardt to inform the Interior Appropriations subcommittee of the president’s reported Fourth of July plans and how the additional costs will be funded.

Vermont Business Magazine In order to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent in Vermont, renters need to earn $22.78 an hour, or $47,375 annually. With over 76,214 renter households, Vermont has the 6th largest affordability gap for renters of any state in the nation. Vermont’s 2019 Housing Wage, revealed in a national report, was released today. 

Vermont Business Magazine Traffic-stop data from 2018 released today by the Vermont State Police show the agency is continuing to make progress in addressing racial disparities in discretionary traffic stops and improving data quality.