Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will end data collection for the 2022 Census of Agriculture on May 31. New England producers who have not yet returned their completed questionnaires have just one week left to respond. Federal law requires everyone who received the ag census to complete and return it. USDA NASS is reminding ag census recipients that if they produced and sold $1,000 or more of agricultural product in 2022, or normally would have produced and sold that much, they meet USDA’s definition of a farm. However, landowners who lease land to producers, those solely involved in conservation programs, and even those who may not have farmed in 2022 are still required to respond.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Secretary of Administration Kristin Clouser issued a loud note of caution today as all three major tax revenue funds failed to meet expectations in the month of April. Clouser said the under-performance of the personal income tax by over $40 million is particularly "troubling." For the first time this fiscal year, the General Fund, Transportation Fund and Education Fund have all failed to achieve their monthly consensus revenue expectations. Year to date, only the General Fund is exceeding the target adopted by the Emergency Board at its January 17, 2023 meeting. The State’s General Fund, Transportation Fund, and Education Fund receipts were a combined $443.0 million, missing the $458.6 million monthly consensus target by -$15.6 million, or (3.4%). Cumulative results through April 2023, however, remain $32.0 million, or 1.8%, above the $2,714.9 million consensus target set back in January. General Fund revenues for April totaled $357.9 million, -$12.6 million, or (3.4%), below the $370.4 million monthly consensus cash flow target. For the third month in a row, Personal Income Tax receipts failed to meet their consensus target, missing by -$42.8 million in April (-$15.32%).

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) is kicking off a project to develop Vermont’s digital equity plan to bridge the digital divide and ensure all Vermonters have access to affordable broadband as well as the knowledge and equipment to use it. The effort is part of the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and Digital Equity Act, which will distribute more than $45 billion nationwide to expand high-speed Internet by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, mapping, adoption programs, and promote digital inclusion and advance equity for all.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) today announced the awards for the SFY24 Municipal Roads Grants-in-Aid Program, which provides funding for municipalities to implement best management practices in accordance with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Municipal Roads General Permit. This year, 233 municipalities are participating. A total of approximately $4 million in awards will be granted in this cycle. Municipalities will submit reimbursement requests directly to AOT for work completed, and AOT will reimburse up to 80% of each municipality’s documented construction expenses, including in-kind support, for best management practices on hydrologically connected roads.

Vermont Business Magazine In April, State Treasurer Mike Pieciak announced an $85 million expansion of the “10% in Vermont” local investment program, which authorizes the Treasurer to invest up to 10% of the State’s average daily cash balance for economic development in Vermont. Today he reminded Vermonters that there is one week until the June 1st, 2023 application deadline for the first round of local investment proposals. A subsequent application round is planned for the fall.

by Alex Hernandez, President of Champlain College I came to Champlain College with a desire to help our students be “ready for work, ready for life, and ready to make a difference.” On a recent Sunday evening, I received an email from a student: “I’m launching my software company tomorrow. Can you give me some feedback?” While being a new college president can keep a person busy, I immediately dropped everything to help this student bring his idea to life. I reviewed his launch plan, we brainstormed, and I connected him with friends at the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET). We embraced this student who is trying to build his dream and make the world better.

Vermont Business Magazine Following the Vermont State Legislature’s $15 million dollar appropriation to establish a new revolving loan fund supporting educational workforce development, the Vermont Community Loan Fund has been selected by the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) to develop and launch this new initiative. The pool of funds will support the state’s 17 Career Technical Education (CTE) Centers located throughout Vermont. Known as the CTE Construction and Rehabilitation Experiential Learning Program and Revolving Loan Fund, the new fund will expand experiential and educational opportunities for high school and adult CTE students to learn building trades skills and work directly on construction projects.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Division for Historic Preservation announces the opening of the State Historic Sites for the 2023 season. Opening on Friday, May 26, are the Bennington Battle Monument, Chimney Point, Hubbardton Battlefield, Mount Independence, President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, and Senator Justin Morrill State Historic Site. The President Chester A. Arthur State Historic Site, closed since 2019 due to Covid, will open for the season on Saturday, May 27.

Vermont Business Magazine Bar Harbor Bank & Trust employees recently presented more than $19,000 in donations collected through the Bank’s employee-driven charitable giving program, Casual for a Cause, to nine nonprofit organizations serving Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont residents. The recipients of the donations are: Eastern Maine Community College Foundation, Kennebec Valley Community College Foundation, Lubec Community Outreach Center, Machias Area Food Pantry, and Schoodic Food Pantry in Maine; Dismas Home of New Hampshire and The River Center in New Hampshire; and BarnArts Center for the Arts and Village for Paws Rescue in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark today sued Michael D. Lansky, LLC, which does business under the name Avid Telecom, for allegedly initiating and facilitating billions of illegal robocalls to millions of people and violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and other federal and state telemarketing and consumer laws. Avid Telecom sent or transmitted more than 7.5 billion calls to telephone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry between December 2018 and January 2023 – approximately 13 million of those calls were to numbers in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) today addressed the New England Conference of Public Utilities Commissioners (NECPUC) in Stowe, Vermont and called for continued support for clean energy and decarbonization efforts nationwide. His remarks to NECPUC addressed the important work ahead on the 2023 Farm Bill to secure funding for initiatives to lower costs, advance clean energy, and support the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act. As chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee’s Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, Welch plays a pivotal role in advancing clean energy, energy efficiency, and broadband deployment in the upcoming Farm Bill. NECPUC is a non-profit corporation that brings together public utilities commissions across New England to address challenges in the electricity, telecommunications, and water industries.

Vermont Business Magazine PurposeEnergy is proud to announce its commitment to build a new biogas processing plant in partnership with Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. The Saint Albans Industrial Treatment Center (“SAINT”) is a new biogas project designed to produce renewable energy through the responsible treatment of organic waste produced from food and beverage manufacturing. The project is located in St. Albans, Vermont and will serve a collection of Northern Vermont and Upstate New York-based food and beverage producers, including Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s plant in St. Albans, which will be piped directly to the SAINT biogas plant. This latest project is an extension of the partnership struck between Ben & Jerry’s and PurposeEnergy over 5 years ago at the PurposeEnergy biogas facility in South Burlington.