Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Special Olympics Vermont (SOVT) hosted the 2024 Winter Games on Friday, March 15th at The Hermitage Club in Wilmington, Vermont. Over 125 delegates, including athletes and coaches from eight local programs trained and competed in alpine skiing and snowboarding. This was Special Olympics Vermont’s largest Winter Games since 2019. The delegations that competed included Addison, Central Vermont, Chittenden, Adaptive Sports at Mount Snow, Northshire, Randolph, Rutland and Smugglers’ Notch Adaptive. 

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine A leading public defender, a law school professor and a longtime federal prosecutor are in the running to become the next U.S. District Court Judge in Vermont. The names of Assistant Federal Defender Steven L. Barth, Vermont Law School Professor Jessica C. Brown and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher were on the approved list compiled by a special screening committee, according to two sources familiar with the process, but not authorized to speak publicly. All three candidates declined public comment when reached by Vermont News First about filling the post. A screening panel, after completing interviews in January, sent the three names to U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and Peter Welch, D-Vt.

Public Assets Institute Those who keep a close eye on the State House know that this week is “money crossover”—the deadline for bills requiring significant financial appropriations to move from one chamber to the other. Any bills that don’t cross over by close of business Friday are on hold until next year. We’ve been watching to see whether the Fair Share for Vermont proposal, championed by Public Assets and the other members of the Fund Vermont's Future coalition, to add a 3 percent surcharge on annual incomes above $500,000 moves on to the Senate. The revenue proposal was added to a housing bill (H. 829), and was voted out of both House Ways and Means and House Appropriations yesterday, so it officially made crossover.

Vermont Business Magazine This week the House voted to approve two bills that will significantly increase access to cancer screening for Vermonters. House bills, H.621 and H.741, expand health insurance coverage for diagnostic breast imaging and colorectal cancer screening respectively. Under current Vermont law and the Affordable Care Act, access to preventative screening mammography is available, however when results from these screening are inconclusive further imaging and follow-ups are required, which are not covered by current law. H.621 aims to broaden the scope of follow-up screenings mandated by insurers, providing more comprehensive coverage to Vermonters.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Regulation ordered Sigue Corp. to cease engaging in money transmission activities in Vermont as the company can no longer responsibly serve customers due to its declining financial position. Thirty-nine states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia coordinated to issue this consent order. Sigue is a state-regulated money transmission company licensed in Vermont and 48 other states (NMLS ID 915912). Over the past several months, Sigue experienced significant financial deterioration. The company failed to complete multiple money orders and transmissions and to maintain adequate net worth and permissible investments to cover outstanding liabilities, both violations of state money transmission law. Many customers are still waiting for their funds.

Department of Economic Development In less than three weeks, the 2024 Great American Eclipse will throw northern Vermont into total darkness. Depending on where you are in Vermont, the total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 will last up to 3 minutes 26 seconds. There will be a partial eclipse before and after the total eclipse. Vermont is expecting tens of thousands of people and possibly up to 145,000 visitors to join us to watch the moon block out the sun. Read on for how you can be best prepared.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Labor reported today that the February 2024 seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for February was 2.3 percent. This reflects no change from January's revised estimate. Vermont has the third lowest rate in the nation, behind North (2.0%) and South (2.1%) Dakota. California (5.3%) has the highest rate. The comparable United States rate in February was 3.9 percent, an increase of two-tenths of one percentage point from the revised January estimate. The seasonally adjusted Vermont data for February show a modest improvement from January. The Vermont civilian labor force increased by 730 from the prior month’s revised estimate. The number of employed persons increased by 741 and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 11.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of Zoie Saunders to serve as Vermont’s next education secretary. Saunders is an accomplished education leader with broad strategic and operational experience driving school improvement, increasing student outcomes and enrollment, closing service gaps, and optimizing school support services. Currently, Saunders works as the chief strategy and innovation officer for Broward County (Florida) Public Schools, the sixth largest school district in the country. In this role, she is responsible for aligning resources, maximizing facility usage, strengthening partnerships, and enhancing support services for 230 schools serving over 200,000 students. Using a collaborative approach, Saunders has led discussions with community stakeholders to develop the goals and criteria for redefining the future of education in the county from an equity lens. Saunders will assume the role effective April 15.

Vermont Business Magazine Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2024, School for International Training (SIT) in Brattleboro is kicking off a series of events spotlighting the institution’s unique history and its dynamic future as a 21st-century global university. SIT was officially established in 1964, 32 years after the launch of World Learning’s foundational youth exchange program, The Experiment in International Living. When President John F. Kennedy tapped program alumnus Sargent Shriver to become the inaugural director of the Peace Corps, Shriver turned to the Experiment to train some of the first Peace Corps volunteers. Out of that activity, SIT was born. Today, SIT is the only accredited institution of higher education in the United States that is part of an international nongovernmental organization, World Learning.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House of Representatives gave initial endorsement Thursday to legislation designed to protect bees and other pollinators in the state from toxic neonicotinoid pesticides, known commonly as neonics. The vote in the House was 112-29. The bill (H.706) has four main components: (1) it prohibits the use of field crop seeds (corn, soy, wheat, and cereal) treated with neonicotinoids; (2) it restricts outdoor uses of neonicotinoids that are harmful to pollinators; (3) it requires best management practices for allowed neonicotinoid uses; and (4) it incorporates neonicotinoid-treated seeds into the regulatory framework that already applies to other neonicotinoids. It also includes an emergency exemption that allows the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, in consultation with the Agency of Natural Resources, to lift the prohibition if seed companies fail to provide farmers with a sufficient supply of neonicotinoid-free seed or if requiring farmers to purchase neonicotinoid-free seed would cause financial hardship. 

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington-based real estate firm V/T Commercial has released their transactions for the first quarter of 2024. These include: The State of Vermont leased 37,195 square feet of office space at the Innovation Center of Vermont, located at 128 Lakeside Avenue, Burlington from Fortieth Burlington, LLC; Benchmark Systems sublet 39,320 square feet at the Innovation Center of Vermont, Building 21, 128 Lakeside Avenue, Burlington from Dealer Dot Com, Inc., and Fortieth Burlington, LLC; at the Innovation Center of Vermont, V/T announced that the Internal Revenue Service leased 13,229 square feet in the building.

Vermont Business Magazine On March 27th the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) will host its biannual “Road Show” educational event at the Hilton Burlington Lake Champlain Hotel in Burlington, VT. The event, tailored to prospective captive insurance companies, has been hosted in over 20 cities, including internationally in Mexico City. The format includes two parts, the first being a deep dive into the basics of captive insurance and the benefits of domiciling in Vermont, and the latter featuring three captive owners sharing their formation story. Captive owners include two Vermont-based organizations, University of Vermont Health Network and employee-owned multinational manufacturing company, Carris Reels, Inc., and one Missouri-based multinational construction company, Alberici Corporation.