Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has released the nationwide performance results from the 2024 assessments in reading and mathematics. While Vermont students performed similarly to the national average in reading, the 2024 results reinforce a decades long pattern of declining performance. Relative to pre-pandemic (2019) and post-pandemic (2022) performance, 2024 Vermont reading scores were significantly lower in Grade 4 and Grade 8.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) on Wednesday raised concerns about the character and fitness of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), to lead HHS’ ten public health service agencies and three human services agencies. Senator Welch also expressed concern about the lack of concrete plans by the Trump Administration and Mr. Kennedy to lower health care costs for Vermont families. 

Vermont Business Magazine The State of Vermont Dam Safety Program has been working with the US Army Corps of Engineers, New England Division (USACE NAE), on plans for the Waterbury Dam Spillway Project. This major project aims to improve the operability of the existing flood gates and repair degraded concrete at the dam. The goal is to rehabilitate the spillway and restore full flood protection functionality to the dam. To date, the project team has completed preliminary engineering analyses and assessment. The plan is to begin engineering design in spring 2025 through spring 2027 and construction is presently slated to commence in 2027.

Vermont Business Magazine Three parcels at important locations in the Barton and Clyde River Watersheds are now permanently protected for fish habitat, flood resilience and public access thanks to a collaboration between the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and the Memphremagog Watershed Association. In East Charlson, the half-acre Whitcomb-Bedell parcel protects the confluence of Churchill Brook and the Clyde River.  Owned for more than 100 years by the Whitcomb-Bedell family, the parcel adds to the department’s Clyde River Streambank Management Area and provides public access to Churchill Brook and opportunities to fish for the wild brook trout that call the waterway home.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that on January 28, 2025, Andrew Chaves, 25, of Washington, DC, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Christina Reiss to a term of two years’ imprisonment to be followed by a one-year term of supervised release. Chaves previously pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft. According to court records, Chaves stole two federal government vehicles from November 2023 to January 2024. He took one vehicle from a U.S. Forest Service facility in Manchester, Vermont and another from a U.S. Army facility in Lodi, New Jersey. Chaves drove both vehicles through multiple states, including Vermont, while making unauthorized purchases on credit cards he had stolen.

Vermont Business Magazine Leading organizations across Quebec and the Northeastern states of the United States have joined forces to address trade challenges and strengthen resilience. Recognizing the semiconductor industry as a cornerstone of national security and economic sovereignty, this unprecedented collaboration aims to ensure that North America remains resilient, competitive, and autonomous in this critical sector. The coalition includes: The University of Vermont and the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Construction Company has signed an agreement of cooperation announcing its commitment to become the first Vermont builder to join a worker-driven program monitoring and enforcing labor and housing standards. The commitment will bring the Building Dignity and Respect Program to Vermont’s fast-growing construction industry and provide much-needed protections to a sector lacking in regulation.

Vermont Business Magazine Several organizations weighed in on Governor Phil Scott's Budget Address on Tuesday.

Vermont Business Magazine Riko's Pizza, a highly differentiated pizza franchise concept, announced today the grand opening of its newest location on in Burlington, Vermont. This new restaurant is the Company's first in Vermont, eighth franchised location, and 12th overall, with other locations in Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, and New York. Famous for its super-thin crust tavern-style pies, local neighborhood atmosphere, and extensive selection of craft drinks, Riko's newest location is situated right in downtown Burlington at 83 Church Street, within walking distance to Lake Champlain and the University of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine After years of dreaming, planning, designing, and fundraising, the Alburgh Family Clubhouse (AFC) has officially broken ground on construction of a brand new, state-of-the-art child care and early learning center on Missile Base Road in Alburgh. The Clubhouse is on track to open in Fall 2025. The Clubhouse will address an urgent need for expanded child care and early learning opportunities for young children and their families in the small rural communities of Grand Isle and Franklin Counties. AFC will offer full-day, full-year infant, toddler, preschool, and afterschool programs.  

Vermont Business Magazine While the Vermont index fell to 48.0 in the final quarter of 2024, the national index rose to 51.0. The national results were bolstered by solid corporate revenue trends and sustained strength in the service sector, which more than offset idiosyncratic headwinds from labor strikes and weather effects in certain geographies. The national reading above 50 indicates that business conditions improved modestly during the period and that the U.S. economy is entering 2025 with momentum. The national Citizens Business Conditions Index (CBCI) rose to 51.0 in the final quarter of 2024, bolstered by solid corporate revenue trends and sustained strength in the service sector. The reading indicates that business conditions improved modestly in the fourth quarter, as the Federal Reserve continued to lower interest rates and election-related uncertainty abated.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) recently joined Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) to introduce the Making Agricultural Products Locally Essential (MAPLE) Act and the Supporting All Producers (SAP) Act, two bipartisan, bicameral bills to support Vermont’s maple industry. The MAPLE Act would provide a new market for maple syrup producers while increasing seniors’ access to nutritious, locally sourced maple syrup products by adding maple syrup to the eligible products under the Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP). SFMNP gives low-income seniors access to locally grown fruits, vegetables, honey, and herbs at farmers’ markets, roadside stands, and community-supported agriculture programs. The bill is cosponsored in the Senate by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and led in the House by Reps. Nick Langworthy (R-NY-23) and Joe Courtney (D-CT-02).