Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL) today issued the following joint statement: “After eight long months, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has finally signed a lease on a new home for Montpelier’s post office after the devastating floods displaced their downtown location last summer. This is an important step in the right direction and as a Delegation we welcome this news. We were proud to work with the people of Montpelier, advocates, and community and state leaders to ensure the return of a fully operational post office to our state’s capital and its community."

VermontBiz Vermont’s winter manure spreading ban ends today, April 1st, but challenging field conditions may exisit in many parts of Vermont.  With a winter storm predicted for the middle of this week, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) is issuing a spring stewardship reminder to Vermont farmers and custom manure applicators to adhere to the RAP’s.

VermontBiz State Treasurer Mike Pieciak and Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Executive Director Maura Collins joined local stakeholders today to announce housing investments made through the Treasurer’s 10% in VT local investment program.  

The $50 million loan awarded to VHFA in September 2023 will help fund a spectrum of housing initiatives including deeply and perpetually affordable rental housing, housing for Vermonters exiting homelessness, manufactured home communities, homeownership, and middle-income rental units in Vermont’s economic centers. The funding is often the missing piece enabling projects to be feasible. 

VermontBiz The Attorney General’s Office announced that Robert E. Bowdish, 77, of Weybridge, Vermont, was arraigned today on seven felony and two misdemeanor counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against Mr. Bowdish are the result of a criminal investigation, including the execution of search warrants conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), which included personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and Vermont State Police.

VermontBiz  Friday, Mayor Weinberger was joined on a video conference by Serhiy Palamarchuk, Head of Kuyalnyk Community, and the leaders simultaneously signed the new Kuyalnyk-Burlington Partnership Agreement. Oleksiy Goncharenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament representing the Odesa region, also attended and spoke at the ceremony. The signing follows the unanimous approval of the new Sister City relationship by the Burlington City Council on March 25 following a presentation and deliberation which was watched live by Kuyalnyk officials at approximately midnight their local time.    

VermontBiz Governor Scott and the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) are celebrating the success of more than three years of the Vermont Housing Improvement Program (VHIP) as DHCD launches VHIP 2.0.

“The Vermont Housing Improvement Program has been incredibly successful and an essential tool expanding Vermont’s housing stock,” says Governor Scott. “By bringing existing units that have fallen into disrepair back online, we create housing at a fraction of the cost and much faster than other programs, while also revitalizing neighborhoods.”

VHIP and VHIP 2.0 are a cost-effective and reliable way to bring housing units online quickly. The programs grant an average of $38,400 to get one apartment up and running, compared to the $450,000 to $600,000 it costs to build one new unit.

VermontBiz Union Mutual Insurance Company announced today that it was recently named one of the 2024 Best Places to Work in Vermont. This is the 11th consecutive year that the Company has received this award, which is based in part on anonymous employee surveys.

“We are especially honored to receive this designation this year, since it is the Company’s 150th year of operation,” Union Mutual President & CEO Lisa Keysar said. “We are proud to be recognized as an engaging, supportive, inclusive employer, and we know that we would not be in this position without the dedication and hard work of all of our employees. Thanks to each and every employee for all that they do to make Union Mutual one of the Best Places to Work in Vermont.”

VermontBiz Efforts to address the local impact of a nationwide workforce shortage in health care will get a boost from two new, transformative nursing programs leading to Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Nursing degrees.

A collaboration between UVM Health Network, Norwich University and Vermont State University, supported by $1.5 million in grant funding from the federal government and Vermont Agency of Human Services, these programs target the nursing shortage on two fronts: the immediate need for bedside nurses and the shortage of faculty to provide clinical instruction to prospective nursing students.

VermontBiz Average gasoline prices in Burlington have risen 4.7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.40/g today, according to GasBuddy's survey of 100 stations in Burlington. Prices in Burlington are 16.4 cents per gallon higher than a month ago and stand 5.6 cents per gallon higher than a year ago. The national average price of diesel has declined 2.9 cents in the last week and stands at $3.99 per gallon.

According to GasBuddy price reports, the cheapest station in Burlington was priced at $3.18/g yesterday while the most expensive was $3.79/g, a difference of 61.0 cents per gallon. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.18/g while the highest was $3.79/g, a difference of 61.0 cents per gallon.

VermontBiz The Farm Agronomic Practices Program (FAP) utilizes state funding to help Vermont farms implement soil-based agronomic practices that:

• improve soil quality
• increase crop production
• reduce erosion and agricultural waste discharges

The FAP program also provides education and instructional activity grants to support outreach regarding the impacts of agricultural practices on water quality and current state agricultural water quality regulations. 

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine It is remarkable that during her 18 years on the senior management team of the Vermont Federal Credit Union, Jean Giard, now its president and CEO, helped grow the institution from $160 million to its current size of more than $900 million in assets. And it is still growing. How did she do it? It’s all about company culture, Giard said. “Our staff are the reason we’re growing,” Giard said. “They are the front line. They’re the ones who interact with our membership. They have the relationships, and they do a fantastic job of serving our members and helping them with their financial needs. My team and I have really worked hard to improve our culture.” Giard recited management consultant Peter Drucker’s famous phrase, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

VermontBiz by Timothy McQuiston Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger and CityPlace Partners expressed confidence last month that the CityPlace mixed-use housing development in downtown Burlington is on pace to be completed by its target date of summer 2026. The estimated $200 million project, which will occupy what was the center section of the former Burlington Square Mall, will comprise a minimum 350 residential apartments, including 70 permanently affordable units; two hotels, providing a maximum total of 350 guest rooms; 40,000 square feet of retail space; and 172,000 square feet of parking.