Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott has signed a proclamation declaring April 11-15 Community Development Week. The designation and proclamation focus on the success and impact of the federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which funds housing and economic development projects and public services in communities across the state. CDBG is a federal program championed by Vermont’s congressional delegation and administered by the Vermont Community Development Program within the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. It provides approximately $7 million in funding each year for projects that help create jobs and housing, provide critical services like childcare, and improve infrastructure and facilities throughout Vermont. In the last year over $6 million of grant funding has been awarded to towns, villages, and cities, leveraging over $96 million in investments throughout Vermont communities.

Vermont Business Magazine During spring flood season, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) wants to remind Vermonters about safety, insurance, and the benefits of floodplain protection. Most streams fill with spring rains and snowmelt every year or two. As they spill over onto floodplains, small frequent floods offer many benefits from clean water to wildlife habitat. The sounds of wood frogs, spring peepers, and red-winged blackbirds fill the air while geese graze on nearby fields. Silt and nutrients help build nearby soils instead of polluting downstream lakes.

Vermont Business Magazine Northfield community members are encouraged to participate in the second phase of Northfield: Our Common Future Community Forums to set actionable priorities together for the future of their town. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 18 from 6:30pm to 9pm at the Northfield Middle High School. This event is the second phase of a three-part Community Visit process that provides an opportunity for members of the Northfield community to review potential action items, discuss and advocate for what is most important for their community, and vote on and sign up to begin moving priorities forward.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard resort in Eastern North America and a POWDR company announces that Killington and Pico Resort Partners President and General Manager Mike Solimano has been named a recipient of the 2023 Sammy Leadership award. The 25th annual award honors innovative, inspiring, courageous, and passionate industry leaders making a difference locally and nationally. Recipients are determined based on nominations by members of the ski and snowboard industry, including many members of the Killington Team, who shared their thoughts.

Vermont Business Magazine Due to high demand and the second-highest rate of payments in the nation, the Vermont Homeowner Assistance Program (VHAP) will no longer accept new applications after Monday, June 12, 2023. All new or currently pending applications must be submitted to the applicant portal on vermonthap.vhfa.org by 5 pm on this date. VHAP provides grants of up to $30,000 per household towards overdue mortgage payments, utility bills, property taxes, and property association charges. Launched in January 2022, VHAP has now awarded $29.4 million in grants and received applications for an additional $8 million, accounting for about 90% of its available funding provided by the federal American Rescue Plan Act. The latest available data from the US Treasury shows that, as of September 2022, Vermont was second in the nation for the percentage of available Homeowner Assistance Program funds paid out to homeowners.

by Morgan Webster & Emma Paradis For decades, Vermont’s government has relied on nonprofits to provide vital services to communities. This social contract has been eroding with nonprofits increasingly filling the gap in state services while reporting funding for these services has not kept pace with rising costs. Wages and inflation continue to rise, yet many State-funded organizations have not seen their funding increase in years and most government funding agreements do not adequately cover the necessary administrative costs associated with implementing direct services to the community. Pandemic and economic pressures have exacerbated pre-existing challenges for nonprofits as organizations struggle to retain and recruit workers, keep up with rising costs, and meet increased demand for services while funding sources continue to stagnate. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Glen Buehler, 67, of Vernon, Vermont, is scheduled to appear this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle after his arrest for Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Materials (CSAM). According to court records, on February 2, 2023, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire Police Detective was conducting an online investigation of the BitTorrent network, looking for individuals sharing CSAM. A BitTorrent user was identified as sharing likely CSAM files, and a download of some of those files occurred the evening of February 2, 2023. After the source of the files was determined to likely be in Vermont, the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force coordinated with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Derby, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont as of Sunday were $3.43 per gallon, according to GasBuddy, up 5.2 cents per gallon from last week's $3.38/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $3.19/g while the highest was $3.55/g, a difference of 36.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has risen 8.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.57/g today, as gas prices continue to edge up.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets Is your business looking for a fun way to connect with new customers across New England? Apply to sell your products during Harvest New England Day on the lawn of the Vermont Building at the Big E! The Vermont Building is one of six New England buildings on the Avenue of the States at the Big E, a 17-day fair and exposition that will take place September 15 - October 1 in West Springfield, MA.

by Joy Choquette, Vermont Business Magazine Spring has sprung and with it the sounds of the season: hammers pounding, trucks reversing, and voices of construction workers calling to each other over the hubbub. But the sounds this season are quieter than most. That said Richard Wobby, executive vice president of the Associated General Contractors of Vermont, (AGC) is because there are still challenges hurting the construction industry. “What’s concerning to us is that we’re not seeing a big commercial side,” Wobby noted. “This is usually a fairly robust time of year. I think it’s really the inflationary factor and interest rates that are playing into that,” said Wobby.