Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Air National Guard will conduct night flying operations from Tuesday, September 10, to Thursday, September 12, and from Tuesday, September 17 to Wednesday, September 18 with one afternoon and one evening takeoff period per day. Flights are scheduled to conclude by 9:30 p.m.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine For COVID-19 in Vermont, winter has come early. For the week ending August 31, the Vermont Department of Health reported that the number of COVID-19 cases in Vermont continues to climb, hospitalizations are up and COVID-related deaths in August are already at their highest level since January. COVID fatalities increased by 6 in the last week and are at 1,186 since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. The weekly report also shows that hospitalizations and general "syndromic" cases have increased in the last few weeks to about 20 people being treated at a Vermont hospital each week. At the beginning of the summer there were only about 5.

Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund The New England Food System Planners Partnership just released a detailed analysis of local food spending in New England – Regional Food Count 2022. The report reveals that $2.28 billion or 3.1% of New England’s total $120.6 billion in food, beverage and alcohol expenditures were directed towards local and regional products, highlighting a critical area for potential growth and investment. In this report, ‘local’ is defined as food grown or produced by state and 'regional' is defined as food grown or produced in New England. The report reveals that spending on food and alcohol for at home consumption totaled $55.6 billion, or 46.1%, of the regional total, with the remaining $64.9 billion spent at restaurants and other venues away from home. Spending across just five channels—grocery stores, supercenters, food stores, and limited-service and full-service restaurants—accounted for nearly 70.0% of total state food and alcohol sales.

Vermont Business Magazine If you have applied for FEMA assistance following Vermont’s severe weather July 9-11, 2024, you may get a letter from FEMA. Please read the FEMA letter carefully. If you are found eligible for assistance, the letter will explain the grant amount that FEMA has approved and information on the appropriate use of the disaster assistance grant. If you are found ineligible for assistance, the letter will explain the reasons. It is possibly something as simple as missing documentation or information. If you disagree with any decisions made by FEMA, including your eligibility status or the amount of grant you may receive, you have the right to appeal.

Vermont Business Magazine Blue Circle Health, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of people with type 1 diabetes (T1D), has announced its expansion into Maine and Vermont. Adults with T1D in these states can now enroll in Blue Circle Health’s virtual T1D care, education and support program, at no cost to them. This is the first time Blue Circle Health’s services are available beyond Florida, where it has enrolled about 300 people with T1D since January 2024. The expansion marks a significant milestone in the organization’s goals to provide as many people with T1D as possible with the skills, tools and confidence to thrive, as well as to build a scalable T1D care model that addresses unmet needs.

by Timothy Dean, Dartmouth “How can we more quickly and effectively move new, proven scientific evidence into routine healthcare practice? What obstacles must be overcome to embrace change and modify behavior? How can we scale a successful intervention so that more people will benefit?” These are some of the key questions future students will learn to tackle as enrollees of a unique new graduate degree program—a Master of Science (MS) in Implementation Science (IS)—which will be offered by Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine in partnership with the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies beginning in September of 2025. Implementation science is a burgeoning field that draws upon a rich and diverse set of established research traditions to address persistent gaps in moving evidence-based clinical practices into routine use in the real world.

Vermont Business Magazine Angie Aulis, RN of Northwestern Medical Center’s Family Birth Center was recently honored with The DAISY Award For Extraordinary Nurses. The award is part of the DAISY Foundation's programs to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day. The award was presented to Angieat an event on Thursday, August 29 in NMC’s Courtyard Café and the family who nominated her was present to thank her for her exceptional care. Their experience at NMC was not an easy one and yet they said they were welcomed and treated like royalty. Angie never left their side, and gave them and their baby outstanding, compassionate care. 

Vermont Business Magazine Blue Circle Health, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of people with type 1 diabetes (T1D), today announced its expansion into Maine and Vermont. Adults with T1D in these states can now enroll in Blue Circle Health’s virtual T1D care, education and support program, at no cost to them. This is the first time Blue Circle Health’s services are available beyond Florida, where it has enrolled about 300 people with T1D since January 2024. The expansion marks a significant milestone in the organization’s goals to provide as many people with T1D as possible with the skills, tools and confidence to thrive, as well as to build a scalable T1D care model that addresses unmet needs.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling, and resource management services company, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Royal Carting and Welsh Sanitation and related real estate assets. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The pending acquisition includes two solid waste collection operations and two transfer stations in New York’s Middle and Lower Hudson Valley regions and western Connecticut, which will extend the Company’s service territory into new adjacent markets. The pending acquisition is expected to generate over $90 million in annualized revenues with a high concentration of commercial collection service and waste volumes that can be internalized into Casella’s landfills over time.

Vermont Business Magazine NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB) and Evans Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE American: EVBN) today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Evans will merge with and into NBT. This merger will bring together two highly respected banking companies and extend NBT’s growing footprint into Western New York. The combined organization will have the highest deposit market share in Upstate New York for any bank with assets under $100 billion and will result in a network of over 170 locations from Buffalo, NY to Portland, ME. NBT has branches in northwest Vermont. The aggregate transaction value is approximately $236 million based on NBT’s closing stock price of $46.28 on September 6, 2024. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas released the September Vermont 2024 Candidates and Campaign Finance. This report is a continuation of the Secretary of State’s ongoing efforts to improve transparency for campaign finance reporting during the 2024 campaign season. The September report reflects candidate filings as of the most recent filing deadline on September 1. Per state law, candidates are only required to file a campaign finance report if they “rolled over any amount of surplus into his or her new campaign or… made expenditures or accepted contributions of $500 or more during the two-year general election cycle.”

The Vermont Association of Broadcasters announced today that Mark Johnson, Rich Haskell and Gary Sadowsky will be inducted into the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame Saturday, November 16, 2024, along with this year’s award winners. These broadcasters will be celebrated during the VAB Hall of Fame & Awards Gala at the new Farmhouse located on the grounds of The Essex Resort & Spa in Essex, VT.