Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public has announced a new partnership with the Burlington-based nonprofit Good News Garage to administer its vehicle donation program. The program will support public media in Vermont and could provide necessary transportation to families in the state. Donating a vehicle is easy, free, and secure. After picking up a donated vehicle, Good News Garage will inspect it. If it is in usable condition, it will be donated to a Vermont family in need through Good News Garage. If the vehicle is sold at auction instead, proceeds from the sale will be split between Vermont Public and Good News Garage. Donors qualify for free towing or pick-up and generous tax deductions, up to the vehicle’s fair market value.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that Federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) benefits are now available to Vermonters in Caledonia and Orange counties in addition to the six counties first announced on July 20, 2023. Under DUA program guidance, individuals in the updated counties listed above have until Monday, August 25, 2023, to file a claim. If additional counties are added to the disaster declaration, a new press release will be issued with a new deadline to file. The first payable benefit week has been identified as July 9 – 15, 2023. Under the federal disaster declaration, individuals living, working, or scheduled to work in these counties may be eligible for DUA. This includes independent contractors, those who are self-employed, and agricultural workers.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Departments of Commerce (DoC) and Defense (DoD) have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to expand collaboration to strengthen the U.S. semiconductor defense industrial base. The IBM and GlobalFoundries semiconductor plant in Essex Junction, Vermont, has had several DOD contracts over the years. The agreement will increase information sharing between the Departments to facilitate close coordination on the CHIPS for America’s incentives program, ensuring that their respective investments position the U.S. to produce semiconductor chips essential to national security and defense programs.    

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont members of the New England Independent Bookstore Association (NEIBA) announce “Bookstores Helping Bookstores,” a fundraising effort to help Bear Pond Books of Montpelier and Next Chapter Bookstore of Barre, both member bookstores that were devastated in the recent FEMA declared disaster flood in central Vermont. On Saturday, July 29, 2023, seventeen businesses pledge to donate proceeds of their sales to help Bear Pond and Next Chapter rebuild.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch, Representative Becca Balint, and Governor Phil Scott will hold a statewide telephone town meeting on Vermont’s flooding disaster this Wednesday, July 26 to answer questions and provide information on the federal and state response to the disaster, as well as how to access aid available to individuals, homeowners, farms, displaced employees, and small businesses. Participants on the call will also be able to submit a question during the town meeting and will have the option of asking it live. State and federal officials will be available on the call to help answer Vermonters’ questions. More than 170 Vermonters have submitted a question in advance.

Vermont Business Magazine Vertek Corporation, a leading end-to-end Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) and Telecom Operations Provider, announces the launch of Flex Managed Detection and Response (MDR), a comprehensive solution that provides clients 24/7 protection against evolving cybersecurity threats. Regulatory requirements and cyber incidents are increasing, forcing organizations to divert resources from their core business to acquire MDR capabilities to identify and respond to the latest threats. 

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, today with Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, introduced legislation that would raise the federal minimum wage to $17 by 2028. Estimated to benefit nearly 28 million workers, or 19 percent of the working population, the Raise the Wage Act of 2023 would raise the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour over five years, eliminate the tipped sub-minimum wage over seven years, eliminate the sub-minimum wage for workers with disabilities over five years, and eliminate the sub-minimum wage for youth workers over seven years.

Vermont Business Magazine State Treasurer Mike Pieciak hosted a Virtual Policy Forum on Homelessness on Monday. The forum included Vermont housing stakeholders and University of Washington Assistant Professor Gregg Colburn, author of the book "Homelessness is a Housing Problem." During the forum, Professor Colburn argued the cost and availability of rental housing best explains the rate of homelessness in a given community rather than individual factors like mental illness or generosity of public assistance. He concluded that Vermont’s high median rental cost and low vacancy rate most likely explain why Vermont has one of the highest per capita homelessness rates in the country.   

Vermont Business Magazine With generous support from Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Legislature, Vermonters seeking education and training in certain high-demand fields will receive a 50% tuition break at the Community College of Vermont (CCV) during the upcoming academic year. More than 20 degree and certificate programs are included in the Vermont Tuition Advantage program, in areas that meet the demands of critical workforce needs in Vermont. This includes healthcare, early childhood education, IT, bookkeeping, and more.  

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch, Vermont Governor Phil Scott, Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts, and State and local agriculture stakeholders visited farmer Paul Mazza and his family at the Paul Mazza’s Fruit and Vegetables farm in Essex Junction on Monday to survey extensive damage to crops on the farm following historic flooding across Vermont earlier this month. The bipartisan group called for swift relief for Vermont farmers and a coordinated state and federal response to disaster recovery in the state.  

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), and Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont) today sent letters to 95 insurance companies holding federally-backed and private insurance policies across Vermont – including the top flood, homeowner, and auto insurance companies – calling on them to act quickly and fairly when assessing what damage from the recent floods can be covered under their individual policies. While most individuals and small businesses in Vermont have no flood insurance, the vast majority of those who do are covered through the federal government’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). NFIP is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with policies operated by private insurance companies.

Vermont Business Magazine Generator, Burlington's premiere makerspace, has just launched the innovative VT MakerSchools Program thanks to $365,000 from the US Department of Education granted as part of former Senator Patrick Leahy’s congressionally-directed spending request in the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2022. This significant allocation allows Generator to support the buildout of makerspaces in 6 rural Vermont secondary schools, provide makerspace professional development to Vermont educators, and establish a dedicated classroom at Generator to serve as a model learning space for both efforts.