Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House of Representatives advanced the Climate Superfund Act, S.259, today on a vote of 94-38. Democrats, Republicans, Progressives and Independents voted in favor of the legislation. S.259 holds the largest fossil fuel corporations responsible for a "fair share" of the damages Vermonters have suffered due to climate change resulting from greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the massive amount of fossil fuels extracted and refined by those corporations. S.259 will now return to the Vermont Senate for final approval. The Senate gave preliminary approval of the proposal on a 26-3 vote last month.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Windsor community celebrated the groundbreaking of Central and Main Apartments. Co-owners and co-developers, Windham & Windsor Housing Trust (WWHT) and Evernorth partnered to develop these 25 newly constructed, highly energy-efficient, and permanently affordable apartments on Main Street in the heart of the Designated Downtown. The Windsor Improvement Corporation generously donated the land for this project and garnered widespread community support to transform the previously vacant and underutilized site into the future home of Central and Main Apartments. This development will feature an all-electric building design, incorporating technologies such as heat pumps, whole-building ventilation systems, and a robust thermal shell. Funding totaling more than $14.5 million from a mix of public and private sources was raised to cover the total development costs. 

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.63/g, down 0.5 cents per gallon from last week's $3.64/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.44/g while the highest was $3.73/g, a difference of 29.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 1 cent per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.62/g today. The national average is up 2.7 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 11.1 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) was honored for its resiliency work benefitting all customers, earning Power Player of the Year for Resiliency by the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA), a national non-profit dedicated to accelerating the electric power industry’s transformation to a clean energy future through education, research, standards, and collaboration. The SEPA Power Player Awards recognize national excellence and leadership in energy innovation and encourage practical solutions towards a clean, resilient, cost-effective energy system benefitting all. 

Vermont Business Magazine Recognizing the power of the arts to educate and inspire, the Vermont Arts Council and the Vermont Community Foundation have announced funding to support the state’s creative sector through a philanthropic partnership established four years ago. The funding will help artists follow their inspiration and create new work. It will also support arts organizations, municipalities, and schools that strive to provide equal and abundant access to the arts in Vermont. Since the partnership was created in 2020, the Vermont Community Foundation has granted $315,000 to the Vermont Arts Council from the Foundation’s Vermont Arts Endowment Fund and Arts Recovery Fund, including $56,000 this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Middlebury College President Laurie L. Patton sent the following message to the campus community on May 6. Dear Middlebury Community, I write with an update to my letter of Friday, May 3. Members of our community have met over the weekend with a focus on building a shared sense of educational purpose and ongoing dialogue. In the engagement between students and administration, we have emphasized what we have in common, committing to maintaining relationships across difference and creating constructive venues for present and future conversations... The students are taking down their encampment with an expressed hope that such open debate can continue, and with a commitment to a safe and joyful graduation.

Vermont State Police Troopers with the Vermont State Police St. Albans Barracks on Sunday night responded to a single motor vehicle crash on Interstate 89 Southbound at mile marker 109.7 in the Town of Georgia. It was reported that the vehicle rolled over and was on fire. Upon arrival, Troopers observed the vehicle to be in the median of the Interstate, fully engulfed in flames. Georgia Fire extinguished the fire and Troopers determined that there was a lone operator in the vehicle who sustained fatal injuries. The investigation into: the cause of the crash, identity of the decedent and full vehicle information, is active and ongoing due to the significant damage caused by the fire. 

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of Abbey Duke, of Burlington, to fill the vacant Chittenden-17 seat in the Vermont House of Representatives. Duke replaces Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, who resigned last month after becoming Mayor of Burlington. Duke is the founder and CEO of Sugarsnap, a leading catering company in the greater Burlington area. She also serves as the chair of the Burlington Department of Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Commission. Duke’s appointment is effective Monday, May 6. She was selected from a list of several candidates forwarded by both the Democratic and Progressive parties of Burlington.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced today in Vermont that he will seek a fourth term to the US Senate. His time in the Senate, along with his previous 16 years in the House of Representatives, makes him the longest-serving independent Member of Congress in American history. In his statement to Vermonters, Sanders said: "Let me thank the people of Vermont, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me the opportunity to serve in the United States Senate. It has been the honor of my life. Today, I am announcing my intention to seek another term. Let me take a few minutes to tell you why."

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is now conducting the 2024 Maple Syrup Inquiry in the Northeastern Region. This survey collects information from approximately 1,900 Northeastern producers. Maple syrup producers, processors, and commodity markets rely on the data from this survey to make informed business decisions and help promote the industry. Vermont's voice is critical as the largest producer of maple syrup in the United States!

Vermont Business Magazine His Holiness, Pope Francis, has appointed Monsignor John J. McDermott, presently Diocesan Administrator of the Diocese of Burlington, to become the 11th Bishop of Burlington, it was announced today.  His ordination and installation will take place at 1:00 PM on Monday, July 15, 2024, at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Burlington, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine For the past eight years, researchers have been conducting a groundbreaking study supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund: The Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC). With nearly 2,600 volunteers, the study aims to examine the molecular effects of exercise on healthy adults and children, considering factors like age, race, and gender. The goal is to create comprehensive molecular maps of these changes and uncover why physical activity has significant health benefits. “This is an unprecedented large-scale effort to begin to explore—in extreme detail—the biochemical, physiological, and clinical impact of exercise,” said Russell Tracy, Ph.D., a University of Vermont Distinguished Professor of pathology and laboratory science. “I’m pleased and honored that our lab at UVM was chosen to be the MoTrPAC Biorepository, and anticipate that the MoTrPAC ‘maps,’ when coupled with the carefully collected biosamples, will prove enormously useful over the next decade or more of related studies.”