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Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today that Agri-Mark, Inc. was fined $60,000 for multiple violations of its Pretreatment Discharge Permit (Permit) at its dairy and whey processing facility in Middlebury, Vermont. More than 15 billion gallons of wastewater are processed by Vermont’s 91 municipal wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) per year, where the wastewater is treated before being released into the environment. Certain industries must obtain a pretreatment permit to treat their wastewater before sending it to municipal WWTFs, ensuring it doesn't disrupt the treatment process. Pretreatment discharge permits help prevent the release of untreated wastewater. The discharge of untreated or partially treated wastewater can pose a significant risk to the state’s natural resources and to public health.

Vermont Business Magazine The Southwestern Vermont Chamber Foundation announced a multi-year investment from The Bank of Bennington, committing $25,000 per year for three years to support a comprehensive entrepreneurial development initiative focused on growing the next generation of local business leaders in Southwestern Vermont. The $75,000 commitment positions The Bank of Bennington as a Founding Investor in the newly launched Southwestern Vermont Chamber Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization created to accelerate regional progress through workforce development, entrepreneurship, leadership, and data-driven economic strategies. The investment will underwrite a multi-year entrepreneurship initiative designed to reduce barriers to business creation, improve financial literacy, and encourage residents — particularly young professionals and first-time founders — to start and grow businesses locally.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $2.99 per gallon, unchanged from last week and last month and 15 cents/g lower than this time a year ago, according to AAA. The lowest price in the state this week was $2.63/g while the highest was $3.12/g, a difference of 49.0 cents per gallon, according to GasBuddy. Prices are lowest in Bennington ($2.81/g) and Rutland ($2.90/g) counties and highest in Essex ($3.09/g), Chittenden ($3.05/g), and Grand Isle ($3.07/g), according to AAA. The national average price of gasoline has risen 5 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $2.94/g today.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health has confirmed a case of measles in an adult in Washington County who became sick after recent international travel. Investigation and response are ongoing, and the case does not pose a current risk to the public. Recent wastewater testing had identified the virus in the Montpelier system. The case of measles is the first confirmed in Vermont in 2026, following two cases in 2025 and two cases in 2024. Confirmation of the case follows the detection of measles virus in wastewater in Washington County through the department’s wastewater monitoring program last week. While officials cannot definitively link the case to the detection, Health Commissioner Rick Hildebrant, MD, said this shows how monitoring can help improve our public health efforts.

Vermont Business Magazine Registration is now open for the 9th Southern Vermont Economy Summit. This annual learning and networking event will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at Mount Snow Grand Summit Resort in West Dover, Vermont. Registration information and a full schedule of the day’s events can be found at www.sovermontzone.com/summit. Early Bird pricing, which is currently in effect, is scheduled to end on March 12. The theme of the 2026 Summit is "Envision. Act. Grow!” Throughout the day, presentations, panels, workshops and discussions will investigate ways that our region can envision a path to growth through local and regional action.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, along with Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) this week introduced the Stop Presidential Embezzlement Act, legislation that would block any financial benefit to President Donald Trump resulting from his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and U.S. Treasury Department. President Trump sued late last month over the leak of his tax returns several years ago by an outside contractor.  The Stop Presidential Embezzlement Act would impose a 100% tax on any settlement a president, vice president, cabinet member, or member of Congress receives from the government as a result of a lawsuit filed while in office.

Vermont Business Magazine The Working Lands Enterprise Initiative (WLEI) annual impact report was released, providing a look at the impacts achieved in 2025.  Along with the report, the program is celebrating twelve years of impacts.  Since being created by the Vermont legislature in 2012, WLEI has directly invested $19.5 million in 593 farm, food, and forestry projects and leveraged an additional $31.9 million in matching funds.  WLEI is an annual grant program that provides critical investment in farm and forest businesses. During the thirteen years of the program to date, 48% of business grantees added jobs, 77% of business grantees increased production, and 74% of business grantees increased sales. Beyond these numbers are countless stories of people feeding their communities, keeping land in agriculture, and supporting healthy forests with support of WLEI funds.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont logging contractors who have not previously participated in the Master Logger Certification Program (MLCP) have access to a significant new cost-share opportunity designed to reduce financial barriers to certification. Under the newly established cost-reduction program, eligible Vermont logging contractors can receive a 75 percent cost share on the initial certification fee.  This work is supported by Growing Vermont’s Forest Resilience: A Collaborative Strategy, Award no. 24-CA-11132544-104 from the USDA Forest Service. The initiative is intended to support forest resilience, water quality protection, workforce professionalism, and long-term sustainability across Vermont’s working forest landscape by ensuring harvesting operations are conducted by highly skilled contractors held accountable to an independent certification standard.

Vermont Land Trust The southern Vermont community-based nonprofit Bull Creek Common Lands (BCCL) has placed 341 acres of remote land in Athens and Townshend under the permanent protection of a conservation easement with VLT. The conserved land is the headwaters of Bull Creek, a special place that many in the local community know and appreciate. The newly conserved land contains many wetlands and different forest types that are home to beavers, moose, deer, bear, fox, ducks, and songbirds, as well as rare and endangered plant species. There are also several cellar holes and evidence of past farming. Public access for non-motorized recreation is currently available from Sam Farr Road in Athens with a pull-off parking area. The primary existing trail on the property is a section of the Legal Town Trail along Bull Creek. 

Vermont Business Magazine Applications for the 2026 Eric Rozendaal Memorial Award are open until March 1, the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) has announced. The $5,000 award recognizes land stewardship, innovation, and service to community. Farmers who are actively working on or managing a commercial farm operation in the state, are residents of Vermont, and have not received this award in the past are encouraged to apply. Applicants do not have to own a farm. A selection committee consisting of leaders in the Vermont agricultural community will review and score the applications and select a winner. The award will be announced at the Vermont Land Trust’s annual meeting in the fall.

Vermont Business Magazine Grants are now available to support projects focused on education and research concerning the cultural and ecological history and heritage of Southern Lake Champlain through the South Lake Champlain Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation. The fund supports projects located on the southern portion of Lake Champlain (the area of Lake Champlain south of Crown Point in both Vermont and New York), with a preference for projects directly on the lake or in close proximity. School-based projects are encouraged. The fund also aims to support projects that involve experts and others living in the southern Lake Champlain region. Matching funds are encouraged but not required.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, alongside U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) on Wednesday introduced the Lake Champlain Basin Program Enhancements Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would reauthorize the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) for five years at $35 million to support interstate conservation and the health of the Lake Champlain Basin. The lawmakers’ bill would also improve LCBP’s administrative efficiency by requiring the periodic evaluation of the program’s fiscal agent, with significant input from local stakeholders and the Lake Champlain Steering Committee.