Current News

Vermont Business Magazine One of the state’s premier wildlife watching opportunities is taking place in Vermont. The steelhead rainbow trout have started their upstream migration to leap up waterfalls in a spectacular display of determination on their way to their spawning grounds. Steelhead can be spotted moving up the falls during warmer days in mid-to-late April and sometimes into early May.

Vermont Business Magazine Union Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ - UNB) today announced results for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and declared a regular quarterly cash dividend. Consolidated net income for the three months ended March 31 was $2.5 million, or $0.55 per share, compared to $2.4 million, or $0.53 per share, for the same period in 2024. Total assets were $1.52 billion as of March 31 compared to $1.42 billion as of March 31, 2024, an increase of $107.2 million, or 7.6%. Loan demand was strong in 2024 and through the first three months of 2025 resulting in an increase of $128.0 million, or 12.3 %, to reach $1.16 billion as of March 31 including $4.1 million in loans held for sale, compared to $1.04 billion as of March 31, 2024, with $3.4 million in loans held for sale. Despite the economic uncertainty in the future, asset quality remains strong with minimal past due loans and net recoveries of $1 thousand for each of the periods ended March 31, 2025, and March 31, 2024.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas announced today that her office has been recognized for excellence in election administration with a national Clearinghouse Award. The office’s 2024 video PSA: “Election Security in Vermont” won in the category of Distinguished Voter Education and Communications Initiatives. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) presents the awards program, also known as the “Clearies,” annually to celebrate the hard work of election offices across the country. Now in its ninth year, this year’s Clearie Awards honored programs that took place during the 2024 presidential election year.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office today announced Stephen Nuciolo Jr., 18, of Bridport, Vermont, pleaded not guilty to the charge of Murder in the Second Degree at his arraignment in Vermont Superior Court, Addison Criminal Division, following his invocation of the 24-hour rule. Mr. Nuciolo, who was charged yesterday, is accused of fatally shooting his father on January 24, 2024, in Bridport, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine VMEC and the Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Small Business Law Center and Clinic have announced a new partnership aimed at expanding legal services for manufacturers across the state. Through this collaboration, VMEC and VLGS will host a webinar series designed to help manufacturers better understand their rights and responsibilities, and how to protect themselves and their employees.  Topics will include contracts, regulatory compliance, business entities, risk management, and other legal issues that small manufacturers often face.

Vermont Business Magazine The Lake Champlain Chamber successfully hosted its 114th Annual Gala on Thursday, April 10 at Hula, bringing together over 250 business leaders and community members to celebrate the outstanding achievements of local businesses, organizations, and individuals. The evening was a resounding success, highlighting the vital contributions that drive Northwest Vermont's thriving economy forward. The Gala recognized the following distinguished award recipients: Business of the Year: Waitsfield & Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT); Non-Profit of the Year: The Flynn; New Business of the Year: Hootie Hoo; and Emerging Leader Award: Sophie Owen Jankowski.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general filing an amicus brief supporting an injunction to block erratic and unlawful layoffs and mismanagement at the Social Security Administration by acting administrator Leland Dudek and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that jeopardize continued payments for millions of Americans. The brief supports the plaintiffs in American Association of People with Disabilities v. Dudek and was filed Tuesday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.  

by Saylor Flannery, Community News Service Olympian Ryan Cochran-Siegle returns to Vermont every year to race with young skiers on the slopes of his family’s Richmond ski area. On March 29, just days from competing in an alpine skiing World Cup race, he was there at Cochran’s Ski Area for the annual Thank God for Snowmaking competition. Usually the race is hosted under a blue sky and beaming sun, but this year attendees were treated to a fresh 5 inches of heavy snow the night before. Cochran’s Ski Area, about 10 minutes off Interstate 89, has been bringing young people out on the snow for decades. The small mountain features seven trails, accessed by a T-bar and rope tow, and since 1998 has been home to one of the few nonprofit ski areas in New England.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) is inviting residents to attend our first regular Digital Empowerment (DE) Quarterly Meeting. It’s an opportunity to get an update on our work, share ideas, and ask questions. Vermont’s DE Plan is the way Vermont will make sure every resident has high-quality, accessible, affordable technology resources and knows how to use them.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office Tuesday announced that David Razinha, 55, of Ludlow, Vermont, was sentenced in Vermont Superior Court, Washington Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to two felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The Court, Judge Michael J. Harris presiding, sentenced the defendant, after a contested hearing, to five to ten years in prison, all suspended expect for 12 months. After serving 12 months in prison, he will be placed on a ten-year term of probation with conditions that mandate completion of sex offender programming, limit his contact with children, limit his alcohol use, and restrict his access to the internet. If Razinha violates the terms of his probation, he may face up to ten years in prison. Razinha is also required to register as a sex offender for life.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement: “Yesterday Vermonters witnessed the arrest of Mohsen Mahdawi, a foreign national with legal status to be in the United States of America. That legal status, the Bill of Rights, and Constitution of the United States all grant him, and all people, fundamental rights – including due process. Facts matter.  If there is evidence that Mahdawi is a threat to the security of our nation, or Vermont, the federal government should make this information known, immediately. Probable cause based on real evidence is the only justification to deny someone their liberty, so if the federal government cannot produce that evidence, Mr. Mahdawi should be released."

by Jack Hoffman, Public Assets Institute Now that the House has passed an education reform plan, it will be easy to get bogged down in the minutiae that differentiate it from Gov. Phil Scott’s “Education Transformation Proposal.” But before Vermonters get lost in the weeds debating these proposals, they might want to ask themselves if they support the radical change that both plans represent: Are they ready to abandon the idea that taxation for public education should be based on residents’ ability to pay and that a person’s income is the fairest measure of that ability? Are they ready to take control of education spending away from local voters and cede it to the Agency of Education?