Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Saskadena Six Ski Area, the historic ski resort owned and operated by the Woodstock Inn & Resort, introduces the creation of a new connector trail, “Duane’s Drop,” as a tribute to a long-term member of the skiing community. Once a backcountry route that ski patrollers created to get to from one side of the mountain to the other, the new trail allows dedicated access to the southern side of the mountain. It is now a lasting memorial to the late Joe Duane, a beloved ski patrolman who served the mountain for two decades, most recently as Ski Patrol Director. The name celebrates his enduring legacy and notes his significant contributions to the ski patrol team and the wider “S6” skiing community.  

Vermont Business Magazine The Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) seeks fiscal year (FY) 2024 service provider proposals to build executive and marketing business skills for working lands enterprises (farm, food, and/or forest products). In using the terminology executive and marketing business skills, WLEB refers to the core skills that are associated with strong business acumen and management of an entrepreneur’s business. The WLEB invests in business and technical assistance service providers who work directly with working lands enterprises to support them as they grow, pivot, and adapt to an ever-changing context.

Vermont Business Magazine Wink, Inc., an industry analyzer, named National Life Group #1 in indexed life sales for the past 10 quarters, since the beginning of 2021, through 2022 and Q2 of 2023. Announced in an August 31 news release, Wink states: “Noteworthy highlights for total non-variable universal life sales in the second quarter included National Life Group retaining the #1 overall sales ranking for non-variable universal life sales, with a market share of 13.1%.” In addition, LIMRA, an industry trade group, placed National Life as #1, as of the end of the second quarter, for Indexed Universal Life up from #2, as of the end of Q1. National Life moved up from the #11 writer of individual life insurance to the #9 position.

Vermont Business Magazine The dropping temperatures and shorter days of fall bring some of the year’s hottest fishing action on Vermont’s lakes, ponds and streams, according to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. While the hot temperatures of summer can sometimes make fishing slow, the autumn months represent a transition time when fish become more active and easier to catch.  This increase in feeding activity can be attributed to fish boosting their reserves of essential nutrients in order to sustain themselves during winter when their metabolism slows and they feed less. 

Vermont Business Magazine As September marks Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, Howard Center is dedicated to shedding light on this critical issue and providing vital resources for the community. Suicide is an indiscriminate crisis, affecting people from all walks of life. If you or someone you know is grappling with suicidal thoughts, there is help and hope available. There are individuals who genuinely care who are available to provide support, and a wealth of resources designed to guide individuals through these challenging times.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Fish and Wildlife’s annual spiny softshell turtle beach cleanup day is Saturday, October 14, and the department is looking for volunteers to help. Participants are asked to arrive at North Hero State Park at 10:00 a.m.  After finishing at North Hero, the group will carpool to another site in Swanton. Volunteers will pull up vegetation on nesting beaches to prepare turtle nesting sites for next year. They may also find a few hatchlings that occasionally remain in nests underground this late in the year.  In addition to threatened spiny softshell turtles, these nest sites are also used by map turtles, painted turtles and snapping turtles. 

Vermont Business Magazine Tree stands get hunters out of sight and smell of wary deer, but they can also get hunters into trouble.  Here are some tips from Vermont Fish and Wildlife to help stay safe and get the most out of your tree stand hunting experience.

Vermont Business Magazine On September 22, 2023, the US Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI) announced Evernorth Rural Ventures, a subsidiary of Evernorth, was awarded a $60 million allocation of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to continue its successful economic and community development work in low-income areas. This is Evernorth Rural Ventures’ 7th award.The competition for the NMTC awards is intense. Of the 102 Community Development Entities (CDEs) that received awards this round - 48% were to national CDEs; 20% were to multi-state CDEs; and 20% of the CDEs receiving awards were rural CDEs.  Evernorth Rural Ventures is a rural, multi-state CDE. Overall, 102 CDEs were selected from an applicant pool of 197 applicants.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) joined Senators John Fetterman (D-PA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in introducing the School Lunch Debt Cancellation Act to cancel student lunch debt nationwide.  During the height of COVID-19 in 2020, federal lawmakers made the unprecedented move of providing free lunch for every public-school student in America. This program expired last fall, but many states, including Vermont, have been rolling out their own universal free school meals programs and seen sizable results. Even schools that don’t offer free meals usually won’t turn away hungry students. Instead, they will feed them and collect payment later, leading to “school lunch debt.” 

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today made a formal request to President Joe Biden for a Major Disaster Declaration to help communities in Addison and Rutland counties recover costs for repair of public infrastructure damage caused by rainfall and severe flooding on August 3-5, 2023. If granted, a federal Major Disaster Declaration unlocks Federal Emergency Management Agency Public Assistance Program funding to reimburse municipalities for 75% of funds already spent on things like debris removal, road and public building repairs, and staff overtime responding to and cleaning up after the storm. Federal assessors identified more than $1.2 million in program eligible costs incurred by public entities, exceeding the minimum needed for the state to request a declaration.

Vermont Business Magazine State Treasurer Mike Pieciak will host “From Idea to Investment: Capital Strategies for Vermont Entrepreneurs,” a panel discussion featuring the SEC Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation to explore pathways for Vermont's small businesses and startups to access capital. The event will take place at Hula in Burlington on Wednesday, October 11 from 3:30 to 5:00 pm followed by a networking hour.The Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation advocates for solutions to address challenges faced by small businesses and their investors raising and deploying capital, from early-stage startups to small public companies. 

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain Housing Trust announced today that it has received a $20 million donation – the largest in its nearly 40 years of operations – from philanthropist and writer MacKenzie Scott through her philanthropic fund, Yield Giving. The gift will be used to advance CHT’s mission to support the people of northwest Vermont and strengthen their communities through the development and stewardship of permanently affordable homes and related community assets. CHT primarily serves the northwestern three counties of Vermont. It owns or manages more than 2,500 affordable apartments and over 100 shelter beds or motel rooms, stewards 675 shared equity homes to keep them affordable forever and provides a variety of programs that range from affordable lending to financial literacy to community building and resident services. As a real estate developer, CHT has over 500 homes in its development pipeline.