Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Economic Development Authority, or VEDA, today unveiled a new loan program available to businesses in the state’s forest economy. Three million dollars in total financing can be provided in the form of loans up to $500,000 with subsidized interest rates for loggers, foresters, log haulers, biomass producers, sawmills, firewood producers and wood product manufacturers, for working capital, equipment and refinancing. According to the Vermont Forest Futures Strategic Roadmap, the forest-based economy in the Green Mountain State accounts for about $2.1 billion annually and more than 13,800 jobs. The wood products industry has a rich history in Vermont’s economy and ecology alike — and it is a world known for high operating costs, variable markets and one heavily impacted by outside factors. 

Vermont Business Magazine Evernorth closed Housing New England, Fund V on May 30, 2024. This fund will provide equity to finance affordable housing in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. 15 investors committed a total of $61,000,000 in equity making Housing New England, Fund V (HNE Fund V) a significant financial resource for the region’s critical affordable housing needs. HNE Fund V’s investors include community, regional and national banks. Five of the properties are in ME, one in NH, and four are in VT. Since Housing Vermont and Northern New England Housing Investment Fund merged in 2020 to become Evernorth, it has raised $323 million for Affordable Housing through its multi-investor platform.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) today released the following statement on President Biden’s new executive order on border security: “There is no question our immigration system is broken. Immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers—who are critical to the success of Vermont and America—face unimaginable risks in reaching our country, only to then face unimaginable bureaucratic delays once they’re here. The implications are far-reaching, overwhelming our legal system and straining businesses and communities that benefit from immigration. Action is needed, and it is needed now—but so far Congress has been unwilling to come together to repair what is broken."

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of Aliena Gerhard as state’s attorney for Lamoille County, replacing former state’s attorney, Todd Shove. Gerhard joined the office in 2021 as a deputy state’s attorney and has been serving as acting state’s attorney since December 2023. Prior to that role, she spent over 10 years actively practicing, specializing in the areas of criminal, environmental, and administrative law. Before moving to Vermont in 2010, Gerhard worked as an assistant district attorney in Pennsylvania, where she prosecuted thousands of cases from trial through appeals.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) have announced the availability of $5.6 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to help manufactured housing communities improve stormwater practices. DEC is seeking proposals – due July 5, 2024 – from organizations interested in helping targeted communities access this funding. Vermont's regulations require sites with impervious surfaces of three or more acres to get a 3-Acre Permit. These sites must treat stormwater runoff from hard surfaces – like roof tops, roads, and parking areas – to reduce pollution entering waterways. DEC aims to help as many manufactured housing communities as possible build the stormwater controls that are required for this permit.

Department of Housing and Community Development The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) did a presentation at the recent Southern Vermont Economy Summit at Mount Snow in Dover making the case for more Missing Middle housing and sharing how to build it using the Homes for All Toolkit. You can register now to learn more about the state's Missing Middle efforts at Small-Scale Housing Solutions for Southwestern Vermont on June 11 in Rutland.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced an award of $6.8 million to the Vermont Bond Bank. This American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding will launch the Small System Capacity and Resiliency Program. The Vermont Bond Bank will provide small, primarily rural municipalities with awards to restore flood-impacted and repair other drinking water and wastewater systems. The Vermont Bond Bank will provide awards to small municipalities to help repair, upgrade, or replace existing water and wastewater systems that are at risk of failure or have failed. Failures may be due to the July 2023 flooding or age-related defects.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas announced the statewide and Federal candidates for the upcoming Primary election in August. Additionally, Secretary Copeland Hanzas makes a statement about the newly enacted statewide law regarding firearms in polling locations. The Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, August 13, 2024. Voters will choose which candidates will represent their party in the November General Election. The following offices are up for election: U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor of Accounts, Attorney General, all 30 State Senate Seats, all 150 State Representative seats, and High Bailiffs.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported on May 22 that a second juvenile in the "Under 10" age range has died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began here in March 2020. It has been at least a year and a half since a Vermonter under the age of 30 has died from COVID. The VDH changed its reporting methods in 2022. For the week ending May 29, the Vermont Department of Health is reporting that COVID-19 cases were 53, down from 57 the previous week. Cases had been falling in Aprile and May and were as low as 31 at the beginning of May. There was one fatality last week and five the previous week, including the juvenile. The pandemic death total stands at 1,154 as of May 25, 2024, and 5 so far in May. April deaths (3) were the fewest from COVID since July 2021. 

by Robert Gamache, Community News Service In Tunbridge — just down the road from Judi Hoyt’s hometown of Chelsea — voters in 2022 approved hiring a community nurse who could serve townspeople by performing vitals screenings, coordinating health care, providing education and advocacy and planning wellness clinics. Intrigued and anxious to help, Hoyt, now 33, contacted town leaders, hoping she could serve their community. Around the start of the new year, she went to work. In Vermont's rural areas, community nurses like Hoyt are often lesser known as caretakers yet can be essential for health care. To figure out how easily people can seek health care, the state divides towns into 38 areas on a map based on how far residents would reasonably travel for medical services. Of those areas, four are designated as health professional shortage areas by federal officials — and Chelsea and Tunbridge belong to one of them.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Monday evening gave remarks on the floor of the Senate on the accusations House Speaker Mike Johnson made against him on Fox News on Sunday, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s invitation to speak before Congress, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza where more and more children are starving to death.

Vermont State Police The fifth and final suspect facing charges in connection with a homicide in December 2022 in St. Johnsbury has been arrested. Danny Daniels, 32, of Philadelphia, was arrested Monday afternoon in New Orleans by members of the Louisiana State Police and other law-enforcement agencies on a host of Louisiana state charges. Daniels, along with a second man, was taken into custody following a vehicle pursuit and foot chase involving the Louisiana State Police, the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office, the New Orleans Police Department, and the Port of New Orleans Harbor Police. Daniels is the subject of a Vermont state arrest warrant charging him with aiding in the commission of first-degree murder, aiding in the commission of assault and robbery with a weapon, and aiding in the commission of burglary.