Current News

Vermont Business Magazine In recognition of Careers in Construction Month, Vermont Works for Women (VWW) has announced the 2024 schedule of their free trades training program for women and gender-expansive individuals ages 16+. In addition to offering Trailblazers in the usual South Burlington and Rutland locations, the program is expanding to Newport and Brattleboro next year. 

Vermont Business Magazine Have you ever tasted a nearly 100-year-old spirit? A century may have once seemed impossible to consume in one snifter. But now — compliments of an innovative spirits maverick — you can finally mix a cocktail with time itself. BHAKTA Spirits, the world’s preeminent House of Vintages, announced today the national debut of its new flagship spirit, BHAKTA 1928 (SRP $69). A boundary-breaking blend of straight rye whiskey, XO Calvados, and ultra-aged Armagnac named in honor of the most ancient vintage contained in each bottle, BHAKTA 1928 unifies America’s finest rye with France’s two most exquisite brandies.

Vermont Business Magazine Smugglers’ Notch Distillery is expanding once again! In mid-November, visitors to the charming village of Stowe will be able to stroll Main Street and stop in to try Smugglers’ Notch vodkas, gins, bourbons, cream liqueurs, and barrel-aged maple syrup in their new tasting room at 112 Main St.  Guests can explore how oak barrels develop complex flavors in bourbon, sample single barrel pours, and get a taste of Vermont’s Mountain Spirit on a leisurely wander about Stowe village. Meanwhile before the Stowe grand opening, visit one of their other tasting rooms which were recently voted as one of four top tasting room experiences in the US. 

Public Assets Institute The Covid pandemic shaped Vermonters’ commuting habits. According to new U.S. Census data, nearly 15,000 fewer workers commuted daily in 2022 than did so before the pandemic. Almost 80 percent of those pre-pandemic commuters drove alone. The Census data also show nearly 56,000 Vermonters working from home last year, up from nearly 23,000 in 2019. Vermonters may be sliding back to their old ways, however. Commuting alone inched up and remote work inched down in 2022 as compared with 2021.

Vermont Business Magazine MVP Health Care (MVP) and The University of Vermont Health Network (UVMHN) today announced that their Medicare Advantage Plan, called UVM Health Advantage, will include new benefits in 2024 tailorable to each customer’s health needs. At a time when 65% of patients say coordinating and managing health care is overwhelming and time consuming, UVM Health Advantage offers Medicare-eligible customers in Northern New York and Vermont an unmatched health care experience and personalized support at every step of the way. Enrollment in the plan begins October 15, with coverage starting on January 1, 2024.  

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) are teaming up in a cooperative effort with Vermont hunters to search harvested deer for ticks this Fall.  Volunteers at multiple southern Vermont check stations will be collecting any ticks found on deer and bringing them back to the state laboratory in Randolph for species identification. Volunteers will staff several reporting stations during Youth Hunting Season this weekend and during the regular deer hunting season November 11th and 12th. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Clean Water Board is seeking public input on the State Fiscal Year 2025 Clean Water Budget by November 20, 2023. Vermonters can weigh in on how they would like to prioritize approximately $39.6 million to fund projects to protect and improve the quality of water in our rivers, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. State Fiscal Year 2025 begins July 1, 2024, and ends June 30, 2025. The public can share whether they think funding levels are sufficient, whether they agree with the priorities, and if they have recommendations. The Board will review public comment before making its final Clean Water Budget recommendation in December 2023.

Vermont Business Magazine A new chapter in the University of Vermont’s fulfillment of its land-grant mission began today with the UVM Board of Trustees’ unanimous approval of the naming of the Patrick Leahy Building along with the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships headquartered there. Amid a celebratory atmosphere during a portion of the board meeting that covered the promise and potential of the work taking place in the recently renovated building, the board capped off a year of recognition for Leahy, who retired in January as the third-longest serving senator in US history. In May, the university named the Patrick Leahy Honors College for the senator and its new state-of-the-art lake research vessel for his wife, Marcelle, herself a long-time supporter of the university’s mission.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Public Board of Directors announced today that Scott Finn, President and CEO, is stepping down from the organization at the end of this year following nearly six cumulative years first with Vermont Public Radio and now Vermont Public, after its 2021 merger with Vermont PBS. The Board of Directors also announced that Brendan Kinney, Senior VP of Development, a nearly 14 year veteran of Vermont Public, will be moving into the Interim CEO role.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Vermont's unemployment rate rose one-tenth to 1.9% in September, as the number of unemployed edged up (+3.1%). The Vermont Department of Labor released the seasonally adjusted data today. Vermont still has the second lowest rate in the nation. Maryland is lowest at 1.6% and Nevada is highest at 5.4%. The comparable United States rate in September was 3.8 percent, no change from the revised August estimate. The civilian labor force participation rate was 64.1 percent in September, an increase of one-tenth of one percentage point from the prior month’s revised estimate.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today announced a $75,000 settlement to resolve claims by the State of Vermont against Thomas Tremonte for civil timber trespass and unlawful mischief on State Park land. The settlement resolves a 2021 case filed by the Attorney General’s Office on behalf of the Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) alleging that Tremonte cut 839 trees without authorization in a designated natural area in Hazen’s Notch State Park. Tremonte owns land next to the Park.

by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders Dear Fellow Vermonter: Mahatma Gandhi: “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” There have been five wars fought between Israel and its neighbors in the last fifteen years. Over that time, and before, there have been thousands of diplomats from around the world working on a variety of plans to bring peace and stability to the region, and hundreds of conferences. They have all failed. Today, the situation in the area is more horrific, more brutal, more inhumane, and more dangerous than ever before. I wish I could tell you that I had some magic solution, or five-point plan to resolve this never-ending crisis. I don’t.