Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose 1.7 points in July to 100.3, slightly above the 52-year average of 98. Contributing most to the rise in the Optimism Index were respondents reporting better business conditions and reporting that it is a good time to expand. In contrast to the Optimism Index, the Uncertainty Index increased by eight points from June to 97. Twenty-one percent of small business owners reported labor quality as their single most important problem, up five points from June and ranking as the top problem.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine’s Center on Aging received $50,000 from the Eisner Foundation for a project to advance the health and well-being of older Vermonters through intergenerational engagement. The funds will support the creation of a statewide youth leadership program that will place high school students in multigenerational volunteer groups in their communities, with an aim to build meaningful relationships with older Vermonters. High school students are invited to apply to this free program by September 2, 2025. The high schoolers will participate in biweekly volunteer groups at senior living or residential care communities close to their schools, as part of a volunteer team led by trained UVM student facilitators.

Vermont Business Magazine A record 132 employers in Vermont will receive awards for their efforts to promote wellness initiatives within the workplace. The Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports will present the awards to business owners, company presidents, chief officers, human resources professionals, and wellness committee members on October 31, 2025, at the Killington Grand Resort. The awards ceremony takes place in conjunction with the Vermont Safety and Health Council annual Expo.

The annual Governor’s Award for Excellence in Worksite Wellness Awards recognize Vermont employers for their programs and policies which bolster a culture of wellness and improve the lives of their employees.

Saint Michael's College The study of spider brains at St. Mike's led to a groundbreaking discovery about what could be contributing to Alzheimer's. Neuroscience and Biology Professors Ruth Fabian-Fine and Adam Weaver, along with summer student researchers, discuss the exciting findings, what drives them, and how undergraduate students are key to pushing forward this important research.

Vermont Business Magazine VEOC has welcomed Putney Mountain Winery to Vermont’s community of employee-owned companies, following its purchase by the “Fermented Five,” organized as a worker cooperative, on July 29th. Founded by Charles and Kate Dodge in 2005, the company specializes in fruit wines with a focus on sourcing locally grown fruit, and more recently added a distilling component to the business. Charles first engaged with the employee ownership exit option when he attended a seminar hosted by VEOC in 2014, and VEOC stayed in touch over the subsequent years as the idea fermented.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is offering a New Instructor Training Course for people interested in volunteering to teach Hunter Education courses in Vermont. Also, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reminds hunters that waterfowl hunting blinds may not be placed on or in the waters of the state earlier than the first Saturday in September. And, hunters traveling outside Vermont to hunt moose, deer, or elk need to follow a regulation designed to protect Vermont's deer and moose from chronic wasting disease, according to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.09 per gallon, down 2 cents per gallon from last week, unchanged from a month ago and down 31 cents/g from last year. The lowest price in the state this week was $2.65/g while the highest was $3.25/g, a difference of 60.0 cents per gallon. Prices were lowest in Bennington ($2.98/g) and Rutland ($3.00/g) counties and highest in Lamoille ($3.24/g), Franklin ($3.24/g) and Grand Isle ($3.23/g). The national average price of gasoline is unchanged in the last week, averaging $3.16/g today.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Federal Credit Union has once again been recognized for excellence in marketing and communications, earning multiple Diamond Awards from the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Marketing & Business Development Council. This year’s honors celebrate the impact and creativity behind Vermont Federal's Credit Card Balance Transfer campaign, 2023 Annual Report, and Rigorous Technology Business Member Spotlight. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Michael Holden, 36, formerly of Lyndonville and currently living in Newport, Vermont, was sentenced yesterday in Vermont Superior Court, Bennington Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to two felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials - Second Offense. The Court, Judge Jennifer Barrett presiding, sentenced Holden to one to ten years in prison for both counts in addition to the sentence he is currently serving for his previous offenses, and required him to register as a sex offender for life. 

VT LEAP The Vermont Housing Conservation Board is offering enrollment into the Viability Program for Specialized Business Support. If you are a farm or forest business seeking an advisor for the short- or long-term plan, this program is for you. This applies to all consulting foresters, farms of all sizes, loggers, maple producers, sawmills, and craftspeople!  For those who have attended the Spring LEAP Workshops for Maple sugaring, or if you are in the maple tapping business or own a sugarbush, the UVM Extension Business Team would like to offer you some useful information about Forest Business and Maple Business programming!

Vermont Business Magazine New adult hunters and families looking for mentorship and a community to learn with are invited to the department’s annual "Learn to Hunt" series. There will be two free weekend workshops, one on deer hunting, and one on waterfowl hunting. Volunteer instructors and F&W staff will guide you through a day of learning techniques for harvesting, processing and cooking your game. Workshops begin August 16 and run through October 17.

by Camryn Woods, Community News Service Vermont’s single landfill in Coventry receives hundreds of thousands of pounds of waste every year. Most of that amount is municipal waste — regular household and business trash like a Snicker’s wrapper or an old rocking chair. In 2023 alone, a report by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation showed Vermonters generated 540,000 tons of municipal solid waste. That’s equivalent to the weight of 1.5 Empire State Buildings. Vermont’s solid waste plan has a goal to prevent 50% of the state’s waste stream from entering the landfill by reducing, recycling, repairing and composting. The closest the state came to meeting that number was in 2024, when 41% was diverted, according to Josh Kelly, solid waste program manager of the Waste Management and Prevention Division at DEC.