Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The latest season of America’s favorite treasure hunt, Antiques Roadshow, concludes with three brand new hours of exciting local finds filmed in Vermont last summer at Shelburne Museum. Antiques Roadshow came to Shelburne Museum on July 12, 2022, with more than 3,000 visitors arriving to have their family heirlooms and flea market finds appraised in a day-long event. The day of filming resulted in three episodes in the Green Mountain State, which will premiere nationally on PBS stations on Monday, April 24, May 1, and May 8, at 8 p.m., including Vermont Public.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) today announced the second round of approved Community Recovery and Revitalization Program (CRRP) grant applications for projects that spur economic recovery. The program, administered by the Department of Economic Development (DED), aims to strengthen communities across the state by reversing the harm caused by the COVID-19 pandemic through assistance with capital investments that will help businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities to recover, retain existing jobs, and grow the economy. Twenty-three projects have been reviewed by an interagency committee and approved for round two funding, resulting in a proposed award amount of $9,541,195, which is expected to support $92,206,478 in total project costs.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont as of Sunday were $3.56 per gallon, up 8.2 cents per gallon from last week's $3.48/g, according to GasBuddy. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.35/g while the highest was $3.69/g, a difference of 34.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 0.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.64/g. The national average is up 22.8 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 46.4 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Vermont State Police On Saturday, at approximately 3:38 pm, troopers from the Williston Barracks responded to the area of Route 7, south of Church Hill Road in the town of Charlotte, for a report of a crash involving a motorcycle and a passenger car. Medical personnel arrived on scene and determined that the operator of the motorcycle, Timothy Williams, 34, of Essex, VT, was deceased on the scene. One occupant of the involved passenger car reported minor pain and was transported to the UVMMC for evaluation as a precaution. Initial investigation and witness statements gathered on scene indicated that Williams was traveling northbound on Route 7 well in excess of the posted 50 MPH speed limit when his motorcycle struck the back of vehicle #2, also traveling northbound.

Vermont Business Magazine The National Life Group Do Good Fest will be headlined by the Plain White T’s, a two-time Grammy nominated American Rock Band, the company recently announced. It also revealed Vermont favorite, All Night Boogie Band, will lead the line-up, with other bands to be announced soon. National Life is once again partnering with Star 92.9 to present the National Life Group Do Good Fest on the company’s back lawn in Montpelier. The event will be held on Saturday, July 15.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Medical Society, the Vermont Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics Vermont Chapter, and the Vermont Psychiatric Association, applaud the Vermont Legislature for their recent passage of two “shield laws,” S. 37 and H.89. If signed, these two pieces of legislation will protect patients who seek, and Vermont health care clinicians who provide reproductive health care services and gender-affirming care. The bills now also include protections for medication used to terminate pregnancy, which is necessary, as these medications are currently the subject of federal lawsuits that would revoke their FDA-approval status.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund's business management coaching program just launched Business Sense, a six-module training series for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The series provides essential tools and informational resources in areas such as financials, operations, sales and marketing, human resources, leadership, and governance. Business Sense aims to help businesses thrive. The first two modules, Financial Literacy and Business Operations, have been released and the remaining four modules will be launching soon.

Vermont State Police Following a three-day manhunt, police on Sunday evening, April 23, 2023, Vermont State Police arrested Henry Lovell in Hyde Park. The arrest came at about 6:35 p.m. after the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department received a tip from a member of the public who saw a man matching Lovell’s physical and clothing description walking along a road in Hyde Park. The location was about one mile from an area where law enforcement had reason to believe Lovell was and had deployed resources in an attempt to locate him. A Vermont State Police trooper and an officer with the Morristown Police Department were in the immediate vicinity of the roadside location mentioned in the tip. They responded, located Lovell by the side of the road, and took him into custody without incident.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported April 19, 2023, that COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations were largely unchanged from the previous week. COVID-19 activity remains in the "Low" range, according to the VDH. Hospitalizations held at 17 last week (the lowest since last fall was 22 at the end of March). Total cases were up 3 to 142. There were 9 COVID-related deaths in the last week for a pandemic total of 957 as of April 15 (this is the most recent update). VDH reported 15 COVID-related deaths in March, the fewest since the summer of 2021, and 11 so far in April. Of the total deaths to date, 761 have been of Vermonters 70 or older. There have been 3 deaths of Vermonters under 30 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank with a branch in Vermont, has announced financial results for Q1 2023 and declared a regular quarterly dividend. Highlights for Q1 2023: Net income of $1.49 million, up from $784 thousand in Q4; Cost of interest-bearing deposits of 0.40%, with deposit betas well below industry average; Advisory revenue of $3.1 million and assets under management of $1.75 billion, up 2% and 3% over Q4, respectively; Less than one basis point of net charge-offs; Strong liquidity and capital positions with no negative effects from the March banking sector disturbance; Regular quarterly dividend of $0.21.

by Abby Carroll, Community News Service A bill to help small farmers diversify their products with a new grant program crossed over from the House to the Senate, but not without a significant cut in the money behind it. The House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry originally sought for a $500,000 appropriation for the program, which would be created through H.205. The committee wanted $250,000 of that to be in regular, general funding — or base funds — and the other half as a one-time appropriation. But before the bill went to the Senate, the House Committee on Appropriations changed the funding to a one-time appropriation of $350,000.