Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) is now accepting applications for the new Maple Agriculture Development Grants (Maple ADG) program. This one-time funding is intended to help develop, grow, and sustain maple businesses throughout the state. With over $540,000 in available funds allocated by the Vermont State Legislature in the 2024 fiscal year budget, the Maple ADG program represents the largest ever state investment in Vermont maple operations. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Foundation is seeking proposals for programs or projects that help local communities adapt to the impacts of Vermont's changing climate and the increase in severe weather events. The Environmental Justice Small Grant Program is designed to support Vermont communities facing increasingly severe weather events and rising temperatures. Just as Vermonters adapt to the changing seasons, it is important that our communities prepare themselves for the long-term effects of a changing climate.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and the Fish and Wildlife Department have officially confirmed the first documented presence of mile-a-minute weed (Persicaria perfoliata) in Chittenden County, Vermont. The fast-growing annual vine, originally from India and Eastern Asia, poses a significant threat to native vegetation, young forest stands, habitats in natural areas, and agricultural industries such as nurseries, landscaping, and Christmas tree farms.

Vermont Business Magazine The Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) has constructed a new access to the Missisquoi River, providing paddlers, anglers and other users with new opportunities for outdoor recreation. The river access was built this summer by the NFCT’s professional stewardship crew with support from local volunteers. The access is located on the Missisquoi River in East Richford, just downstream from the border with Canada. The NFCT’s work this summer featured the installation of stone and timber steps as well as a gravel path. The project was funded by the Upper Missisquoi and Trout Rivers Wild & Scenic Committee (UMATR), established following designation of the river as a national Wild and Scenic River in 2014. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education announced today that Aziza Malik, an upper elementary teacher at Champlain Elementary School in Burlington, is the 2024 Vermont Teacher of the Year. Malik will begin her tenure as Teacher of the Year on January 1, 2024. Also recognized are the 2024 Vermont Teacher of the Year Distinguished Finalists, Cortney Poquette and Lindsey Cox of Winooski High School. Aziza Malik has been an upper elementary teacher at Champlain Elementary in Burlington for 14 years. At Champlain, Aziza focuses on fostering authentic relationships between schools and stakeholders, including local government, businesses, non-profits, and community members. These collaborative efforts allow her to interweave student and civic engagement, leadership development, and diverse perspectives into the curriculum.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Main Street Flood Recovery Fund is issuing a crucial final notice to business owners adversely affected by the July flooding, urging them to apply for financial assistance. The deadline to submit grant applications is November 15, 2023. This opportunity for a $2,500 award is exclusively available for small businesses that have not yet received a Main Street Recovery Fund grant. Thanks to the tremendous support of individuals, businesses, and communities, the fund has successfully raised over $800,000, enabling the distribution of nearly 300 grants to small businesses. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Ludlow Disaster Recovery Center will close permanently at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 21. The center will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Ludlow Community Center, 37 Main St., Ludlow, VT 05149. Vermonters can visit a center to get in-person help applying for disaster assistance. Specialists from FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration are available to help upload documents, answer questions and guide you through the appeals process. The lone Center to remain open will be in Barre.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) and the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (VOREC) launch groundbreaking “Move Forward Together Vermont: Designing our Outdoor Recreation Future.” This ambitious statewide planning endeavor has been set in motion to address a critical need – creating and sustaining opportunities that strengthen Vermont’s outdoor recreation spaces and communities. This initiative, supported by the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, merges the Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) and the VOREC Action Plan. 

by Charlotte Oliver, Community News Service Outside Dog River Farm in Berlin recently, five pallets of bright orange pumpkins rested roadside in a loose grid along the grass, far fewer than owner George Gross would have normally had for sale. The summer floods wiped away a dozen acres of his crops, he said, and those few pumpkins outside his farm store were the only ones left. The state launched a grant program in early August to help businesses after the flooding. But months later, fewer than one-fifth of agricultural business applicants had received payments — and those that did, on average, received tens of thousands of dollars less than needed. Of 41 approved applications, only 28 agricultural businesses had gotten paid as of Oct. 4, according to data from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. 

Vermont Business Magazine On October 4, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced that all Vermont county FSA offices are ready to accept applications for the Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP). This program offers financial assistance to eligible forest landowners to help restore land that has been damaged by the July rainstorms that resulted in widespread flooding and land instability across Vermont. Various projects may qualify under this program, but its primary focus is addressing erosion and water quality issues affecting forest roads and trails resulting from heavy rainfall. The signup period for EFRP began on October 10, 2023, and ends on November 8, 2023.

Vermont Business Magazine Beech leaf disease (BLD), caused by the invasive nematode or roundworm Litylenchus crenatae mccannii, has been confirmed for the first time in Vermont. After receiving a report of potential BLD in southeastern Vermont, staff from the Forest Health program of the Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) collected symptomatic leaves from American beech (Fagus grandifolia) saplings. Samples were sent to a US Department of Agriculture Forest Service Laboratory for DNA confirmation in early October 2023, and BLD has now been officially confirmed within the state. This invasive species has currently been reported in 14 states, and Ontario, Canada. 

by Ethan Tapper, Chittenden County Forester I'm leading a couple events this week: a talk at the Big Picture theatre in Waitsfield on Thursday evening and a walk with the Vermont Land Trust at the Catamount Community Forest on Saturday. I hope to see you there! Details are below. My article for this month is called What is an Old-Growth Forest? You can read it here. Vermont’s forests are highly-altered -- young, simple and degraded, missing many critical habitats, features and functions that they need to stay healthy, abundant and resilient as they head into an uncertain future. As we consider what it means to care for forests at this moment in time, it is clear that radical action is needed to protect their biodiversity and their ecological integrity, and to help them build resilience and adaptability as they prepare for the pervasive influence of global change.