Current News

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.

Vermont Business Magazine Starting Saturday, September 30, small business owners and entrepreneurs in Vermont can apply for a new round of grant funding from the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP). This latest round of funding is made possible by a $249,000 grant from the US Small Business Administration (SBA). Vermont STEP helps small businesses overcome obstacles to exporting by providing grants to cover costs associated with entering and expanding into international markets.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Art Council announces the 22 recipients of its most sought-after award, the Creation Grant, which supports Vermont artists in creating new work. Two recipients were People’s Choice Creation Grantees, a new process involving the public’s vote. Among this year’s winning proposals are works that span visual arts, literary arts, dance, music, film, and multidisciplinary fields, including a video rumination on living with chronic pain; a public art project exploring the concept of home; films about a Vermont dairy farmer and a wildlife rehabilitator; and an immersive experience with multisensory storytelling elements. A record 225 applications were received for this highly competitive award, with a total of more than $1 million requested in funding. 

Vermont Business Magazine A public facing mural will soon adorn the exterior facade of Village Center Apartments in the heart of downtown Morrisville, spearheaded by nonprofit collaborators River Arts and Lamoille Housing Partnership (LHP.) “With each of LHP’s affordable housing developments, we strive to contribute vital housing resources as well as vibrant spaces to our communities. This mural along with Village Center Apartments’ steel dragon sculpture are examples of that practice in action,” says LHP’s Advancement & Communications Director Kerrie Lohr.