Current News

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets As we head into the holiday season and a New Year is on the horizon, The Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets has a number of funding opportunities to support food, farm, and forestry businesses in 2023. We encourage you to keep up to date on deadlines with the Funding Opportunity Calendar. The Community Supported Agriculture Grant, Dairy Processor Innovation Grant, Trade Show Assistance Grants,, and the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program are just some of the great opportunities open in the new year.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The state’s tax revenues continue to exceed expectations, led by the personal income tax (the most important source) and the corporate tax (which tends to fluctuate. And while the Transportation Fund continues to lag the other funds, especially in fuel receipts, motor vehicle sales were up and the fund overall had a positive month. Secretary of Administration Kristin Clouser has released Vermont’s revenue results for November 2022. For the second month in a row, all three major funds – the General Fund, the Transportation Fund and the Education Fund – ended the month with revenue above target. Year to date, the General Fund and the Education Fund remain ahead of target while the Transportation Fund is slightly behind.

Vermont Business Magazine Children experiencing an acute mental health crisis will have faster access to initial treatment thanks to a pilot project pairing emergency room doctors at Rutland Regional Medical Center with psychiatric specialists at the Brattleboro Retreat. Called the Vermont Emergency Telepsychiatry Network, the project is funded and managed by The Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care and is expected to be fully operational early next year. The Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care, Inc (VPQHC) received a $901,123 Congressionally Directed Spending grant from Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to support the coordination of a state-wide Vermont Emergency Telepsychiatry Network (VETN).

Senator Patrick Leahy Mr President, there are some things we experience in life that we can never prepare for...no matter how hard we try. Embarking on a life with the person you love is one. Having, raising and loving a child is another. And then there’s this one. I have been here 48 years. Perhaps to the dismay of hundreds of presiding officers, I have delivered many floor statements...some more eloquent than others. But I have never delivered a speech like this. And I so appreciate all of you indulging me.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the retirement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks: It’s never easy to bid farewell to a retiring colleague. But boy, this one’s hard. It’s even harder to bid farewell to a friend—and everyone is Pat’s friend. Today, we say thank you not just to a colleague—and it’s not just to a dear friend—but to an institution all his own.

Governor Phil Scott will join Jewish community leaders today for the annual State House Menorah lighting ceremony on the third night of Chanukah. Following the ceremony, there will be additional activities and light refreshments inside the State House. The public event will be held Tuesday, December 20, 2022, at 5 pm.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) announced today that it will immediately move to digitize its grievance system and create an independent investigative unit following recommendations from a new report by the State Auditor’s Office. Vermont will be among the first states to deploy a digital, tablet-based grievance system statewide. The new software will move the current paper-based system—which involves collecting carbon copy forms and mailing them to a central office—directly onto the tablets all incarcerated individuals in Vermont already use for education, communicating with family, and entertainment. DOC is designing a larger technological modernization later next year but is expediting the plan for the new grievance system for early 2023.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Medical Society Education & Research Foundation (VMSERF) has announced the 2023 cohort of the Physician Executive Leadership Institute (PELI) Foundational Course, which commences remotely this January. The VMSERF leadership course is offered in partnership with the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership and Lumunos Clinician Well-Being Services with funding from the Physicians Foundation. Perhaps more than ever before, physicians are being asked to step up and skillfully lead rapid change to ensure the best outcomes for Vermont patients.

Vermont Business Magazine Those heading out on the road for the holidays will receive the gift they’ve been waiting for all year: lower gas prices. Holiday prices this year will be $1.83 per gallon lower than they were just six months ago, according to GasBuddy. The national average price of gas is forecast to be $2.98 on Christmas Day, likely to drop below the critical $3 per gallon mark on or before Christmas Eve for the first time in nearly 600 days. In Vermont, today's average price is $3.42 per gallon, down 8 cents from last week, down 49 cents from last month, but still 6 cents higher than a year ago. However, the lowest price in Vermont is $2.99/g in West Dover. The highest price is $3.89 in Killington.

Vermont Business Magazine Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont announced today that they will forego a contract with OneCare Vermont (OCV) for the 2023 plan year. Despite having collaborated with OCV every year since its inception, Blue Cross is unable to reach an agreement this year due to the lack of tangible quality outcomes, inability to bend the cost curve, and the new data approach that introduces concerns about security and privacy. For nearly a decade the local non-profit health plan has led in the development of the commercial health insurance component of the Vermont All Payer Model (APM). As the first APM model is revised, improvements must be incorporated to better serve a diverse commercial population. Meanwhile, Governor Scott said he believed an agreement could still be negotiated.

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that last Thursday, Serhat Gumrukcu, 39, of Los Angeles, California, and Berk Eratay, 36, of Las Vegas, Nevada, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a murder-for-hire conspiracy and the January 6, 2018 kidnapping and death of Gregory Davis, a resident of Danville, Vermont. The wire fraud charge was added to existing murder for hire conspiracy charges against Gumrukcu and Eratay and Jerry Banks, 35, of Fort Garland, Colorado, and kidnapping charges against Banks. The defendants’ arraignment on the second superseding indictment is scheduled for December 29, 2022.