Current News

VermontBiz LaunchVT, a division of the Lake Champlain Chamber, has selected eight Vermont startups to participate in its 2026 Accelerator. This is the 14th cohort to come through LaunchVT’s flagship program. Since 2013, LaunchVT has provided business development support, strategic coaching, and over $1.4 million in cash and services to accelerate 95 Vermont startups statewide.

Cathy Davis, president and CEO of the Lake Champlain Chamber, said, "LaunchVT’s mission is to empower the entrepreneurs who are driving Vermont’s economy forward. I’m inspired by the talent in this year’s cohort and proud that the Chamber continues to be a home for the startups and ideas that shape our state's future."

VermontBiz Today, Aly Richards, the former CEO of the child care advocacy organization Let’s Grow Kids, announced she’s officially running for governor of Vermont in the 2026 Democratic primary. Richards announced she’s running at a campaign kick-off rally at the Newbury Village Store, down the street from where she grew up. The event was attended by over 100 supporters, including dozens of business leaders, parents, and children.

In her announcement speech, Richards said: “We have common sense here in Vermont. You have to ask yourself – are you better off today than you were ten years ago? When people can’t afford to live here, you know there’s a problem - it’s not working. It’s time for a new approach. What if we had an economy that grew instead of shrank?What if we invested in our rural communities instead of squeezing them? What if we believed Vermont’s best days are still ahead of us? Well, I believe. And I know you all believe, too. I’m running for governor because there’s so much to do and there’s no time to waste.” 

VermontBiz Linda I. Letourneau announced the lease of office space at 2 Market Place, Essex Junction to Gammel Real Estate Services.  Letourneau represented the landlord, LSW Associates, LLC.

Tony Blake participated in the sale of the historic Brooks House at 120 Main Street Brattleboro. The property includes 88,000 square feet of mixed use tenants.  Blake, along with Cushman & Wakefield, represented the seller of the property to Harry May, LLC.

Shaneco Properties, LLC purchased a property at 40 Morse Drive, Georgia from Ten Five 79 Investment Property, LLC.  Linda I. Letourneau assisted both parties in this transaction.

VermontBiz On Friday, April 3, Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, was arrested alongside other activists during a nonviolent direct action outside Lockheed Martin’s development facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

The action followed a large interfaith prayer vigil organized by a Philadelphia-area antiwar coalition. Participants gathered to commemorate Good Friday and to protest U.S. militarism and the role of weapons manufacturers in global conflicts. After the vigil, demonstrators carried the names of children killed in Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon and peacefully blocked the entrance to the facility, resulting in multiple arrests.

Cohen, who spoke prior to the action, joined demonstrators in the civil disobedience.

VermontBiz Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) called on Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Director of the Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to obey the law and immediately release more than $810 million in federal funding that helps more than 10 million Americans living in poverty, including nearly 50,000 Vermonters.

Specifically, in just one year, Vermont’s community action agencies served 3,200 Vermonters who did not have health care, 9,000 people who had a disability, more than 7,000 low-income seniors, more than 11,000 children living in poverty and 1,200 veterans and active military personnel.

VermontBiz Common Good Vermont is pleased to announce the Vermont launch of the 2026 Survey on Nonprofit Wages and Benefits. Survey results will inform the bi-annual Vermont Nonprofit Wages and Benefits report, which will be published in the fall of 2026, and is the only Vermont-specific resource for nonprofit organizations to use for objective salary information and insights into key sector staffing and compensation trends.

“Vermont nonprofits remain on the front lines of our communities’ most pressing challenges, yet many continue to operate with limited resources. The 2026 Nonprofit Wages and Benefits Survey is a critical tool for strengthening and advocating for Vermont’s nonprofit sector, while also providing organizations with actionable data to address ongoing workforce challenges that impact their ability to deliver essential services to Vermonters,” said Common Good Vermont Co-Director Lisa Grefe.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $4.08/g, up 18.1 cents per gallon from last week's $3.90/g. The lowest price in the state this week was $3.73/g while the highest was $4.39/g, a difference of 66.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has risen 11.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $4.06/g today. The national average is up 65.1 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 85.0 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine A new economic impact assessment shows that Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport (Leahy BTV) contributes $1.07 billion in annual economic activity to Vermont and supports 5,646 jobs statewide, reinforcing the airport’s role as a key driver of economic growth, tourism, and regional connectivity. The report evaluates the economic contributions generated by airport operations, visitor spending, military activity, and capital investments associated with Leahy BTV. Together, these activities support $325 million in annual labor income; up 91% in eight years, and generate more than $62 million in state and local tax revenue; an increase of 81% since the last economic impact assessment in 2018.

VermontBiz The Weights & Measures Section will host multiple scale inspection events around the state during April for anyone who uses scale(s) at farmers’ markets or farm stands to sell produce or other commodities. The testing and licensing of these scales is required by law, if you need an application form to license the scale it can be found on our website, agriculture.vermont.gov.  

VermontBiz The Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) celebrates the nation's 250th birthday in the most fitting way imaginable: under the open sky, surrounded by community, with a full symphony orchestra. This July 4th weekend, the VSO’s landmark program of American-inspired music, VSO Summer Festival Tour: America 250, visits five venues across the state, conducted by Music Director Andrew Crust.

From the thunderous opening of The Star-Spangled Banner to the irresistible finale of The Stars and Stripes Forever, VSO Summer Festival Tour: America 250 is a joyful, wide-ranging celebration of what American music sounds, feels, and means. The program spans more than a century of the American musical imagination, from John Philip Sousa's march traditions and Aaron Copland's wide-open prairie soundscapes to Duke Ellington's jazz-inflected sophistication and John Williams' cinematic grandeur, culminating in fireworks at select venues on July 2 and July 4.

by Kate Kampner, Community News Service Rep. Mary-Katherine Stone, D/P-Chittenden-14, was pregnant when she started developing H.536, a bill that would prohibit selling and distributing baby food products that contain certain levels of heavy metals. Stone, now a mother, learned through her research that heavy metal exposure is not limited to baby food. Similar contamination can occur in certain brands of infant formula — including in the brand she received from the hospital after giving birth. H.536 would ban the sale of baby food products that contain levels of heavy metals that exceed limits established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of Vermont shelves. Additionally, it would require manufacturers to regularly test their products for these metals and make the results public.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board voted on April 1 to have 65 either-sex moose hunting permits and 20 antlerless moose hunting permits available this year for a hunt limited to Vermont’s Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) E in the northeastern corner of the state.  The science-based hunt is expected to result in a harvest of 40 to 50 moose, or about 6 percent of the current moose population in WMU E. Permit applications are now available on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s website. The deadline to apply is June 17, and the permit lottery drawing is July 15.