Current News

Maria Lara Bregatta, et al There are over 77,000 small businesses in Vermont that employ 61 percent of the state’s private workforce. Small business success has always been the backbone of a functioning Vermont economy. As small business owners, we can confidently say that our success – and the success of our state’s economy – hinges on our employees’ access to child care.

The pandemic exacerbated issues that had previously hummed in the background – most notably a lack of accessible and affordable child care. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, fifty-seven percent of parents nationwide have recently said child care responsibilities had impacted their ability to work.

Of these parents, 73 percent missed more than eight hours of work in a month because of child care responsibilities.

by Todd Heyman On Friday, the Vermont Senate declined to exempt from Act 250 review the construction of up to 24 downtown housing units notwithstanding the undeniable housing crisis in Vermont. Once again, the Legislature is deferring action on reducing Act 250 jurisdiction in favor of writing reports (two were requested last session). It’s time to point out something you won’t read in the newspapers: for the most part, the people making these decisions understand very little about how Act 250 actually works. Legislators are very rarely Act 250 permit holders and probably couldn’t identify even 10 significant accomplishments of the Natural Resources Board last year.

Leonine Public Affairs On Friday, the Senate gave final approval to a bill meant to address the housing crisis in Vermont. S.100, also known as the HOME bill, is a culmination of efforts by housing advocates, and policy makers in both chambers, led by Senator Kesha Ram Hinsdale who chairs the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs committee. After the bill left the committee, housing advocates expressed frustration with what they see as a good bill that was excessively diluted by the Senate Natural Resources committee and environmental advocates. This committee worried that some Act 250 reforms in the original bill would result in sprawl. Housing advocates don’t think the bill goes far enough to address the enormity of the housing crisis. The bill now heads to the Vermont House, where the tension between affordable housing and land use regulations will likely increase.

The Vermont State Police is able to identify the victim in this incident as Tamico Williams, 21, of Hartford, Connecticut.An autopsy was completed Saturday, April 1, 2023, at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington. The cause of death was determined to be gunshot wounds to the torso, and the manner of death is a homicide. The investigation into this homicide is continuing, and no one is currently in custody. Information that detectives have developed so far indicates the shooting appears to be a targeted act.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) this week sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee, calling for increased federal funding for programs supporting Lake Champlain, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Lake Champlain Basin Program. In their letter, the lawmakers assert the importance of maintaining and expanding support for programs to address water pollution, curb the presence of invasive species and toxic substances, and promote scientific study of the Lake Champlain watershed.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s winter manure spreading ban ends today, April 1st, but with another snowy March having brought challenging field conditions to many parts of Vermont, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) is issuing a spring stewardship reminder to Vermont farmers and Custom Manure Applicators. The Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) outline that manure cannot be applied to fields that are frozen or snow-covered, nor to fields that are saturated, likely to runoff, or are conducive to any other off-site movement regardless of nutrient management plan recommendations. Trends in Vermont’s weather show increasing precipitation through the spring season, rising temperatures, and more extreme precipitation events. These conditions provide the potential for increased flooding and require farmers and Custom Manure Applicators to remain vigilant through the spring season.

Vermont Business Magazine DR Power Equipment, a prominent producer of high-quality outdoor power equipment and a Generac Power Systems (NYSE: GNRC) company, has announced one of the first battery-powered brush mowers available in the landscape market, the DR FB26E Electric Field and Brush Mower. Featuring a high-capacity 2.5kWh removable and shareable battery, the DR FB26E Electric Field and Brush Mower has the strength to cut up to 90 minutes on a single charge. The DR FB26E Electric Field and Brush Mower has the power to cut through six-foot-tall weeds, four-foot-tall grass, and saplings with a two-inch diameter. A built-in battery caddy allows a user to transport a fully charged backup battery to the mowing site with ease.

Vermont Business Magazine The brews will flow once again as the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce and Hopridge Farms partner together to produce the thirteenth Homebrew Festival and competition. Saturday, April 29th at the Bennington Sports Center in downtown Bennington, brewers will go head-to-head to be named the best homebrew in the land. The festival invites Northeast’s top home brewers asking them to bring their very best home brewed beer, cider, mead, braggot and wine for a chance to be crowned "Best Home Brewery." In addition, this year the festival has also invited home chefs to participate in a cook off to be crowned “Best Home Chef.”

Vermont Business Magazine As the youngest consumer generation, Gen Zers are becoming avid credit card users. A new study by LendingTree looked at how young Americans ages 18 to 26 use their credit cards by analyzing 198,000 anonymized credit reports of LendingTree users. Of note, Gen Z’s average credit card balance has gone up 55.6% since February 2022, while its average credit card limit has climbed 22.2% in the same period. Vermonters in this demographic rank 3rd in overall balance ($3,361); 31st in credit card limit ($6,490); and 12th in average number of credit cards (3.46).

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Creamery, makers of consciously crafted artisan cheese and butter, released its 2022 Mission Report, detailing the B Corp-Certified Company’s commitment to purpose in practice. It was a year of forged partnerships and shared wins – together with Vanguard Renewables, Vermont Creamery is making significant strides towards food waste reduction, sending its production biproducts to the Northeast’s largest anaerobic digester in Salisbury, Vermont. In August, Vermont Creamery formally joined the Farm-Powered Strategic Alliance, a precompetitive group of food and beverage companies committed to reducing food waste and sourcing renewable energy. The Alliance was founded in 2020 by Unilever, Dairy Farmers of America, Starbucks and Vanguard Renewables with the goal of avoiding or eliminating food waste through anaerobic digesters.

Vermont Business Magazine Lawson’s Finest Liquids, the award-winning Vermont craft brewery with a commitment to quality and sustainability, is releasing its newest year-round brand Hazy Rays. The tropical, fruit-forward hazyjuicylicious IPA comes in at 5.3% ABV and is bursting with flavor without being overly bitter. Hazy Rays joins Lawson’s Finest’s lineup of flagship brands and can be found year-round in 4 packs of 16 oz. cans and 12 packs of 12 oz. cans alongside Sip of Sunshine, Little Sip and Scrag Mountain Pils at retail stores across Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $57,253,000 from the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act for states, Tribes, and territories through this year’s Clean Water State Revolving Funds (CWSRF) in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The funding will help communities upgrade essential wastewater and stormwater systems to protect public health and treasured water bodies across the nation.