Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain Housing Trust announced today that the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) approved a new round of funding totaling $2.45 million for the organization’s Farmworker Housing programs, building upon the successful pilot project in partnership with the UVM Extension program initiated in 2022. The program includes allocations for both repair of existing housing, and for the replacement of housing that is beyond repair or not suitable for habitation. Both options are available throughout the State of Vermont. The program grew out of a report completed in 2021 for VHCB that identified the need for improvements to the housing of farmworkers. The report estimated that 2,000 farmworkers lived on farms.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) announces the release of a request for applications (RFA) for farmers, producers, and organizations to apply for Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) Plus funding. Approximately $400,000 will be awarded to farms and organizations that demonstrate an ability to purchase and distribute Vermont sourced food from socially disadvantaged producers to underserved community members across Vermont. Awards will range from $15,000 - $60,000 with no match requirement.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Treasurer Mike Pieciak today announced the hiring of Rebecca (“Becky”) Wasserman of Burlington as the first Executive Director of Vermont’s new public retirement-savings program, VT Saves. VT Saves is an automatic enrollment Roth IRA savings vehicle for employees who do not currently have access to a workplace savings plan.

Vermont Business Magazine Kalow Technologies, a leading contract manufacturer of packaging, beverage dispensing, ag tech, and 3D printing equipment recently leased and began renovation work on an additional 30,000 square feet at 155 Seward Road in Rutland. Additional space was acquired to meet their expanding manufacturing needs and to develop new Engineering offices and a dedicated lab space for early-stage projects.   

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).