Current News

Vermont Business Magazine What is the best way to address hunger in the Upper Valley? Well, there might not be a single “best” way, but the fight against food insecurity is getting a big boost with the launch of the national healthy food incentive program Double Up Food Bucks at the Co-op Food Stores of Hanover, Lebanon and White River Junction. Double Up provides low-income Americans who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits with a one-to-one match to purchase healthy, locally grown fruits and vegetables.

Vermont Business Magazine A vision of a different kind of agricultural education takes a step toward becoming a reality this summer when Sterling College begins to offer classes in Henry County, Kentucky, based on the lifework and writing of Wendell Berry. The College has been awarded a three-year grant totaling $156,000 to support the development of a series of field intensives that, as an extension of Sterling’s long-standing Field Studies program, will be the inaugural academic courses in The Wendell Berry Farming Program of Sterling College.

by Bill Schubart My favorite way to recover after a hot afternoon’s hard work has always been to chug down a quart of ice cold water from a Mason jar and then jump into a clear mountain brook or a neighbor’s pond.
It refreshes me both inside and out and reminds me that water is a healer – as well as one of our most fragile natural resources.

In the ‘50s, my family had a camp on Lake Willoughby and every spring we’d run one end of a pipe into the lake to feed the camp’s drinking supply. As kids, we drank from mountain streams when hunting and fishing. And we swam in Lake Elmore, even though it was effectively the local septic system.

Usually, there wasn’t any visible evidence of that.

Vermont Business Magazine The second year of the Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC) NERC Environmental Sustainability Leadership Award competition has begun. The award will recognize an individual or organization for the impact they have made on sustainable materials management within the NERC 11-state region. Applications for the will be accepted through September 12. To be eligible, an organization or individual must be located within NERC’s 11-member states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Outdoors Woman is sponsoring an outdoor education retreat for adventurous women 18 years and older in Canaan, Vermont on September 14-16, 2018. Fall Doe Camp will offer three days of classes to be held in the woods, in the lodge, on the lake and on the sandy beach as foliage season begins in the Northeast Kingdom of VT.

Doe Camp will be returning to Jackson's Lodge & Log Cabins, a 59 year family tradition providing heated lakefront cabins on beautiful Lake Wallace. Located in Vermont's moose country, Jackson's Cafe is a local favorite for homemade breakfast and baked goods (including gluten free).

Vermont Business Magazine Union Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ:UNB) today announced results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2018 and declared a regular quarterly cash dividend. Consolidated net income for the three months ended June 30, 2018 was $2.5 million, or $0.54 per share, compared to $2.2 million, or $0.50 per share, for the same period in 2017 and $5.2 million, or $1.16 per share, for the six months ended June 30, 2018, compared to $4.2 million, or $0.93 per share for the same period in 2017.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Personal Income taxes finished the month of June ahead of projections again, pushing General Fund revenues for the month and the now-completed fiscal year well ahead of economists' targets. The latest results were expected given recent results, but are in contrast to the first half of the fiscal year.

Vermont Business Magazine Housing Vermont took ownership of the Depot Square property today. Housing Vermont will operate the property under new management as it makes plans for a substantial renovation and redevelopment of the building for affordable housing and commercial opportunities. The Depot Square apartment building, located in downtown St Johnsbury, is in need of substantial renovations. Financing, design and permitting of the redevelopment plans are expected to take 12 to 24 months to assemble.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Governor Phil Scott today welcomed Governor Shinji Hirai of Tottori Prefecture, Japan, to sign a Sister State Agreement between Vermont and Tottori Prefecture, Japan’s smallest prefecture.

“On the face of it, one wouldn’t think there would be much in common between Vermont and Tottori, Japan,” said Governor Scott. “After all, we are over 6,000 miles apart and do not share the same language. However, there are many similarities, from our small populations to our beautiful mountains and outdoor recreation. Vermont looks forward to continuing our relationship with Tottori and to broaden the exchanges to include tourism and trade between the two regions.”

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) hailed the announcement this week that the Vermont State Housing Authority (VSHA) will receive from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) a fiscal year 2017 grant of $2 million to address youth homelessness. The funds, as part of HUD’s Youth Homelessness Demonstration Project, are being granted to VSHA on behalf of the Vermont Balance of State Continuum of Care, and in partnership with the Vermont Agency of Human Services and the Vermont Coalition of Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs. The Balance of State Continuum of Care facilitates a coordinated approach to addressing homelessness.

Vermont Business Magazine Late Tuesday night, the House of Representatives approved a bipartisan amendment, authored by Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to appropriate $8.4 million in fiscal year 2019 for the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP). The House Appropriations Committee had recommended a funding level of just $4.4 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced the launch of a website to allow Vermonters to provide feedback on a proposed rule affecting clinics that receive Title X funds. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is writing new rules for recipients of Title X funding. Title X is the only nationwide program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care. The proposed rules would implement a “gag rule” on abortion referrals and redirect funding priorities from the CDC’s birth control recommendations to “natural family planning methods.”