Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) is alerting the public to a highly sophisticated phishing scam that occurred during construction of its new Materials Recycling Facility (MRF). Scammers posing as representatives of CSWD’s construction partner contacted CSWD’s finance team requesting that we update our system with their new payment terms.  The fraudulent emails were particularly convincing, using email addresses nearly identical to those of the construction company, purporting to be from a known member of the finance team, and included that person’s photo. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative launched a toolkit to give Vermont communities of all sizes a practical roadmap for measuring and growing their outdoor recreation economies. The Vermont CORE Toolkit (Community Outdoor Recreation Economy), a comprehensive resource designed to support municipalities and local organizations, is available starting today at vtcoretoolkit.com. VOREC will host a webinar to introduce the Toolkit on Friday, March 13, from 11 am to 12:30 pm.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont boasts over 1,400 miles of lakeshore, and nearly half is developed in a way that impacts water quality and wildlife habitat. Ahead of construction season, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is holding a free training on best practices to develop, manage, and restore shorelands. The training advances the state’s goals to improve and protect clean water, flood resiliency, and wildlife habitat. The Shoreland Erosion Control and Restoration Training is a great opportunity for engineers, landscapers, designers, contractors, consultants, project managers, and other site workers.

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermonters patiently wait for spring temperatures, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) invites the public to report when Vermont’s lakes and ponds lose their ice cover. Also known as the “ice-out date,” this date marks when lakes or ponds become ice-free from shore to shore. When ice covers lakes, the water below separates into layers based on temperature and density. When the surface ice fully melts in the spring, the heavy cold water sinks, and the water column fully mixes. Water samples collected at this time of mixing show the baseline amount of phosphorus a lake will have available to fuel algae and aquatic plant growth during the spring and summer.

Vermont Business Magazine The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC), in its role as the Clean Water Service Provider (CWSP) for the Northern Lake Champlain Basin, recently supported completion of two new projects in Chittenden County in 2025 to reduce phosphorus runoff into Lake Champlain. CCRPC provided 100% of the needed funds for a stream restoration project at the Wolcott Family Natural Area in Colchester managed by the Winooski Valley Parks District (WVPD). The CCRPC also contributed some funds for improvements to Beebe Lane which provides access to the public beach on Lake Iroquois, a project primarily funded via a Congressionally-directed EPA Community Grant obtained by the Lake Iroquois Recreation District.

Vermont Business Magazine Since the end of February and the start of war in Iran, fossil fuel prices in Vermont have been increasing dramatically. EAN recently analyzed how gasoline price increases are affecting Vermonters and our state economy. The full analysis is available on EAN’s website. Key points – consumer level: At $3.06/ gallon (the Feb. 27th, pre-war price), the average cost of gasoline per Vermonter was $120 a month. At the March 11th price of $3.54/gallon, that cost has risen to about $140 a month, or roughly a $20 increase in monthly gasoline costs per Vermonter.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general in challenging the Trump Administration’s demand that higher education institutions provide new data via a recently added component to the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS), a collection of interrelated surveys administered by the Department of Education. The stated purpose of this new survey is to track institutions’ compliance with the Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which limits how race can be considered in admissions. But IPEDS is not a tool for enforcing these requirements and should not be used to attack race-conscious admissions practices. The rushed attempt to convert it for that purpose leaves institutions vulnerable to inadvertent errors and unreliable data that could lead to costly penalties and baseless investigations into their practices. This vast data demand also jeopardizes student privacy by requesting in-depth information that could be tied to individual students. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Senate today gave final legislative approval to Proposition 4, the Equal Rights Amendment, sending the constitutional amendment to the House for a simple majority concurrence and then to Vermont voters for consideration on the November ballot. The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 29-0. Senator Steve Heffernan was present in the building today but left the Senate floor shortly before the vote. If ratified by voters, Proposition 4 would add a new article to Chapter I of the Vermont Constitution guaranteeing equal protection under the law and specifying that the state shall not deny equal treatment on account of a person’s race, ethnicity, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin.

Vermont Business Magazine Students and families from across Vermont are invited to the Davis Center at the University of Vermont (UVM) for College & Career Pathways on Saturday, March 14th. Organized by VSAC, College & Career Pathways is a free event to help high school students, family members, and guardians discover resources and connect with local experts. “Nearly every high-wage, high-demand job in Vermont requires education or training beyond high school. Engaging students in the great variety of opportunities available to them helps them find their own path, and grow into fulfilling careers,” said Scott Giles, VSAC President and CEO. “Ultimately, we want to empower students and families with the knowledge they need to navigate college or training after high school.”

Vermont Business Magazine According to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, the Trump administration’s efforts to fire hundreds of workers at the Department of Education have undermined the accuracy of student loan borrower records and have failed to hold servicers accountable for providing high-quality customer service to America’s 43 million student loan borrowers.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, led U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) to investigate all complaints the IG has received regarding FEMA. In their letter, the Senators raise concerns about allegations that DHS has retaliated against FEMA whistleblowers. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) invites municipalities to participate in the Municipal Roads Grants-in-Aid Program, which provides funding for municipalities to implement best management practices (BMPs) in accordance with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Municipal Roads General Permit (MRGP). Grants-in-Aid awards will be made available through AOT. Municipalities will submit reimbursement requests directly to AOT for work completed, and AOT will reimburse up to 80% of the municipality’s documented construction expenses, including in-kind support, for BMPs on hydrologically connected roads.