Current News

Public Assets Institute The Committee of Conference voted out a report Friday afternoon. An up-or-down vote on the bill in the full Legislature is likely on Monday, June 16th. Unfortunately, the committee’s report fails to fix the existing problems and raises significant additional concerns. The report: States that the goal of reform is to spend less on schools through: state-imposed consolidation; cutting educator jobs; reducing spending on Pre-K and special education services; shifting critical services to the General Fund without ensuring they’ll be funded; and other unproven strategies; Includes an option for high schools that receive tuitioned students to charge 5 percent above the foundation amount at the request of independent schools; Accelerates the timeline for implementation by one year, beginning with setting new district boundaries by July 1, 2026.

Vermont Business Magazine Philip Morris International Inc.’s U.S. business (PMI U.S.) today announced the appointment of Jody Sunna as U.S. Chief Communications Officer, effective September 1, 2025. In this role, Sunna will lead corporate, regulatory, civil society, and category communications across PMI’s U.S. operations, and serve as a member of the PMI U.S. Senior Management Team. Sunna is originally from Charlotte, VT, and started her career at Burlington-based Kelliher Samets Volk (which now goes by KSV). She also interned during college with the local minor league baseball team, the Vermont Lake Monsters. It was during this internship with the Lake Monsters that she discovered PR and communications.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Vermont weekly unemployment claims for the week ending June 7, 2025, were back over 300 after they fell to their lowest number this year last week. New claims this week were 350, up 111 claims from the week before and are 72 more than last year at this time. Claims, which are lowest in the summer, were 181 at the end of September 2024. Initial jobless claims in the US held steady at 248,000 in the first week of June, unchanged from the previous week’s revised figure and defying market expectations for a drop to 240,000. The figure remained at its highest level since early October 2024, signaling early signs of softening in the labor market amid persistent economic uncertainty. The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly fluctuations, rose by 5,000 to 240,250—its highest level since late August 2023.  Meanwhile, continuing claims jumped by 54,000 to 1,956,000 in the week ending May 31, the highest since mid-November 2021 and well above the forecast of 1,910,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Friday, the Committee of Conference on H.454 reached an agreement, advancing landmark legislation aimed at transforming Vermont’s education system and reducing property taxes. Following the agreement, Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski issued the following statement: “At the start of the legislative session, the House, Senate, and Governor all agreed to take on the complex challenge of transforming our education system to better serve Vermont’s kids. We entered this effort with the shared goal of lowering Vermonters’ tax bills while strengthening our public schools.” 

by Jessica Savage Having facilitated or participated in community events in many of Vermont’s smallest towns over the years, I have come to expect a few things: people who know where to find needful things, people who are surprised and delighted to hear how far you have come to be there and people who want to carry things for you. In Reading, I found people who were ready to do all that and more: from making the food, to setting up the chairs, to signing people in: they had thought of everything it takes to host their neighbors in a fun and inviting atmosphere. 

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today filed an amicus brief along with 19 other state attorneys general in support of Job Corps, a national program that offers career training and housing to young Americans from low-income backgrounds. Job Corps has nearly 100 residential campuses across the country, including Northlands Job Corps Center in Vergennes, Vermont.  The unlawful termination will impact tens of thousands of young Americans who are currently enrolled and housed at campuses in all fifty states, including Vermont. Thousands of these program participants from across the country were unhoused or in foster care when they enrolled and have no alternative housing if they lose their residence through the program. 

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Peter Welch (D-Vermont) on Thursday released the following statements after federal agents assaulted Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) at a press conference in Los Angeles Thursday afternoon: Bernie Sanders: "The assault in California by federal agents against my colleague Sen. Alex Padilla was outrageous, and those responsible must be held accountable. Tragically, what happened to Sen. Padilla today is becoming normal behavior for a Trump administration which is moving us toward authoritarianism."

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark and Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas today issued statements in response to a federal court granting the states’ motion for preliminary injunction, blocking unlawful provisions in President Trump’s unprecedented Elections Executive Order as the lawsuit proceeds. Today’s victory is the result of a lawsuit filed in April by Attorney General Clark and a coalition of 19 other attorneys general. Through their lawsuit and subsequent motion for preliminary injunction, the coalition argued that the Elections Executive Order is an unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American attempt to impose sweeping voting restrictions across the country.

VermontBiz U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, this week joined Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, for a forum entitled “The Role of Foreign Assistance in Supporting American Farmers and Protecting American Agriculture.” At the forum, Senator Welch examined how the Trump Administration’s continued attack on the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), other governmental agencies, and federally-supported foreign assistance organizations have exacerbated global hunger. 

VermontBiz UVM’s Center for Community News hosted its annual Vermont Journalism Conference on Friday in partnership with the Vermont Community Foundation, at which both organizations announced their support for the creation of a Vermont Journalism Coalition. 

The nonprofit association is the first to represent all entities producing journalism in the state – regardless of size, medium or business model. With the support of a part-time staff member, it plans to advocate for the rights of journalists, provide business and legal support to members, and raise awareness of the industry’s critical mission. More than 20 Vermont news organizations have signed on so far. 

VermontBiz On Tuesday, June 10, elected officials, community members, and local business leaders gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Woodlands Campus child care center in Randolph. The new center, when complete, will offer 88 spaces for local children and will be run by the Orange County Parent Child Center, in tandem with their Meadowlands Campus in Tunbridge. The event was hosted by project organizers and funders, including the Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation, Orange County Parent Child Center, Let’s Grow Kids, and First Children’s Finance – VT. 

Vermont Business Magazine Junapr, a Vermont-based strategic communications and event agency, has been named the newest U.S. partner of the Worldcom Public Relations Group (Worldcom)—the world’s leading partnership of independent PR firms. Worldcom’s announcement includes Junapr among four new global agencies joining the network this year, alongside firms from Buenos Aires, Mumbai and Tennessee.