Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is encouraging agricultural producers and forest landowners in Vermont to participate in voluntary conservation programs and adopt climate-smart practices in fiscal year 2024 as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is accepting applications for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP), which help a wide variety of producers, including urban and organic producers. For fiscal year 2024, NRCS has $3 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funds to invest in climate-smart mitigation activities. This year, NRCS expanded the list of those activities as well as expanded priority areas for ACEP for grasslands, wetlands and farmlands at risk of conversion.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Entrepreneurial Legal Lab and Legal Services Vermont are working in collaboration to assist Vermonters affected by the summer 2023 floods. Together, they will host a clinic in Barre where volunteers will be available to assist with information and questions regarding FEMA and/or SBA applications, unemployment insurance or Disaster Unemployment Assistance. The extended Oct. 31 deadline to submit FEMA and SBA applications for businesses and individuals is quickly approaching. The clinic will provide legal information, answer legal questions, and assist with other paperwork, including communications with landlords or insurance claims for homeowners, renters, and businesses.

Vermont State Police During the ongoing search for two missing men from Massachusetts, investigators have located two bodies in a rural area in northeastern Vermont. The discovery of the bodies occurred as police followed up on information that detectives developed while searching for Jahim Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield and Eric White, 21, of Chicopee. Official determination of their identities will come from the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington, which also will perform autopsies to determine the cause and manner of the deaths. The circumstances of the disappearance of Solomon and White are suspicious. The Vermont State Police has made no arrests connected to this investigation but has identified several persons of interest and possible suspects. Detectives believe this was an isolated event.

Vermont Business Magazine In response to the news JetBlue will no longer be providing their one route from Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, Nic Longo, Director of Aviation issued the following statement: “We are disappointed to learn the news JetBlue Airways will be discontinuing their one route to New York-JFK. Our relationship with JetBlue goes back more than two decades and the airline averaged 10% of Leahy BTV passengers on a monthly basis. Passengers will still be able to fly from Burlington to New York-JFK via Delta Air Lines, and we will work with our partners United, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines to expand services with this opportunity opening up. We are also in active talks with a handful of new airline partners to establish new routes and destinations in order to continue our growth and to meet growing passenger demands, and look forward to potential announcements in the near future.” 

Vermont Business Magazine On Monday, Vermont’s State Advisory Council (SAC) formally endorsed the Policy Recommendations of the Vermont Early Childhood State Advisory Council Network for 2024. These recommendations represent the most pressing priorities and challenges identified by early childhood stakeholders and are part of the SAC’s state and federal charge to advise Vermont’s governor, administration, and legislature. The recommendations seek to identify the current gaps and needs in policy, promote and monitor action in strategic areas for the coming year, and move Vermont toward a more equitable early childhood system. 

Vermont Business Magazine November 1 marks the beginning of the Open Enrollment period for Vermont's health insurance marketplace. This is the time Vermonters can sign up for or change their health and dental plans for 2024. This year's Open Enrollment is especially important for Vermonters who may have lost Medicaid coverage or otherwise became uninsured in the last year. Even though they can sign up at any time, the tools, and resources available for Open Enrollment make this the perfect opportunity to shop for a plan and take advantage of expanded financial help. Vermonters can save money on the amount they pay for plans, called premiums, if they qualify and sign up on the health insurance marketplace, also known as Vermont Health Connect. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont community members and organizations came together to raise more than $120,000 at the 2023 Empty Bowl Dinner, benefitting Spectrum Youth & Family Services. The event was held on October 10, 2023, and sponsored by Vermont Federal Credit Union. Funds raised from the dinner will go toward supporting Vermont youth facing homelessness and other hardships. Held each October, the evening brings together community members and supporters. Guests choose a ceramic bowl made by local potters to keep and fill with soup donated by local restaurants and served by local celebrity servers. 

Vermont Business Magazine On Monday October 30, a union representing over 600 graduate student-workers at the University of Vermont in Burlington will file for a union election with the VLRB with majority support. Student workers will rally on the UVM campus on the Davis Green at 12 to celebrate this accomplishment and make their union demands known to the administration. Their union is called Graduate Students United (GSU), and is affiliated through the United Auto Workers (UAW) and its Local 2322. Graduate student workers at UVM join thousands of other graduate student union members in the UAW.

Vermont State Police On the above date and time, State Police received a report of approximately $75 cash and a $2.00 drink was stolen from a farmstand on Dustan Rd in Craftsbury. Anyone with information who can identify this person please contact Trooper Jesse Nash at the Derby Barracks @ 802-334-8881.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) applauded the confirmation of Michael Whitaker, of Vermont, to become Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Tuesday. Whitaker received strong bipartisan support in a 98-0 Senate vote. Senator Welch recently called for his colleagues to support Whitaker’s nomination, following his bipartisan advancement through the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, of which Sen. Welch is a member.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State University Interim President Mike Smith will release his administrative cost savings plan on Friday, after notifications to leadership, unions and the impacted staff members are complete. The plan – which was accepted by the Vermont State Colleges Board of Trustees yesterday – taken with Optimization 2.0 and the transformation work championed by faculty, staff, and leaders sets the unified university on path toward financial viability by Fiscal Year 2027.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced nearly $1.9 million to fund two projects across Vermont that advance environmental justice as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The organizations, which EPA has selected through its Environmental Justice Government-to-Government program, will use the funds to ensure disadvantaged communities that have historically suffered from underinvestment have access to clean air and water and climate resilience solutions in alignment with the Biden-Harris administration’s Justice40 Initiative.