Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) has awarded two grants to the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC) to expand access to workforce training and career development for Vermont youth. The first grant, totaling $20,726, supports a summer employment and training program for 10 New American youth from Winooski and Burlington. The participants, ages 15–18, are English language learners interested in service positions focused on conservation and agriculture projects. This initiative provides weekly stipends and hands-on training in sustainable agriculture.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Racial Justice Alliance (VRJA) has announced the activities leading up to the Commemoration of First African Landing Day. Activities include a documentary showing, the 1619 Traveling Exhibit and a press conference. The VRJA announced that there will be a showing of the documentary “1619, The First Africans in Virginia and the Making of America (parts I and II) at noon on August 20. The 1619 Traveling Exhibit remains on display for weekday viewing from 10:00 AM till 4:00 PM for the remainder of August. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public has been honored with a National Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) for its multimedia coverage of the 2024 total solar eclipse. The winning coverage includes a video special on the science of solar eclipses that aired on Vermont Public’s main television station and was viewed more than 35,000 times on YouTube and PBS on demand. Following the eclipse, Vermont Public produced a short documentary that captures some of the euphoria viewers experienced in Vermont’s path of totality.

Vermont Business Magazine Health Care and Rehabilitation Services (HCRS), southeastern Vermont’s non-profit community mental health agency, has announced that Chief Executive Officer George Karabakakis, Ph.D., will retire at the end of June 2026, after more than 30 years of service to the agency, including the past 11 years as CEO. Since stepping into the CEO role in 2014, Karabakakis has led HCRS through a period of transformational growth — increasing the agency’s budget from $48 million to over $73 million — while expanding access to care, deepening community partnerships, and cultivating a culture of respect, transparency, and inclusion. He is widely known for his unwavering belief in our shared humanity and his commitment to building authentic relationships across every level of the organization and the communities it serves.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported last week that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations rose slightly after they fell to a near record-low number of cases statewide over the last two months since the beginning of the pandemic over five years ago. Overall COVID trends are declining in Vermont, while being slightly elevated across the US. The Vermont COVID-19 pandemic death total stands at 1,301 as of August 9, 2025, with 0 reported deaths from the previous week (the most recent data available from the CDC). WHO also reported that global COVID-19 deaths keep declining. The VDH is no longer reporting COVID fatalities and cases in Vermont. Wastewater testing generally indicates that COVID-19 virus levels in Vermont also have fallen to very low levels after they had spiked in January. 

Vermont Business Magazine Winooski Mayor Kristine Lott announced today that she will step down as mayor on September 15. She is the first woman to serve as mayor. Lott was 33 when she was elected in 2019. Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner will fill the post until elections on Town Meeting Day next March. She did not offer a reason for resigning. This will leave the City Council with four members. Lott's term was set to expire in March 2027. Winooski has a city manager form of government. The council is a policy-setting board and the appointed city manager implements policies with the rest of the appointed staff.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Labor reported that the seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for July was 2.6 percent. This reflects no change from the prior month’s revised estimate. The civilian labor force participation rate was 64.7 percent in July, a decrease of two-tenths of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate. Vermont has the third lowest rate in the nation, behind South (1.9%) and North Dakota (2.5%). California has the highest rate at 5.5% (Washington, DC, is at 6%). The comparable United States rate in July was 4.2 percent, an increase of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised June estimate. The Labor Force and Employment are now more the 3,000 below their numbers from last year. The number of unemployed fell slightly by 74 participants.

Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Retreat has named Lyndsy McIntyre, MSN, RN, Vice President of Clinical Quality and Patient Safety. Reporting directly to the Chief Medical Officer, McIntyre will serve as a key member of the executive team, leading the organization’s quality and safety initiatives. McIntyre joins the Brattleboro Retreat with extensive leadership experience in nursing, quality management, and executive operations. Most recently, she served as Chief Nursing Officer and Vice President of Operations at Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont, NH, where she led significant improvements in quality and patient safety. Her career also includes more than four years as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Nursing Officer at Springfield Hospital.

Vermont Business Magazine On Saturday, September 6 head to Oxbow Park in Morrisville for Central Vermont Council on Aging’s annual fundraiser, Hit the Trail: a bicycle ride and 5K run or walk on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. This event aims to raise awareness and support for healthy aging programs and services while providing the opportunity for attendees to put healthy aging into practice, build community, and celebrate Vermont’s beautiful surroundings. At the event, participants can enjoy a bike ride (15 to 30-mile round-trip options), a 5K run (timed option), or a walk, up to 3.1 miles, on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail followed by a delicious taco lunch from Aranda’s, live music by Donna Thunder, lawn games and prizes back at Oxbow Park.

Vermont Business Magazine Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), alongside 10 Senate colleagues, sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon expressing outrage over the Trump administration’s harmful decision to indefinitely pause student loan forgiveness under the Income-Based Repayment (IBR) plan. The senators demanded clarity for the thousands of affected borrowers who have repaid their student loans for over 20 years and now face unnecessary financial harm.

by Mike del Trecco, VAHHs As I write, Vermont’s hospitals are just wrapping their annual budget hearings with the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB). These conversations follow their July 1 budget submissions and offer an opportunity for our non-profit hospitals to tell their unique story that underpins their budgets. The conversations are complex, inspiring, and sometimes hard, but they are vital as we all work to manage the challenges of time including financial pressures and workforce shortages. The GMCB will now deliberate before issuing orders in September. I’m incredibly proud of our hospitals for proposing responsible and forward-looking budgets that address the acute health care challenges of the moment, while also planning for the future and shifting patient needs.

Vermont Business Magazine On Monday, August 18th President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform that he plans to issue an Executive Order eliminating vote-by-mail and the use of “voting machines” in next year’s Midterm Elections. Similar to the “election integrity” Executive Order he issued back in March of this year, this statement promotes baseless myths and outright falsehoods about elections, proposes significant barriers to voting access, and represents an unprecedented and illegal overreach of Federal authority. Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas has issued the following statement in response: “The President appears to be confused about several key facts when it comes to American elections. For one, he says in his post that when it comes to election administration, states must do what he tells us. As I detailed in a statement just last week, the U.S. Constitution gives the states control over elections and gives only Congress the power to pass laws regulating elections; it does not empower the president or executive branch to do so."