Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Lamoille Valley communities will soon have access to an up-to-date housing needs and assessment report, a publicly available resource to help area communities increase their understanding of the area’s housing ecosystem and tool to inform future planning. The report will provide an overall assessment of Lamoille County and the Town of Hardwick’s housing stock and housing needs, including workforce housing demand and supply, as well as guidance and recommendations for future housing development efforts within the study’s geographic area. The study will also examine impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, flooding and climate resiliency, and short-term rentals.

Vermont Business Magazine Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and UVM Cancer Center member Elias Klemperer, Ph.D., was recently awarded his first R01 grant—a combined award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Food and Drug Administration Center for Tobacco Products —to further study nicotine-limiting standards for cigarettes and e-cigarettes among adults in Rhode Island, Vermont, and Northern New York State. It's been well-documented that cigarette smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and death in the United States. In recent years, the prevalence of using multiple tobacco products, notably cigarettes and e-cigarettes, has been on the rise in the U.S. While e-cigarettes offer a potentially safer alternative, most users continue to smoke cigarettes in the long term, especially those who use e-cigarettes infrequently. 

Vermont Natural Resources Council VNRC, Audubon Vermont and the Vermont Center for Ecostudies recently provided comments to the Agency of Natural Resources on the Long Range Management Plan (LRMP) for the Worcester Range Management Unit. Broadly, our recommendations included supporting actions in the LRMP to promote the ecological health of the Worcester Range, natural communities and diverse wildlife habitat. Our comments also touched on recommendations to maintain forest connectivity, biodiversity, water quality, and sustainable recreational and ecological forestry opportunities, all while mitigating potential negative impacts to this critically important landscape in Vermont. 

Vermont Business Magazine As discussions on a new proposed front-of-package label rule that would better inform consumers about the health impacts of their food are underway at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D. urging the FDA to require corporations in the food and beverage industry to put strong, evidence-based warning labels on their products to protect the health of the American people.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Mutual Insurance Group, one of the oldest property and casualty insurers in the Northeast, has contributed more than $1,000,000 to local charities in 2023 through its Charitable Giving Fund. Since its founding in 2014, Vermont Mutual’s Charitable Giving Fund has donated over $4.6 Million to help support organizations in the communities where they do business. In 2023 the Fund contributed to more than 240 organizations throughout the northeast, including nearly $500,000 to assist individuals, business owners and farmers devastated by flooding in Vermont in July all while dealing with significant loss to their Montpelier home office.

University of Vermont, Gund Institute for Environment As New England winters get warmer, Vermont maple producers are innovating in the face of climate change. In the depths of winter, sugar on snow is a yearly treat many Vermonters eagerly anticipate. But with winters warming and snow barely on the ground in some parts of the state, climate change presents a host of challenges for Vermont’s iconic maple industry. Loss of suitable growing conditions, coupled with increasing pressure from invasive insects and plants, are creating “real threats,” says University of Vermont maple specialist Mark Isselhardt. But maple syrup has never been a predictable crop, he says, and producers are adopting new strategies, from improved technologies to boost production, to forest management practices to keep the sap flowing in our warmer, wetter future.

University of Vermont and University of Maine researchers found that both food insecurity and home and wild food production (HWFP) – gardening, hunting, fishing, foraging, and having “backyard” poultry or livestock – increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, and those who undertook HWFP activities exhibited improved food security 9-12 months later. The paper, published in Scientific Reports, surveyed over 1,000 individuals in rural Vermont and Maine (the two most rural states in the country) to identify their food security and food sources. Researchers hope that policymakers will consider how HWFP might lead to a more resilient food system. 

Vermont Business Magazine Join Ethan Tapper, the Chittenden County Forester for the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, for a walk of a "micro-scale" forest management project at the Maple Shade Town Forest in Westford on Saturday February 17. We will visit the project and talk about forests, forest ecology, natural history, and how to manage forests for wildlife, birds, carbon and climate change, old-growth characteristics and more!

The USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production has announced the FY24 Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Competitive Grants Program Notice of Funding Opportunity. These competitive grants initiate or expand efforts of farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools, and other stakeholders in urban areas and suburbs. Projects may target areas of food access; education; business and start-up costs for new farmers; and development of policies related to zoning and other needs of urban production. The funding floor is $75,000, the ceiling is $350,000, and most types of applicants, with the exception of individuals and for-profit businesses, are eligible to apply. 

Vermont Business Magazine At his weekly press conference today, Governor Phil Scott reiterated his call for the Legislature to prioritize public safety this session. He highlighted proposals from his Administration currently being considered by the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The Governor’s proposals include addressing accountability for repeat offenders, strengthening and modernizing our drug trafficking laws, investments in public safety and prevention measures, and more. In addition to policy changes, the Governor’s budget proposal also makes investments in the Judiciary for two new judges to address increased demand and backlogs, as well as making permanent 20 mental health workers embedded in our State Police barracks.

Vermont Business Magazine Breeze Airways, the U.S.’ only NLCC, or ‘Nice Low Cost Carrier,’ today inaugurates new service from Burlington to Orlando just two weeks after launching at Patrick Leahy International with service to Tampa. Fares for the new route start from just $69* one way, if purchased by February 19 for travel from February 26 to August 30.   Breeze will also start nonstop service to Raleigh-Durham along with one-stop BreezeThru service to Jacksonville in May.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced today the immediate availability of $1.2 million in “quick release” Emergency Relief (ER) funds for the Vermont Agency of Transportation. The funds will offset costs of emergency repair work to restore Bridge 129 on Vermont Route 14 in Irasburg, which was destroyed by a tanker truck fire in early December. On December 4, 2023, a tanker truck crashed into Bridge 129 on Vermont Route 14 in Irasburg, Vermont. The truck collided with the structure and then caught fire below, resulting in the total destruction of the bridge. VTrans has evaluated the bridge and determined it has extensive damage and must be replaced.