Current News

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) joined Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and 27 of their colleagues today in issuing a letter to Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Dorothy A. Fink, M.D., and Acting Director of the Office of Head Start, Captain Tala Hooban, expressing concern about the acute financial impacts and lingering uncertainty faced by Head Start programs across the country as a result of the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) memo that imposed a government-wide hiring freeze. While the White House later clarified that Head Start would not be targeted by the funding freeze and the OMB later rescinded memo, Head Start programs were temporarily unable to access the Payment Management System (PMS) to access their allocated federal funds. As a result, Head Start programs nationwide have not had funding disbursed in a timely manner—imperiling their ability to pay staff and keep educational and child care programs up and running.    

Vermont Business Magazine Secretary of Administration Sarah Clark released Vermont’s revenue results for December 2024. The General Fund, Transportation Fund and Education Fund all missed their respective monthly consensus cash flow target, as adopted by the Emergency Board at its July 2024 meeting. The General Fund and the Transportation Fund remain comfortably ahead of target for the first half of the fiscal year while the Education Fund remains slightly behind. The State’s General Fund, Transportation Fund, and Education Fund receipts were a combined $279.6 million, lagging the $284.0 million monthly consensus target by $4.4 million, or 1.6%. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine State economists Jeff Carr, for the Scott Administration, and Tom Kavet, for the Legislature, presented their consensus tax revenue report on January 22. Revenues in FY25 to date (which began July 1, 2024) have been close to expectations, with a few large Corporate revenue events and broader strength in Personal Income flows that have lifted General Fund revenues about 6.0% above targets or $63.9 million. The caveats to these forecasts mostly have to do with Trump Administration policies regarding tariffs and immigration, along with ongoing concerns on the federal budget deficit and inflation concerns. The Fed declined to cut rates in January 29 after three cuts late last year, calling it a "pause." FY2026 General Fund revenues are expected to exceed the July forecast by $49.3 million, while the Transportation fund will see minimal growth of $3 million (versus $3.1 million in FY25) and the Education Fund is expected to be $6.6 million below targets in FY25 and $5.1 below in FY26.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that Andrew Hollins, who has also been known as Andrew Jones, 38, of Colchester, Vermont and New York City, was sentenced on January 31, 2024 in United States District Court in Burlington to 62 months of imprisonment following his guilty pleas to two separate indictments charging him with narcotics trafficking, wire fraud and money laundering. Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss ordered that Hollins serve three years of supervised release following completion of his prison term and pay restitution in the amount of $33,000. The court ordered that Hollins’ federal sentence run concurrently with a 2 to 4-year sentence Hollins is currently serving in New York State on two gun charges.

by Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, VAHHS Legislators want to know what hospitals are doing to address Vermont’s affordability and access issues. I’m here to tell you that hospitals, even during great uncertainty at the federal and state level, are doing everything they can to reduce costs and increase access for Vermonters. We have innovative partnerships between hospitals and EMS to provide more care in the home, partnerships between hospitals and housing organizations to give Vermonters medical care in a home rather than an emergency department. Vermont’s hospitals are rethinking the entire system of care with mid-size hospitals taking on sicker patients and smaller hospitals taking back patients from the largest hospitals to free up access at a more affordable cost. Hospitals are also taking a hard look at services and personnel and making cuts for further affordability. 

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.12 per gallon, down 0.6 cents per gallon from last week's $3.12/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.75/g while the highest was $3.89/g, a difference of $1.14/g. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.04/g today. The national average is down 1.4 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 10.3 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets The Vermont Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) just opened an ACT NOW fund pool, which provides payments to farmers for common conservation and planning activities. Select EQIP conservation practices on cropland, such as cover crop, no till, reduced till and nutrient management, as well as many planning activities such as forest management plans and comprehensive nutrient management plans are eligible for this cycle of ACT NOW funding. ACT NOW allows NRCS to pre-approve a ranked EQIP application, if that application meets or exceeds the state determined minimum threshold ranking score. This means there could be less waiting time from when farms submit an application to signing a potential contract.

By Lauren Milideo, UVM Director Richard Watts and Managing Director Meg Little Reilly of the Center for Community News (CCN) presented their strategy for growing and strengthening student reporting across the country at the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College Board of Trustees’ annual winter meeting on Jan. 31-Feb. 1. At the heart of the CCN’s national strategy is its home-state laboratory: the Community News Service, which provides reporting to local news partners across Vermont. Board members learned of efforts by CCN to change the media ecosystem in “news deserts” across the United States. News deserts are defined as American counties that have only one local news outlets, or none at all. 

Vermont Business Magazine During its winter board meeting on February 2, 2025, Norwich University’s Board of Trustees unanimously elected Mr. Alfred J. “Al” Gobeille ’86 as the next Chair of the Board of Trustees. He will succeed the incumbent Chair, Mr. Alan DeForest ’75, who has served in the role for the past nine years, at the conclusion of his tenure in April. Gobeille’s election follows a thorough process developed, vetted, and executed by the Board of Trustees. A distinguished alumnus of Norwich University, class of 1986, and parent of a 2018 graduate, Gobeille brings a wealth of experience in leadership, public service, and entrepreneurship. His career spans decades and includes both public and private sector work. 

Vermont Business Magazine Special Olympics athletes, organization leaders, Unified Sports® partners, and family members from across the United States and the District of Columbia will converge on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., from February 3-5, 2025, for the annual Special Olympics “Capitol Hill Day.” This flagship event, organized by Special Olympics, includes more than 250 participants and volunteers from 48 states and the District of Columbia. 4 representatives from Special Olympics Vermont including SOVT athlete Connor Turnbaugh and SOVT President & CEO, Sarah McCaffrey will be attending to represent the state of Vermont!

by Cathedral Square CEO Kim Fitzgerald How can this be? Long-term care communities support our most vulnerable. For far too long, direct care staff have been underpaid and underappreciated. During the pandemic, they were our heroes – caring for people 24/7. During COVID outbreaks, they went to work in gowns and shields, continuing to offer compassionate care, often risking their own lives. They could not and would not leave their shift until someone relieved them. On behalf of everyone at Cathedral Square, I cannot thank them enough. Unfortunately, this continues to be their reality every day. For many, flu and COVID outbreaks are a thing of the past, but not for long-term care communities. They care for those who can’t feed themselves, those who need help dressing, and bathing, or getting in and out of bed. They care for our loved ones, those who taught us, protected us, and raised us.

by Mark Whitworth I’m gonna flap my arms and fly over the Statehouse dome. And if I should fail, I will punch myself in the face. That is the essence of Vermont’s Global Warming Solutions Act. The “flap my arms and fly” portion of the GWSA is a set of unachievable carbon emissions reduction targets. The “punch myself in the face” part is the GWSA’s invitation to sue Vermont at taxpayer expense when the unachievable targets are not met. We will then face the prospect of a judge ordering the Secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources to make rules that accomplish the impossible. It won’t be pretty.