Current News

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Is your business looking for a fun way to connect with new customers across New England? Apply to sell your products during Harvest New England Day on the lawn of the Vermont Building at the Big E! The Vermont Building is one of six public market style buildings on the Avenue of the States at the Big E, a 17-day fair and exposition that will take place September 13-29, 2024, in West Springfield, MA. Harvest New England Day is a single-day, farmers market style event that will take place on Friday, September 27, 2024. This is a great opportunity for businesses who are interested in trying out their product at the Big E without a multi-day commitment. In 2022 on Harvest New England Day, more than 119,000 people visited the Big E fairgrounds!  

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine The executive boards of the Democratic party for both the town of Colchester and the county of Grand Isle conducted unpublicized meetings last week to produce names for a possible successor to longtime State Sen. Dick Mazza. The private selection sessions were held before many of the constituents for Mazza, D-Grand Isle/Colchester even knew he had resigned Monday April 8 after 42 years at the statehouse, including 39 years as a state senator. The list of six names proved to be interesting for both who was on as much as who was not included. The chairs of both Democratic committees, who presided over separate meetings – Julie Hulburd for the town of Colchester and Dr. Deborah Lang for Grand Isle County – each had their names sent to Gov. Phil Scott for consideration to fill the seat.

by Joy Choquette, Vermont Business Magazine Entrepreneurship and the technology tools to support it have never been closer at hand or easier to access. Yet many small businesses have been forced to close their doors in the past few years. Some closures were due to the pandemic, others to high-interest rates or lack of staffing. Still others fell prey to the Great Flood of 2023. New businesses continue to open, however, keeping the staff at the Vermont Economic Development Authority busy processing new applications. VEDA, with offices in Burlington, Montpelier and Middlebury, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. VEDA’s role is to provide financial assistance to eligible agricultural and commercial businesses. It also works to help these businesses grow and create more Vermont jobs. Since its inception in 1974, the organization has provided $2.6 billion in financing to eligible businesses.

by Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield As the founders of Ben & Jerry's, we know firsthand the power of investing in Vermont’s communities. Since opening our first location in downtown Burlington, we've used our platform to support economic and social justice. That’s why we wholeheartedly support the proposal to create a Baby Bonds program in Vermont. The status quo isn’t working for regular people, both in Vermont and nationwide. High costs of higher education and housing, coupled with systemic barriers to capital, prevent many from overcoming cycles of generational poverty and achieving upward social mobility. We know these challenges disproportionately impact BIPOC Vermonters. In 2020, White Vermonters had a homeownership rate of 72%, compared to 21% for Black Vermonters, a wider disparity than the national averages of 70% for White individuals and 41% for Black individuals. Over the past several decades, America’s wealth gap between the richest and poorest families more than doubled. The wealthiest Vermonters currently earn over 10 times more than the bottom 20%.

by Kelly Lange, Vice President of Managed Care Contracting for the UVM Health Network In early March, a patient went to Neurosurgery at the University of Vermont Medical Center for testing on her brain for a serious condition. The specialist recommended more advanced imaging and scheduled an appointment. Because it wasn’t an active emergency, the imaging required prior authorization from the insurance company. Two and a half weeks later, when the patient arrived for her imaging appointment – after multiple phone calls and escalation by the UVM Medical Center team – it still had not been authorized. At that point, the hospital either has to perform the procedure and not get paid – contributing to well-documented financial challenges that make it difficult to provide care to all future patients in need – or tell the patient she may receive a bill for tens of thousands of dollars, for a scan her provider told her she needs. In this case, thankfully, the authorization finally came in – an hour after the appointment.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Country Club has reached a historic milestone: 100 years! The Club’s season long celebration kicked off with a once-in-one-hundred-years event; on the unveiling of an iconic Centennial Clock in concurrence with the Solar Eclipse on April 8th. This first of many events, also included the release of the limited-edition “BCC Centennial Light” beer; for which BCC partnered with Zero Gravity to create a private label for their newly released Green State Light Lager. BCC Centennial Light will be available throughout 2024 at the Club’s bar and Grill Room to be enjoyed by members and their guests. In the months to come, other Centennial events include a Hickory Stick tournament, a Party for 400 members and their guests, and the publication and book signing of “Burlington Country Club, The First 100 Years”, by author Andy Bigford.

Vermont Business Magazine Join UVM Tony Pipa as one of our keynote speakers for the 2024 UVM Research, Innovation, Sustainability, and Entrepreneurship (RISE) Summit on June 24 – 25. We invite you to attend in-person or virtually as Mr. Pipa addresses topics surrounding this year’s Summit theme of “Partners in Place: Placemaking for Health, Prosperity, and Purpose in our Communities.” Registration is free, and all are welcome! Keynote Speaker Overview: Tony Pipa. Tony Pipa is a senior fellow in the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution. Pipa launched and leads the Reimagining Rural Policy initiative, which seeks to modernize and transform U.S. rural policy, and hosts the Reimagine Rural podcast, collecting the stories of rural towns across America that are experiencing positive change.

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine A 16-year-old gang-affiliated offender, who police say is wanted for a New York City homicide and is a person of interest in two homicides investigations in Burlington last year, was arrested at a home in Enosburgh on Friday evening, authorities said. Christian Concepcion was identified on Saturday as the defendant lodged by the U.S. Marshals Service at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland on Friday night. He remained at the prison with no bail on Saturday. It was unknown if, and when, Concepcion will have a hearing in federal court in Vermont before he is returned to New York to face the state charge. He was taken into custody by a massive law enforcement presence of federal, state, county and local police that surrounded a house on Howard Road in Enosburgh, officials said.

Leonine Public Affairs An unprecedented influx of visitors descended upon our state to chase what turned out to be some of the clearest views of the path of totality for the 2024 total solar eclipse. During a year in Vermont marked by catastrophic flooding, waning federal COVID-19 funds and giant property tax hikes, the boon to local businesses as well as state coffers seemed like a cosmic gift. Nearly every sector felt the reverberations of the event, with early Agency of Transportation estimates projecting 60,000 vehicles and 160,000 visitors entered the state leading up to the eclipse. But the reverberations weren't positive for everyone. As hotels prepared for the influx, room rates were pushed significantly higher and some of those previously housed under the motel voucher program were forced to leave their rooms to make space for high-paying guests. The total economic impact from the eclipse is not available yet, but Treasurer Mike Pieciak estimated that the event could bring between $12-50 million to the state. 

Vermont Business Magazine This family-friendly, rain or shine event will be held at VTSU Lyndon’s Stonehenge parking lot on May 3 and 4. With long-range bucolic views as backdrop, Friday’s lineup features Lyndon alumni headliners and rising New England favorites Co-Pilot, a group Wave Magazine described as, “a fun band with tight harmonies that expertly combines rock & pop.” National touring indie rockers Ferdinand the Bull will also be featured along with Chicago’s electronica/shoegaze duo Silver Liz, and old soul VTSU student singer-songwriter Chris Finn opening the festivities.

Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center To help manufacturers better understand the basics of a well-managed supply chain and identify where resources should be focused to bring the most benefit to their organizations, CMTC (California’s MEP Center) and Manufacturer’s Edge (Colorado’s MEP Center) have partnered to develop a three-part “Supply Chain 101” webinar series. VMEC has been invited to partner in this second webinar of the series, Thursday, April 18, 1-2 pm.

Vermont Business Magazine Verizon has reported that East Barre had the most increased cell traffic of anywhere in the US for customers on Verizon’s network. When they compared the number of Verizon customers and traffic data on a typical recent Monday (March 25) with those of Monday, April 8 (the day of the eclipse), East Barre, Vermont was the U.S. city along the eclipse path with both the most dramatic percentage increase in Verizon customers (up 6,936 percent) AND the largest percentage increase in upload change: up a staggering 33,767 percent – reflecting an astounding number of customers streaming and sharing pictures and video of the eclipse in real time.