Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.43 per gallon, down 1.2 cents per gallon from last week's $3.44/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.19/g while the highest was $3.89/g, a difference of 70.0 cents per gallon. According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Burlington was priced at $3.29/g yesterday while the most expensive was $3.55/g, a difference of 26.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has risen 0.7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.47/g today. The national average is down 0.8 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 25.2 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine The Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce recently conducted its annual State of the Commerce survey, providing valuable insights into the prevailing economic trends and sentiments about the regional economy. The survey, which saw participation from businesses and organizations across various sectors and towns in the region, highlighted both the challenges faced by businesses and their hopes for the future. The survey respondents represented a diverse mix of communities within Southwestern Vermont, with Bennington leading as the predominant town, comprising 61% of the respondents. Manchester followed with 27% of respondents, while Arlington, Dorset, Londonderry, and North Bennington made up 7% each. The survey showcased the collective voice of businesses and organizations from across the region, reflecting the Chamber's commitment to inclusivity and regional representation.

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets The deadline to apply to the Farm Agronomic Practices (FAP) program is right around the corner! Don't miss your chance to receive payments for implementing conservation practices on your farm. The FAP program from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets supports hundreds of Vermont farmers every year to implement conservation practices, such as cover cropping, no till, rotational grazing, manure injection, crop to hay, and more. FAP is relatively flexible, easy to access, and provides flat per-acre payments to help support the cost of conservation practices. For example, FAP can provide $45/acre to support cover crops that are drilled or incorporated, or $30/acre to support manure injection or cover crops that are broadcast or inter-seeded. 

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine Who is Michael Monte, and why does everyone seem to love him? For one thing, over the 46 years that Monte has worked in Burlington, he has dramatically changed the city for the better. For another, at a time when almost the whole of the United States is experiencing a homelessness crisis and, on top of that, now a housing crisis as well, Monte, 71, is the CEO of the Champlain Housing Trust (CHT), the largest community land trust in the country. A community organizer at heart, Monte is leading a housing nonprofit with 153 employees and a $30 million budget, which oversees 2,300 apartments and 675 shared-equity houses. 

Vermont State Police On July 28th, 2024, at 0537 hours, Troopers from the St. Johnsbury Barracks were dispatched to a reported single vehicle crash on Wallace Hill Rd in the town of Newbury. Troopers responded to the scene and located a 2000 Jeep Wrangler with substantial damage near Stark Trail on Wallace Hill Road. Preliminary investigation determined that the operator was Daniel Sweet, age 22, of Newbury. Sweet succumbed to the injuries sustained in the crash.

Vermont State Police On Sunday morning at approximately 0504 am, Vermont State Police Berlin, Middlesex Fire Dept. and FAST Squad, Montpelier Fire Dept. and Ambulance Service responded to a crash on I-89, northbound in the town of Middlesex. Upon the arrival of first responders the vehicle was fully engulfed. The driver and front seat passenger were pronounced deceased at the scene.

Vermont Business Magazine 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 July 29, 2024. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.    

by Interim Secretary of Education Zoie Saunders When I arrived in Vermont, I shared my intent to spend my first 100 days learning as much as possible about the state, our schools, and Vermonters’ education priorities. What I have learned gives me great hope about the work underway in our state. There is a real and shared desire to build consensus on how we can strengthen and sustain our education system for the benefit of all our state’s students and communities. We owe it to our students, Vermont’s future, to do this work together. I have traveled across the state visiting schools and speaking with community members from Southern Vermont to the Northeast Kingdom. The level of engagement and focus on schools demonstrates Vermont’s deep commitment to student success.

Vermont Business Magazine ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, Vermont’s science and nature museum, will complete a large-scale renovation of its well-known “Into the Lake” exhibit. The current gallery is twenty years old and hosts the museum’s largest aquarium, a 7,000-gallon freshwater habitat that displays Lake Champlain’s largest, most charismatic fish species, including lake sturgeon, bowfin, channel catfish, freshwater drum, and muskellunge. Lake Champlain is home to a robust freshwater ecosystem that provides benefits for the surrounding community and countless species of animals and plants. It requires protection to ensure it continues to benefit future generations. This $3.3 million project will upgrade ECHO’s “Into the Lake” exhibit gallery and enhance public education about native wildlife and stewardship of the Lake Champlain Basin ecosystem. The upgraded gallery will feature an expanded aquarium, updated exhibits, a new presentation space, and more. 

Vermont Business Magazine Beech Leaf Disease (BLD), a new disease affecting beech trees and caused by an invasive worm-like nematode (Litylenchus creatae mccannii), has been detected in four Vermont counties: Bennington, Chittenden, Windham, and Windsor. It has only recently been discovered, so much about this disease remains unknown, including the full cause and how it spreads. However, we do know that BLD can have catastrophic effects on forest ecosystems. The Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR) needs the public's help in reporting potentially symptomatic beech trees to advance our understanding of the disease. BLD affects buds and foliage of all species of beech trees, leading to leaf striping and loss as well as reduced leaf and bud production. 

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc. (OTCQX: LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank with a branch in Norwich, Vermont, has announced financial results for Q2 2024. Quarter-over-quarter improvement in net income provides continued evidence that the Company’s strategic plan is beginning to bear fruit. By continuing to leverage the integration of its banking and wealth management businesses, the Company remains focused on promoting growth and the pursuit of making life better for its clients, its employees, its shareholders, and the communities it serves. Q2 2024 net income was $726 thousand ($0.22 per share), up $263 thousand over Q1 2024, and up $7 thousand from Q2 2023.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Historical Society (VHS) is proud to announce that it has been selected to receive a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) 21st Century Museum Professionals Program (21MP). This grant program supports institutions across the country in preparing museum professionals to tackle contemporary challenges in the field. In this funding cycle, the IMLS has awarded a total of $2 million to eight institutions nationwide, with VHS receiving $175,029. This grant will allow VHS to work with local historical societies around the state to help develop advanced skills among staff at these mostly all-volunteer organizations. The project will help organizations find the right direction for their collections work, break daunting tasks down to doable sizes, and prepare for further work in digitization and collections access.