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Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont have fallen to $3.68 per gallon, down 6.1 cents per gallon from last week's $3.74/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.19/g while the highest was $3.89/g, a difference of 70.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 11.3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.55/g today. The national average is down 29.9 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 30.9 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine In its heyday – its first heyday, that is – Burlington’s Goethe Lodge was a happening place. Established in 1896 as the Vermont Chapter of the German Order of Harugari, a national German-American cultural association, the Goethe Lodge social club hosted music, dances, and celebrations. For this growing community of new American immigrants, it provided fellowship, connection, mutual aid, and, an anomaly in late 19th century society, even admitted women(!). Across the decades, the Goethe’s popularity ebbed and flowed. In the 1960s, when membership lulled, the club dropped its German-descent requirement and eventually renamed itself the Champlain Club. But by the early 2000s, a fundraising effort to pay back taxes spurred new community excitement, as dance clubs, arts classes, and community groups came to embrace the space. 

Vermont Business Magazine Despite extensive efforts to negotiate a new contract for well over a year, The University of Vermont Health Network and UnitedHealthcare were unable to reach a renewal agreement. This means the UVM Health Network will cease to be in-network with United for commercial plans beginning March 1, 2024. Although the contract with one of the nation’s largest for-profit insurance carriers expires at the end of 2023, the extension through February 29, 2024, will provide patients with additional time to explore other in-network insurance options or transition to alternative providers and facilities. The hospital group said that since the extension through February 29, 2024, does not include any increases and maintains the same rates from the 2022 fiscal year contract, inflationary pressures on the cost of care and workforce over the last year means this will have an additional negative impact on UVMHN’s finances.

The Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets has released of the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Plus grant opportunity. This program is administered by the USDA via the Agency of Agriculture and provides funds for purchasing Vermont produced foods. The primary goal of the program is to procure Vermont food products from socially disadvantaged farmers and producers for distribution to underserved communities.  Exceptions to Vermont food products can be made for culturally preferred foods, with grant manager approval. Project awards will range from $15,000 to $60,000 with no match requirement. A total of $500,000 is available to award.  

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Broadband Board at the end of August submitted Vermont’s FIve-Year Action Plan to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. It’s the first of several documents that need to be approved to unlock $229 million from the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, known as BEAD, for the state’s broadband buildout. This funding is not a done deal, however, given federal requirements. The broadband board is also asking for public comment on how that money will be spent, assuming the state gets it.

Vermont Business Magazine American families are struggling. A national funding cliff is making child care even less affordable and accessible, the Medicaid unwinding means dropped coverage for millions, and child poverty has doubled after the end of the federal child tax credit (CTC). A new report from early childhood policy experts at Vanderbilt University explains how state policy choices impact family resources—and help offset the impact of many of these national challenges. The variation across states is substantial. Vermont ranked 7th overall. DC and New Jersey were first and second, while Georgia was last.

Vermont Business Magazine This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways and interstates throughout Vermont for the week of October 16, 2023. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.      

Vermont Business Magazine October is American Archives Month, a time for organizations and repositories around the nation to highlight the importance of records with enduring value.  Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas and State Archivist Tanya Marshall are pleased to announce that this year’s Archives Month events will celebrate and commemorate the value of motion picture films.  The Vermont Historical Records Program (VHRP) will offer two workshops on Film Preservation Basics and participate in a Home Movie Day event in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom (NEK).

Vermont Business Magazine Community and manufacturing leaders from throughout VT and NH gathered at the American Precision Museum in Windsor last night to celebrate the launch of a new vision for the future of APM. Over 75 guests joined APM board and staff for a presentation of the museum's new strategic plan, the opportunity to explore current collections, and provide input on initial concepts for historical preservation plans, new interactive, exhibit designs, expanded STEM+M (science, technology, engineering, mathematics + manufacturing) education and career awareness programming and much more.

Vermont Business Magazine The Board of Trustees of the Woodstock Foundation have appointed Bruce Grosbety as President of the Woodstock Inn & Resort, a AAA Four Diamond Resort and one of New England's premier year-round vacation destinations. A native of the northeast who started in the hospitality industry at his family-owned resort, Grosbety brings several decades of hospitality experience to the Woodstock Inn & Resort from diverse roles at world-class hotels and destination resorts across the country. He most recently served as Vice President and General Manager for The Yarrow Group, where he oversaw the daily operations of five hotels in Jackson, WY, and Fort Collins, CO. Grosbety will officially begin his new role on November 16.

Vermont Business Magazine The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the application deadline for the Milk Loss Program (MLP) to Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, allowing more time for eligible dairy farmers to apply for much-needed, weather-related disaster recovery assistance.  Administered by USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), MLP compensates dairy producers who, because of qualifying weather events, dumped or removed milk without compensation from the commercial milk market in calendar years 2020, 2021 and 2022. Eligible causes of loss also include consequences of these weather events, such as power outages, impassable roads and infrastructure losses. FSA opened MLP enrollment on Sept. 11, 2023; the original MLP deadline was Oct. 16, 2023.   

Agency of Commerce and Community Development The Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program (BEGAP) application portal will close on Monday, October 23rd. Businesses who have yet to apply or are still completing their application will need to do so by October 23rd. The deadline to apply for FEMA assistance and SBA disaster loan applications for physical damage from flooding that occurred July 7 through July 21 has been extended to October 31, 2023.