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Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public has won four national awards for its coverage in 2023 from the Public Radio Journalists Association. The PMJA Awards is the only national competition devoted to recognizing the best work in public media journalism. Awards are presented in five different size divisions representing public media organizations with as few as one to more than 30 newsroom employees. Vermont Public competes in Division E along with major metro public radio stations including WBUR in Boston, WBEZ in Chicago, and WNYC in New York. 

Vermont Business Magazine The National Life Group Foundation announced more than $1.16 million going to 115 grant recipients in this year’s grant cycle dispersed recently. Created in 2006, the Foundation offers grants to nonprofit organizations and schools primarily in central and northern Vermont and the Dallas, Texas, area where the company has offices, with a focus on ending childhood hunger and supporting youth mental health. Local recipients include: Vermont Foodbank; Hunger Free Vermont; Montpelier Alive; Central Vermont Medical Center; Vermont Council on Rural Development Inc; Community Harvest of Central Vermont; Kellogg Hubbard Library; Outright Vermont; Vermont Family Network; Lund Family Center (Vermont); and Montpelier Foundation.

VermontBiz We're now officially in farmer's market season—the perfect time for Vermonters to start planning and planting their vegetable gardens. This spring, Vermonters can use their 3SquaresVT benefits to purchase seeds and seedlings to grow fresh fruits and vegetables, ensuring a bountiful harvest throughout the summer. 3SquaresVT is Vermont’s name for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides eligible people money on an EBT card, which works just like a debit card, to help pay for groceries. 

Northeastern Vermont Development Association The Vermont Walk/Bike Summit 2024 will be held June 20, 8:30am-4:30 pm in St. Johnsbury. The Vermont Walk/Bike Summit is an excellent opportunity to connect with community members, employers, planners and researchers from throughout the state for in-depth sharing on current efforts, new ideas, and networking to advance more livable communities. This year’s Summit will include interactive demo workshops, peer exchanges, a highly-acclaimed keynote (Mirna Valerio – The Mirnavator!), and a variety of dynamic presentations and topics including advocacy and education, safe and healthy communities, economic development, and the built environment.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Canopy Program has completed its eighth successful season, distributing 1,000 free trees across the state and surpassing 5,000 trees planted since 2017. Funding this year was made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and prioritized communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic to help protect them from future crises. This program is a collaborative effort between the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR), the University of Vermont Extension’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, and the Arbor Day Foundation. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Jason Muxlow, 45, of Westminster, Vermont, was sentenced today in Vermont Superior Court, Windham Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to three felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The Court, Judge John Treadwell presiding, sentenced Mr. Muxlow by plea agreement to 22 months in jail, with credit for time served, and a 15-year term of probation with conditions that he complete sex offender programming, have no contact with minors, and that restrict his access to the internet. If Mr. Muxlow violates the terms of his probation, he faces 6 to 15 years in jail. Mr. Muxlow is also required to register as a sex offender for 10 years after he is discharged from probation.

Vermont Business Magazine The Board of Trustees of Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital announced today the appointment of Olivia Sweetnam to the position of Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2024. Sweetnam is replacing Doug DiVello, who announced his plans last December to retire when a replacement was hired. A graduate of Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Sweetnam received her Master of Nursing Science and Master of Public Health from Yale University in Connecticut. The Chief Nursing Officer at Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital since February, Sweetnam was the Vice President of Hospice Quality and Clinical Practice at Amedisys (2021-2023), and held multiple leadership roles in quality, operations, and medical staff management at Ochsner Health in Louisiana from 2013-2021. 

Vermont State Police On May 31, 2024, the Vermont State Police arrested Kiona Kinney in Shaftsbury. Shortly after her arrest, state and federal law enforcement from multiple agencies executed a search warrant at Kinney’s residence at 218 Twitchell Hill Rd. in Shaftsbury. During a search of the residence, law enforcement located more than 500 bags of fentanyl, a small amount of cocaine, ammunition, and other evidence of drug use and distribution.

Vermont Business Magazine Late last week, the Vermont Public Utility Commission issued a decision that cuts the compensation rate for small-scale solar net metering significantly. Advocates for renewable energy issued a joint statement today saying the move undercuts one of the most successful programs at a moment when Vermonters are facing significant barriers to solar investment, including high interest rates. Net metering is currently the only state procurement program supporting renewable energy deployment and has been incredibly successful, empowering 20,000 Vermont families and businesses to go solar. Many of the projects are built on-site, providing power that is used where it is generated, in real-time. This “behind the meter” usage reduces electricity demand, reduces line loss as electricity travels across the grid, and can prevent the need for grid upgrades. Building these projects also provides good-paying jobs in every county in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark issued the following statement in response to Governor Scott’s veto of H.645, an act relating to the expansion of approaches to restorative justice. "Going forward, to transfer the pre-charge program from DOC to my office, expand services from just a few counties to statewide, ensure consistent and quality programming, track outcome measures, and meet the reporting requirements, a position will be needed. For these reasons, if the Legislature votes to override the Governor’s veto – and I hope it does – my office will work with DOC and the Legislature next session to sort out the appropriate approach to addressing the issue. I can certainly envision, for example, our office requesting a budget adjustment. In addition, our FY 2026 Court Diversion budget will need to include an appropriation for grant funding, as envisioned by the bill."  The effective date of the new law would be July 1, 2025.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) today announced the list of electric vehicle (EV) charging providers that are capable of building Vermont’s charging network to federal and state specifications. Through a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process, the Agency selected eight providers that will be invited to bid on forthcoming Requests for Proposals (RFP) for the design, construction, ownership, operation, and maintenance of public charging infrastructure along key routes and funded through programs included under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Burlington Electric Department; EvGateway LLC; EVgo Services LLC; FLO Services USA Inc.; Global Montello Group Corp.; Gridwealth EV LLC; Norwich Technologies Inc.; ReVision Energy Inc.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED) today shared the locations of five new utility pole-mounted electric vehicle (EV) chargers within the Burlington community. The goals of the pole-mounted charger pilot program, which was supported with State of Vermont grant funds, are in part to: Improve access to EV chargers, particularly for renters and those who lack access to off-street parking. BED also is advancing a pilot community EV charging rate for these chargers to help residents get lower-cost EV charging at these locations during off-peak times, similar to BED’s residential EV charging rate. Also today, BED announced that it is seeking community input on locations for additional public EV chargers throughout the City, including Level 3 fast chargers, Level 2 dual-port, ground-mounted chargers, and potentially additional pole-mounted Level 2 chargers.