Current News

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine One of the Green Mountain State's best-known cheesemakers is moving many of its functions from Brattleboro to a new home. The Grafton Village Cheese Company, established in the eponymous town in 1892, expects to launch operations at the location, alongside Vermont 103 in Proctorsville, on March 9. The new facility will cut, pack, and warehouse cheese made at the company's production plant in Grafton and will also include a retail outlet. The company's post-production functions have been located in leased space alongside Route 30 in Brattleboro for 11 years. Brattleboro's Retreat Farm acquired that property in 2022, terminating the lease. The Retreat, a private mental-health institution, will expand its functions into the space being vacated by the cheese company.

Vermont Business Magazine Ann Clark Ltd, a Vermont-based gourmet baking supply company, was awarded a STEP grant by the Vermont Department of Economic Development for the second consecutive year. The Rutland company plans to use the grant funds to continue its expansion into international markets in Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom after seeing profitable growth since 2023 due to the grant’s support. Ann Clark will increase its digital advertising on Amazon’s international websites, targeting each of its export market countries. The company pays close attention to international holidays and markets its cookie cutters and baking products with local customs in mind. For instance, goose-shaped cookies are part of St. Martin’s Day celebrations in Germany, fish shapes (“Poisson d’Avril”) are a popular item for April Fool’s Day in France, and Sky Blue food coloring excels in the UK whenever Manchester City FC wins the Premier League. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) this week launched the Corrections Investigative Unit (CIU), a new team charged with conducting internal investigations and improving transparency. This unit, consisting of a director and two-full time investigators, will investigate critical incidents (e.g., deaths in custody, escape attempts), Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) compliance, threats and safety, intelligence operations, and culture and workplace experiences. CIU was statutorily established in 2021 by the Vermont General Assembly to bolster transparency with the public and fill operational gaps within Vermont’s correctional system. Per statute, CIU will coordinate with investigative and law enforcement agencies and the Department of Human Resources (DHR). DHR will maintain authority over employee misconduct allegations.

Vermont Business Magazine Livian, a real estate team acceleration platform, has added four more real estate teams, totaling more than 126 million in annual sales volume. “We’re bringing together the best minds in the industry to elevate our services and redefine the future of real estate,” said Adam Hergenrother, CEO, Livian. “Together, we are poised to create unparalleled opportunities and set new standards of success in the world of real estate brokerage.” As of Dec. 31, Livian has 61 real estate teams in 27 states, comprising more than 475 agents nationwide. 

Vermont Business Magazine This year’s Leap Day marks a huge leap forward for early childhood education in Rutland County. Thanks to the tireless work of local community leaders and legislators, Rutland County Head Start has expanded to offer the nationally recognized program for infants and toddlers to Rutland County families. The new program was also made possible through grant support provided by The Bowse Trust and Let’s Grow Kids. Rutland City Mayor Mike Doenges, representatives from the offices of Vermont’s legislative delegation, and other community leaders will be on hand to celebrate Rutland County’s first ever Early Head Start (EHS) program with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, February 29th, at 78 Meadow Street in Rutland. 

by Emily Bradbury Pablo first met Mary Sell, an English Language Specialist, when his family moved to Randolph, Vermont from Mexico. For the next eight years, Sell worked closely with Pablo to ensure language was not a barrier to his education and coached him on advocating for himself at school. Interested in medicine, Pablo enrolled in Early College at Vermont Technical College while in high school but sometimes found it difficult to know how to access the same kind of support on a larger, less familiar campus. Recognizing that students like Pablo could use a little extra support, Kara Merrill created an innovative new program that pairs college-bound seniors with an adult mentor of their choosing through their first year of college. Unsurprisingly, Pablo chose Sell, with whom he had a high degree of trust and familiarity. Now a first-year student at the University of Vermont, where he is thriving, Pablo credits Sell with helping to navigate the transition to university.

Vermont Business Magazine Ahead of this morning’s hearing in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee on the retirement crisis in America, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), chairman of the committee, released a new report exposing the depth of the crisis, while also exploring solutions that will allow all Americans to retire with dignity and security – not just the very wealthy. Key findings from the report include: Nearly half of Americans 55 and older have no retirement savings; 52 percent of Americans 65 and older are living on less than $30,000 annually and one in four survive on less than $15,000 per year. 

Vermont Business Magazine Public Assets Institute in Montpelier this week released its State of Working Vermont 2023. PAI said in the report that Vermont is facing challenges old and new—from housing shortages and a child mental health crisis to more frequent floods and pandemics. The new problems are far more costly to fix than anything we’ve seen before. The good news, PAI said, is that the state has the resources to address its problems and invest in its future. Policymakers need to tap that capacity by changing the way Vermont raises and spends money. While still not totally progressive, Vermont’s tax system is less regressive than it was five years ago and less regressive than most other states’ systems. Any tax increase should take fairness among taxpayers into consideration.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) today introduced the COLAs Don’t Count Act, and the Student Loan Deduction Act of 2024, bills that would exempt annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) and student loan payments from impacting the benefits of the families and individuals who utilize the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for food assistance. This would help ensure participants of SNAP are not losing benefits to the added costs of inflation and can more accurately report their available income after the expense of student loans is paid. 

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement regarding H.289, which could cost Vermonters $1 billion over the next decade. “As Vermonters stare down an enormous increase in property taxes that I’ve worked to get ahead of for years, a $100 million payroll tax passed by the Legislature, a 20% increase in DMV fees, potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars more a year for the Legislature’s clean heat standard, and more, the last thing Vermonters can take is the risk of another billion dollars of costs being imposed on them by this Legislature. There is clearly a more affordable and equitable alternative to H.289. We can and should do better.” 

Vermont Business Magazine Common Good Vermont is now accepting applications for this year’s Nonprofit Training and Consulting Certificate. This program supports nonprofit consultants, facilitators, and community builders. It is designed for: employees of nonprofits or public entities who provide training to nonprofit organizations or bring together community members, legislators, or nonprofit professionals to connect, engage, or problem solve and independent consultants and/or trainers working with nonprofits or individuals interested in working with nonprofits as a trainer or consultant.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) is alerting customers about a sudden surge of scam calls today. Dozens of customers have reported a caller threatening immediate power shut off unless they pay up right away. This is a scam, and GMP is urging customers to be safe and hang up. “We work with our customers, we’re here to help, and we would never threaten immediate shut off or demand payment over the phone. If someone is claiming to be GMP and demanding payment, just hang up. It is a scam,” said Liz Hart, Manager of Customer Care for GMP.