Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) received a $230,000 grant Friday to bolster economic development in 11 Windham and Bennington communities. BDCC will provide technical assistance to local non-profits and long term strategic economic development planning for the region with the funding.

“The Southern Vermont Economy Project seeks to engage the relationships built during the post Irene recovery and enhance the capacity of these on-the-ground organizations to deliver economic development services to areas in need,” said USDA Rural Development Vermont and New Hampshire State Director Ted Brady. “BDCC recognizes that communities are stronger together than apart and will use this project to rebuild southern Vermont’s economic foundation.”

Vermont Business Magazine EPA has announced it will be awarding $15,994,000 in Brownfield grants to municipalities and organizations working in all six New England states to protect people’s health by assessing and cleaning up contaminated parcels in New England communities. Vermont's share will be $800,000, which will be split between the Windham and Chittenden regional planning commissions. The grants, funded by EPA’s Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup grant program, provide communities with the funding they need to assess, clean up and redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and leverage jobs while protecting public health and the environment.

Vermont Business Magazine With all the major indicators suggesting a strong trend, the Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for April was 3.2 percent. This represents a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised March rate (3.3 percent). The number of employed and the labor force were up versus both the previous month and the previous year and the number of unemployed was down versus both time indicators. The national rate in April was 5.0 percent. Overall, Vermont’s unemployment rate was tied for fifth lowest in the country.

Vermont Business Magazine - I scream, you scream, we all scream… for voting rights. Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream maker known for its progressive values and fun as much as their chunk and swirl laden ice cream, is back at it again. The company, which has never shied away from controversy, is tackling a not so new challenge: the nation’s democracy. The company chose North Carolina to launch its newest flavor and “Democracy Is In Your Hands’ campaign because it is at the epicenter of the fight for voting rights in the United States. Almost immediately following the 2013 Supreme Court decision invalidating a critical section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, North Carolina passed a package restrictive voting policies that disproportionately impact black, Hispanic, and younger voters.

Vermont Business Magazine - David Silverman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank is pleased to announce the opening of its first loan office in Washington County. The new loan production center officially opened for business on May 13^th with a ribbon cutting celebration to be held at a later date.

Vermont Business Magazine - In a vote of 68 to 30, the Senate Thursday afternoon approved an emergency appropriation to combat the ongoing Zika crisis.  The bipartisan compromise, co-authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., broke a legislative stalemate that has delayed Senate action on the Zika threat for three and a half months.   

Most of the $1.1 billion in emergency funding in the Senate bill would be used to counter Zika in the United States.  A portion, $258 million, will be used to combat Zika at its source, in Latin America and the Caribbean.  This portion of the funding will also help support the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization in their anti-Zika efforts, and it will provide medical support for U.S. citizens and U.S. government employees stationed overseas.

Vermont Business Magazine - Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) and Community College of Vermont (CCV) are joining forces in response to challenges filling positions within the local healthcare workforce by launching an accelerated program to prepare qualified candidates for jobs as Certified Medical Assistants. Enrollment in the 14-week program will be limited to 20 participants. Classes will be held on the CCV Brattleboro campus.

“This is a great career program for anyone with an interest in healthcare – a field with many job opportunities and options for advancement,” says Bonnie McKellar, BMH’s Vice President of Physician Services and Business Development. “BMH is always looking for new talent to join our team, and this partnership with CCV gives us access to highly motivated candidates with the education and skills needed to provide exceptional healthcare to our patients.”

Vermont Business Magazine - At a local action summit in Contois Auditorium Wednesday morning, Mayor Miro Weinberger joined community leaders working with Burlington teens in announcing the City of Burlington’s acceptance of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Challenge. My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) is a White House cradle to career initiative President Obama launched in 2014 to address opportunity gaps facing American youth, particularly boys and young men of color. Since its launch, nearly 250 cities and towns across the country have accepted the President’s call to action.

Vermont Business Magazine - The Vermont Historical Society returns to the Tunbridge World’s Fairgrounds with the Vermont History Expo on June 18 and 19, 2016. A unique country history fair, the Expo will feature barns full of heritage breed cattle, pigs, and poultry. Farming techniques such as raising poultry will also be demonstrated.

Amanda Gustin, Vermont Historical Society’s Expo coordinator, explains, “Knowledgeable 4-H members will commandeer the judging arena and Expo attendees can actually see the characteristics and learn about each breed. Heritage breeds are traditional livestock, some of which may be in danger of extinction. Heritage breeders are helping to maintain these animals, some of which will be important to agriculture’s future. Our Morgan Horse demonstrations and pageantry are extraordinary, too.”

by Mike Faher/The Commons Brattleboro When it’s time to remove spent nuclear fuel from Vermont Yankee, it appears likely that will happen via rail — not trucks. That was the takeaway last week for local officials and for plant administrators after meeting with a visiting team from the Department of Energy. That team was in town to begin planning for the eventual transport of 3,880 radioactive fuel assemblies stored at the Vernon plant.

There still is no national, permanent storage site for that material, meaning federal officials can’t offer a firm schedule for a fuel move. But those who sat down with Department of Energy representatives say they now know more about what to expect when it happens.

“They said rail is the way to go for us,” said Joe Lynch, Entergy Vermont Yankee government affairs manager.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s annual fish stocking work is underway and the Department plans to stock over 750,000 fish into Vermont waters in the coming weeks. Exactly 768,500 trout and salmon will be stocked, including nearly 300,000 that will be catchable-sized fish, as well as almost 20,000 trophy trout. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont continues to lead the nation when it comes to clean energy jobs, according to the 2016 Clean Energy Industry Report announced today by Governor Peter Shumlin and the Department of Public Service. In the past year, there has been an increase of over 1,400 clean energy jobs, bringing the total number of Vermonters employed in this industry to 17,715. With one in every 17 workers - or about 6 percent of the State's workforce - now part of the clean energy economy, Vermont has the highest number of per capita clean energy jobs of any US state.