Current News

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.

Northeastern Vermont Development Association St. Johnsbury will host the Kingdom Maple Festival with a sweet Street Fair on Railroad Street. Enjoy maple-themed activities & crafts, maple products, live music, fair food and more! Also, NVDA planners continue to put finishing touches on NVDA's (draft) 2026 Regional Plan. Every eight years the Regional Plan must be updated to better reflect statewide planning goals to guide future growth and development in the three counties and 55 communities it serves. We are working diligently to comply with the statutory obligations of Act 181 which was passed into law June 2024.

Vermont Business Magazine The Okemo Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, the official organizer of the Best of Vermont Summer Festival, has announced the return of this beloved two‑day celebration on Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23 at Okemo Field on Route 103 & Bixby Road. Now in its sixth year, the festival continues to bring together the people, flavors, sounds, and traditions that make Vermont shine in the summertime.

VermontBiz Vermont Mutual Insurance Group® was once again named one of the Best Places to Work in Vermont by VermontBiz and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. This is the eleventh year in a row the property & casualty insurer has been named a Best Place to Work since first entering the state survey and awards program back in 2016.

Every year VermontBiz surveys and reviews the policies, systems, practices and demographics of Vermont companies to identify the best places to work in the state. Included in the assessment are anonymous survey responses from employees, which account for 75% of the total evaluation.

VermontBiz The Attorney General’s Office today announced that James Craft, 28, of Fair Haven, Vermont, was sentenced in Vermont Superior Court, Rutland Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to two felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials.

The Court, Judge Cortland Corsones presiding, sentenced the defendant to three to five years to serve, all suspended, with 10 years of probation. The probation conditions mandate completion of sex offender programming, limit his contact with children, and restrict his access to the internet. Mr. Craft is also required to register as a sex offender for 10 years after the completion of his sentence.

If Mr. Craft violates the terms of his probation, he may face up to five years in prison.

VermontBiz Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 23 attorneys general and one governor in suing President Trump, challenging his unlawful Executive Order that attempts to interfere with states’ constitutional authority to administer elections by restricting voter eligibility and mail voting to lists of voters pre-authorized by the federal government. 

The Executive Order, signed on Tuesday, attempts to establish a national list of eligible voters and directs the U.S. Postal Service to transmit mail ballots only to those on the list. In the Order, the President threatens states and elections officials with criminal prosecution and the loss of federal funding if they do not comply with his demands. The coalition argues in their lawsuit that the Order would require states to act contrary to their own voter roll procedures, vote-by-mail systems, and voter registration laws.