Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.41 per gallon, down 1.9 cents per gallon from last week's $3.43/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.99/g while the highest was $3.55/g, a difference of 56.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 3.5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.44/g today. The national average is down 5.6 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 37.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Are you helping the agricultural community recover after the recent flooding events? The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets has compiled resources, guidance, and contact information that can support agricultural recovery from flooding. You can find the Post Flooding – Technical Assistance Toolkit and other compiled resources online. Within the toolkit, you will find a variety of resources such as next steps for farmers, technical assistance opportunities, mental health resources, enterprise specific guidance, financial assistance programs, and more. In addition to the full-length toolkit, one pagers with key information are available for targeted and brief reference.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Housing and workforce availability are the primary factors currently affecting the Chittenden County economy. This situation mirrors trends seen in many regions across the state and nation. Limited housing and a tight labor market contribute to rising costs and hinder economic growth potential. Still, there is no question that the region is experiencing what otherwise would be considered, especially in historical terms, a thriving economy. What concerns those we spoke to is the future. While there is plenty of capital infused by the federal government in response to the pandemic, and while incomes are relatively high and unemployment is absolutely low, future growth could be limited.

Vermont Agency of Transportation This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will affect traffic on state highways and interstates throughout Vermont for the week of August 5, 2024. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.    

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and members of his cabinet will begin the next round of the Capital for a Day 14-county tour in Washington County on Wednesday, August 7. Governor Scott first launched this initiative in June 2018, and he and his cabinet visited all 14 counties over the following 10 months. Capital for a Day gives local constituents, municipal government leaders and other partners the opportunity to connect directly with state leadership and staff.

Vermont Business Magazine The Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the oldest writers’ conference in the country, will hold its 99th session starting Wednesday, August 14, and running through Saturday, August 24. Held every summer since 1926 on Middlebury’s Bread Loaf campus in Ripton, the conference remains one of America’s most respected literary institutions. Ten days of workshops, lectures, classes, and readings provide writers with rigorous practical and theoretical approaches to their craft. The mountain campus has attracted many renowned authors and poets such as Robert Frost, Carson McCullers, John Irving, Terry Tempest Williams, Ted Conover, and Julia Alvarez.

Vermont Business Magazine The who's who of Vermont's ski and snowboarding world will gather at Killington’s K1 Lodge on Saturday, October 19th to celebrate the Induction of the class of 2024 into the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. The event, hosted by the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe, will also honor the recipients of the Paul Robbins Journalism Award, First Tracks Award, and the Bill McCollom Community Award. This year's Hall of Fame inductees include Kelly Clark, the winningest athlete in snowboard history, Carl Ettlinger, a ski safety crusader, Peter Graves, the voice of skiing in America, and Henry Lunde, a pioneering contributor to the Vermont ski industry. The Paul Robbins Journalism Award will go to Lisa Gosselin Lynn. The First Tracks Award will go to Abby Crisostomo and Hana Saydek of Unlikely Riders. The Bill McCollom Community Award will go to Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports.

Vermont Business Magazine ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data, has released its second quarter 2024 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that 49.2 percent of mortgaged residential properties in the United States were considered equity-rich in the second quarter. Vermont again landed the top spot, with 83.5 percent of mortgaged homes were identified as equity-rich, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than half of their estimated market values.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has again been recognized as one of the Top 50 Property and Casualty insurers in the U.S. by Ward Group, an Aon company, and one of the industry’s most respected benchmarking organizations. This is the 16th consecutive year that the Vermont-based insurer has been designated as a Ward Top 50 P & C insurer. Every year Ward Group examines the financial performance of nearly 2,900 property-casualty insurance companies domiciled in the United States to identify the top performers. The “Ward’s 50” designation recognizes insurers for their consistency, safety and superior financial performance.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott has made a formal request for a federal disaster declaration which would bring federal resources to individuals and communities recovering from the July 10 and 11 flooding event. The declaration requests funding under the federal Public Assistance (PA) and Individual Assistance (IA) programs. The state is requesting Public Assistance and Individual Assistance in Addison, Orleans, Washington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, and Essex counties. It also includes a request for only Public Assistance in Orange County. A federal assessment verified more than $5.5 million in damage to public infrastructure. This figure is only a partial estimate to show the state meets the minimum qualification for a disaster declaration. The total cost to repair damages will be much higher. 

Vermont Business Magazine Magic Mann Premium Cannabis is proud has announced that it has received final approval from Vermont’s Cannabis Control Board to move forward with the cultivation and manufacturing of cannabis and cannabis products for the adult recreational market. Both cultivation and manufacturing will take place in a new 4,000 square-foot facility adjacent to Magic Mann’s dispensary location at The Essex Experience. Mann, a long-time medicinal cannabis patient, entered the industry in 2019 with BTVLocal420 in South Burlington. In 2020, she opened Magic Mann at The Essex Experience in Essex as a CBD café and storefront. Then, in 2023, Magic Mann received Vermont’s 13th license to legally retail THC products for recreational use. 

Vermont Business Magazine Health officials are urging people to take steps to prevent mosquito bites after mosquitoes from Grand Isle and Franklin counties tested positive for Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus — a serious and potentially fatal mosquito-transmitted infection. This is the first detection of EEE virus in the 2024 mosquito testing season in Vermont. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets collects mosquitoes at locations throughout the state for testing at the Department of Health Laboratory. So far this season, nearly 18,000 mosquitoes have been tested. The positive EEE virus samples were collected on July 22 from Alburgh and Swanton. There have been no human cases of EEE or West Nile in Vermont this year. The most recent confirmed cases of EEE were in two people in 2012, both of whom died.