Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Lakes and Ponds Program of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is pleased to announce that a third lake has achieved the “Gold Lake Wise Award”. Lake Iroquois, located in Williston, Hinesburg, Richmond, and St. George, joined Echo Lake in Charleston and Seymour Lake in Morgan in reaching this accomplishment.

Vermont Business Magazine The final number of deer taken in Vermont’s 2022 hunting seasons will not be available for a few more weeks, but the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department says the final tally will be a little over 17,400 deer. Those deer will provide approximately 3.5 million servings of local, nutritious venison. The buck harvest will be close to 9,600, which will be up from 2021 (9,133) and near the previous 3-year average of 9,482. The final antlerless deer harvest will be around 7,800, also similar to the previous 3-year average (7,651). The archery season harvest, which accounts for much of the total antlerless deer harvest, will be the second highest on record, behind only the 2020 season.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has filed a lawsuit against Nano Hearing Aids for misleading consumers about the effectiveness and quality of its products. The lawsuit alleges that Nano engaged in multiple layers of deception by making misleading statements on its website and in advertisements, implying its products are FDA-approved, and falsely representing its products as American-made. It is further alleged that Nano put consumers’ health at risk by promoting a deceptive online “hearing test” that leads consumers to believe their test results are reviewed by hearing experts, when they are not, and invariably recommending the purchase of Nano’s most expensive product regardless of the results.

Aly Richards, CEO of Let’s Grow Kids “This is such an exciting time when the State Legislature convenes for the first of our two-year biennium. This week we welcome dozens of new lawmakers, inaugurate our governor and state-wide officials, and continue the critically important work of solving our child care crisis. This work has been decades in the making and the child care crisis in our state has never been more dire."

Northeastern Vermont Development Association Communities along the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail were awarded federal grant funds, secured by Senator Bernie Sanders, to improve trail amenities and visitor experience. Improvements to trailheads, picnic areas, kiosks, signage, connections to downtowns, and art & history installations are all community assets that support local recreation, transportation, and economic development. St. Johnsbury, Danville, Walden, Greensboro and Hardwick had winning projects. Greensboro also received a $191,466 LVRT Community Grant for trailhead construction in Greensboro Bend.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), now former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, put an exclamation point on his longstanding support for the University of Vermont with the inclusion of $30 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) to support academic excellence at UVM and an additional $50 million in Vermont-focused programmatic funding in the annual Appropriations Bills that fund the US government. The bills were signed into law on December 29. UVM stands to receive $30 million in CDS funding in the form of an endowment dedicated to enhancing the experience of its promising and ambitious students, especially through the university’s Honors College.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont is the number 30 growth state in America, according to the U-Haul Growth Index analyzing customer moves during 2022. Vermont slipped 18 spots from its No. 12 ranking among growth states in 2021. People arriving in Vermont in one-way U-Haul trucks rose 4% from 2021, while departures increased 6%. Overall moving traffic slowed throughout most of the US but remained busy in the Green Mountain State in 2022. Despite a greater year-over-year jump in departures, do-it-yourself movers arriving in Vermont still accounted for 50.1% of all one-way U-Haul truck traffic in and out of the state (49.9% departures).

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott will be sworn in to his fourth term as governor in a ceremony on Thursday, January 5, in the House Chamber. After being sworn in by the Chief Justice, the Governor will administer the oaths of office to the newly elected Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor of Accounts and Attorney General. The Governor will then deliver his fourth Inaugural Address to a joint session of the General Assembly.

Vermont Business Magazine On December 21, 2022, Community National Bank (CNB) released a video featuring President and CEO Kathy Austin delivering a message to the general public warning against fraudulent activity and scams created to steal money from unsuspecting consumers. Unfortunately, fraudulent activity and financial scams have been around for a very long time. The problem that we are facing today is the dramatic increase in frequency of this activity and the complexity and sophistication of the scams. Although the financial industry has many safeguards in place to help detect fraud, the scammers have changed the game and they are targeting the general public directly by delivering messages through phone calls, email and text messages.

Vermont Business Magazine In the spirit of growing the strength of the communities it serves, Jim Brown, President of The Bank of Bennington, announced last week that the Bank has completed its 2022 annual giving to community food cupboards and fuel funds. In 2022, The Bank of Bennington donated more than $30,000 to over 20 area organizations in 11 towns.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Patrick Leahy’s last day as a US Senator is today. But in the runup to this moment there has been no going quietly into the good night. Since the election in November and the choosing of his successor, Peter Welch, there has been important work to do. Most notably was the surprising passage of the Respect for Marriage Act, which recognizes “the sanctity of marriage between two individuals, regardless of gender or race.”

by Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer As 2022 ends, I wanted to take stock of the work my office has done over the course of the year. The mission of my office is to hold State government accountable by making sure programs are working effectively and that State government is operating efficiently. I’m happy to provide this brief summary of our efforts this year on your behalf.