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Vermont Business Magazine While providing its clients unparalleled legal services in a wide variety of disciplines, four Gravel & Shea partners have earned the honorable distinction of “Lawyer of the Year 2025” by Best Lawyers, a peer-reviewed guide to the legal profession.  

Vermont Business Magazine News in brief from July 2024 includes: State health care system in crisis, GMCB report warns; Economists raise revenue targets; Tax revenues finish fiscal year $143.6 million above targets; ANR releases annual Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for VT; Child Care Contribution Payroll Tax under way; GMCB conditionally approves UVMMC request to build an outpatient surgery center; Sports gambling exceeds state projections, hauls in $3.5 million; Vermont Business Conditions Index from Citizens skyrockets in Q2; BMH, Copley, NMC sign on to new healthcare collaboration; and more.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims increased last week after falling to their lowest levels since before the pandemic the week before. For the week ending August 24, 2024, new claims were 260, which is a typical of summer low. Meanwhile, unemployment claims and hiring have stalled nationally, and the stock market recovered after stumbling as the Federal Reserve Bank decided not to lower interest rates in early August. The Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated last week that the time has come to cut rates as employment nationwide has slowed. For the week, initial unemployment insurance claims were up 72 for the week and down 4 from this time last year. Meanwhile, the state unemployment rate remains near historic low levels as employment and the labor force have increased (2.1 percent in July 2024). 

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office in Burlington announced that Madison Carrig, 30, of Whitehall, New York, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court in Burlington to two counts of access device fraud. Chief Judge Christina Reiss released Carrig on conditions pending sentencing, which is scheduled for January 3, 2025. On July 12, 2024, the United States Attorney filed an information charging Carrig with two counts of access device fraud. Carrig pleaded guilty to the information at today’s court hearing. According to the charging document, from September 2022 through November 27, 2023, Carrig defrauded the three Vermont car dealerships who employed her as office manager or controller.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education released the first report from its Listen and Learn Tour. The State Education Profile Report provides data to guide education leaders, school communities, and the Agency as they work together to ensure that every student in Vermont has equitable access to high-quality educational opportunities. The initial report highlights emerging trends in enrollment, student demographics, student outcomes, staffing, and expenditures. This information is intended to prompt conversations and further exploration.

Vermont Business Magazine State Senator Anne Watson and Montpelier Mayor Jack McCullough joined Montpelier resident John Snell and representatives of the Vermont Natural Resources Council and VPIRG Wednesday to celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) at Snell’s home in Montpelier. Joined by local media, they toured his home and the energy upgrades made to it that were made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act. Snell recently installed an induction stove, and in 2023 installed four heat pumps to complete his home energy upgrades. This event comes after the U.S. Department of Treasury released data on IRA tax credit uptake that shows 3.4 million Americans took advantage of the credits — more than double the federal government’s early projections.   

Vermont Business Magazine A Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) is now open in Lyndon, at the Lyndonville Public Safety Facility from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. The joint DRC, a temporary facility established in partnership between Lyndon, the state of Vermont and FEMA, has disaster assistance specialists available to help disaster survivors apply for FEMA Individual Assistance, upload documents needed for their application and answer questions in person.

Vermont Business Magazine Bennington, Vermont is once again set to sizzle, sauté, and spice things up as the town transforms into Garlic Town, USA on Saturday, August 31, 2024, during Labor Day Weekend. This year’s festival promises to be the best yet, with enough garlic to keep the vampires—and possibly your in-laws—away for years! In 2023, over 9,000 people flooded downtown Bennington for the agricultural event. The local businesses experienced an economic boost, with an estimated $140,000 spent in one day.  

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is announcing today the publication of the Vermont 2025-2029 Statewide Housing Needs Assessment, a five-year document the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires from government entities that receive federal funding. The findings in the report show Vermont’s statewide housing shortage remains and the affordability gap is growing as costs stretch Vermonters’ budgets thin.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Thursday joined Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) in Bennington for the ribbon cutting and celebration of its newly modernized emergency department. The Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s (SVMC) Kendall Emergency Department, Stout Thomson Waiting Area and Outpatient Registration along with the Richard and Pamela Ader Foundation Lobby and the Jackie and Tony Marro Café includes renovations to expand emergency services and care to Bennington and nearby communities. The project was a three-year undertaking.  

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has approved Governor Phil Scott’s request for a Secretarial Disaster Designation for six Vermont counties in response to this July’s rain and flooding events. Caledonia, Essex, Orange, Chittenden, Lamoille and Washington counties were recognized as part of the declaration. This Secretarial disaster designation from USDA makes farm operators across Vermont eligible to be considered for Farm Service Agency (FSA) emergency loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of a Secretarial disaster declaration to apply for emergency loans.

Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development The Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BEGAP) application portal is now open. Before businesses and nonprofits apply, they are encouraged to visit the Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program page to learn how the program works and what they need to have on hand to successfully submit an application. BEGAP is a grant program for businesses, nonprofits, landlords, and farms that suffered physical damage from flooding. It is available for properties damaged in 2023 and/or 2024.