Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Norwich University Schools of Architecture + Art and Construction Management announced today that their proposal for the renovations to Vermont’s historic Barre Municipal Auditorium was delivered last weeks and were approved for implementation. The historic Barre Auditorium has long been a community hub in the city of Barre. Designed by Ruth Freeman, the first female architect in the state of Vermont, it opened its doors in 1939. It has played a variety of roles since then, hosting trade and farm shows, town fairs, concerts, municipal voting polls and state basketball championships. Lately, though, it has been somewhat of a second classroom for Norwich architecture, engineering, and construction management students.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) led a bipartisan group to introduce the Invasive Species Prevention and Forest Restoration Act today. The bill, co-led by Senators Mike Braun (R-IN) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH), provides tools to combat non-native insects and pathogens that threaten forests and woodlands. The bill takes a comprehensive approach to combatting the presence of invasive species by expanding access to emergency funds for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to eradicate or contain pests.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont today are $3.54 per gallon, this is an increase of 7 cents per gallon from last week, and 15 cents/g from a month ago, but 55 cents/g lower than a year ago, according to national analyst GasBuddy. The lowest price in the state yesterday is $3.29/g in Middlebury, Milton and Troy, while the highest was $3.79/g in Norwich, a difference of 50 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has risen 1 cent per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.66/g today. Meanwhile, US gas taxes will total about $78 billion for 2023.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) and Farm to Institution New England (FINE) today released a report examining the laws and policies that shape food in New England’s publicly operated correctional facilities. Titled “The State of Prison Food in New England: A Survey of Federal and State Policy,” the resource offers recommendations for advocates and policymakers to ensure nutritious and safe meals while improving how prison food is sourced and served. In the midst of budget cuts and other obstacles facing state-run prisons, food is under-prioritized. From sourcing, quality and safety to dining environments, the correctional food system often fails to provide individuals who are incarcerated with health, safety and dignity. One study found that individuals who were incarcerated were six times more likely to contract a foodborne illness than the general population. The population that is incarcerated also experiences higher rates of chronic illness.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont this week launched the CAT ECare lifesaving program, which consists of dozens of emergency stations with life-saving equipment and ongoing training opportunities for UVM employees and students. UVM has 38 publicly accessible Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs). Under the new program, additional equipment is being purchased and the emergency stations will be branded as CAT ECare stations. New stations will be added in the coming years and each one will contain AEDs, bleeding control kits and Narcan®. Students will be trained as program instructors.

Vermont Business Magazine Since the company’s start in 2011, the mission of Norwich Technologies has been to develop clean, renewable energy solutions while supporting local job creation, increasing energy independence, reducing pollution, following socially responsible business practices, and creating a positive work experience for employees. Norwich Technologies develops, commercializes, and deploys forward-looking clean energy innovations for commercial, community, and utility customers. The largest business segment within the company is Norwich Solar, whose mission is to advance the integration and deployment of affordable solar power for regional organizations enabling them to improve their triple bottom line – financial, social and environmental.

by Cora Smith, Community News Service With mud season just beginning, experts warn that Vermonters should stay away from high-elevation trails for now to protect natural areas from erosion and further damage. “The intensity of the rain events that we get now — particularly in the summer season — has a much higher potential to do severe erosion of the trail tread,” said Keegan Tierny, director of field programs for the Green Mountain Club, a trail protection nonprofit. Climate change is increasing precipitation, and larger, more intense storms are detrimental for Vermont’s trails.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Institute of Natural Science will partner with the Vermont Council of Trout Unlimited to support the Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program in schools across the state. Trout in the Classroom is an environmental education program in which students raise brook trout from eggs delivered in January by Trout Unlimited before releasing them in a local stream in late spring. VT Fish & Wildlife provides the trout eggs and offers hatchery tours. TU volunteers help teachers set up their tanks, troubleshoot water chemistry and fish health problems, and participate in fieldwork activities with students.

by King Whetstone, Regional Director, USDA-NASS, Northeastern Regional Field Office Currently the biannual Agricultural Labor Survey is underway. The survey collects information about hired labor from more than 2,000 farmers and ranchers. The survey results will be published on May 24 in the Farm Labor report available on the NASS website. In the survey, we ask producers to answer a variety of questions about hired farm labor on their operations, including total number of hired farm workers, the total hours worked, and total wages paid for the weeks of Jan. 8-14 and April 9-15. Survey participants can respond online at agcounts.usda.gov or by mail.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) today joined Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-NY-07) for a press conference marking the introduction of the Closing the Meal Gap Act, legislation that would boost support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for the more than 40 million Americans and 70,000 Vermonters who rely on SNAP, known in Vermont as 3SquaresVT. The bill, led by Sen. Gillibrand and Representative Alma Adams (D-NC) would boost SNAP funding by 30%, expanding access to healthy nutritious foods for working families. The lawmakers were joined by representatives from Hunger Free America Blue Star Families and MAZON, among other advocacy groups.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Senate gave final approval to H.89, known as the “shield bill,” which revises Vermont’s court procedures to protect providers of abortion or gender-affirming care to patients who reside in states where such care is restricted or illegal. It also protects access to safe and effective abortion medication regardless of federal approval. The bill passed third reading on a voice vote after having passed second reading on a vote of 26-4. H.89 makes clear that interference with legally protected health care activity is against the public policy of Vermont and that access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care services are a legal right in Vermont. H.89 would protect those providing or seeking reproductive or gender-affirming care in Vermont from civil or criminal litigation arising from another state.