Current News

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets One month after a devasting flood the economic reality is becoming clearer.  Vermont’s farmers, agricultural businesses, and communities sustained millions of dollars in damage and face strong head winds to recover.  The @VTAgencyofAg dashboard reports nearly $15 million in losses & 21,000 acres damaged to 236 farmers.

Vermont Business Magazine If your privately owned road or bridge was damaged or destroyed by Vermont’s July severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides, FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) may be able to provide financial assistance for replacement or repairs.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation will conduct aerial survey activities over the Burlington-Winooski Bridge, which carries US Routes 2 and 7 (Main Street in Winooski to the north and Riverside Avenue in Burlington to the south) over the Winooski River between the cities of Burlington and Winooski. The survey activities will be completed using a helicopter flying at low altitude on Saturday, August 19, 2023, weather-dependent. The rain date is planned for Sunday, August 20, 2023. The survey flights are expected to require two brief closures of the bridge for 10-15 minutes for all users for safety reasons. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), in partnership with the Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC), has launched a public survey for the Vergennes Planning and Environment Linkages (PEL) Study. People who live, work or travel through northern Addison County are invited to complete the brief survey to share opinions and help the study team understand issues important to you when evaluating options to reduce the impacts of truck traffic on VT Route 22A in Downtown Vergennes. Transportation solutions being evaluated at this time include new roadways, improvements to existing roadways as well as the option that traffic flows do not change. The proposed solutions are located in the following municipalities – Ferrisburgh, Vergennes, Waltham, Weybridge, Panton, Addison and New Haven.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.81 per gallon, up 3 cents per gallon from last week, up 23 cents/g from last month and down 44 cents/g from a year ago. The lowest price in the state is $3.49/g in Ludlow while the highest is $3.99/g in Arlington. The national average price of gasoline has risen 3 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.84/g today. Supply pressures could drive prices even higher by Labor Day.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Small Business Administration (SBA) has approved more than $10 million in low-interest disaster loans for Vermonters whose property was damaged or destroyed by the July flooding. Approved loan funds, which totaled $10,108,000 as of close of business August 15, will assist 223 businesses, homeowners and renters repair, rebuild and recover. Applications are still being processed, and the amount of money that will be made available to disaster survivors will increase in the days and weeks ahead.

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) sent a letter today to the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), calling on the office to study interagency data collection on areas of the country that are unserved or underserved by water and wastewater infrastructure. By some estimates, more than 2 million Americans lack access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This study will shed light on an often-neglected issue and prepare lawmakers to better address water and wastewater needs.  

Vermont Business Magazine Through a partnership between Vermont River Conservancy and the Barre River Access Task Force, a group of 18 volunteers met on Saturday, August 12th, at Rotary Park in Barre to reconstruct a ½ mile trail that leads to a spectacular waterfall on the Stevens Branch River. The July flood destroyed much of the trail, redistributing rocks, gravel, sand, and debris that made the trail unclear and unsafe. Volunteers hauled out a ½ ton of plastic, fabric, and tires from the floodplain, moved rocks to become stepping stones, and resurfaced the trail tread so that anglers, swimmers, photographers, and picnickers can now safely and clearly find their way to the falls, leaving the rest of the floodplain to regrow vegetation. 

Vermont Business Magazine Amid rising regional demand for resources and programs aimed at supporting individuals with substance use and related disorders, UVM Medical Center has integrated and expanded its addiction services. The newly created Addiction Treatment Center (ATC) brings together psychiatric providers, licensed drug and alcohol counselors, and experienced nurses to reduce barriers to care, expand local access to treatment and modernize UVM Medical Center’s current slate of treatment programs. Clinical leaders at the ATC said the focus of the program’s reformation and rebranding is harmonizing and modernizing the UVM Medical Center’s current addiction services.

Vermont Business Magazine Customers, employees and community members  – both the two-and four-legged varieties – know they can count on Ned Robinson who, along with his wife Shannon Mead, recently purchased Richmond’s The Crate Escape. His dedication was evidenced on the evening of July 10th, and on throughout the long day and night of the 11th, as heavy rains and historic flooding devastated Vermont. On the banks of the inundated Winooski River, Richmond was plunged beneath six feet of water. Ned stood watch at The Crate Escape’s nearby Route 2 location as the river continued to advance, ultimately closing off the road in either direction and separating the dozens of boarding pups in his care from their families.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) reminds Vermonters to be on the lookout for flood damage when purchasing used vehicles in private sales. After the recent flooding, consumers should take precautions in coming weeks and months to avoid unintentionally purchasing vehicles that were damaged by flooding. Some private sellers take a vehicle from a flooded area and get a new title in a different state before trying to sell it. 

Vermont Business Magazine Data Innovations from Colchester has released a major upgrade to its first cloud-hosted SaaS product, Lab GPS. Lab GPS v2.0 helps minimize costly clinical laboratory downtime and improve patient care by empowering laboratorians with all-in-one connectivity monitoring, notifications, and control. Lab GPS is designed to address one of the leading factors that limits clinical lab productivity: unplanned downtime due to connectivity, power, and hardware issues. Downtime is not only costly in terms of lost productivity; it can adversely affect patient care by delaying test results. Moreover, correcting lab downtime typically requires costly IT resource time.