Vermont Business Magazine Jim Brown, President of The Bank of Bennington, announced this week that the Bank completed its 2020 annual giving to community food cupboards and fuel funds before the end of the year. In 2020, The Bank of Bennington donated nearly $22,000 to more than 20 area organizations in 11 towns.
Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), will conduct a digital information session regarding the COVID-19 vaccine at 1 pm on Thursday, January 7. The event is made possible with cooperation from CAT-TV and the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce. The session will feature SVMC’s Chief Medical Officer Trey Dobson, MD. The Chamber’s Executive Director Matthew Harrington will moderate.
Vermont Business Magazine As Vermont enters the fourth week of administering COVID-19 vaccinations, the University of Vermont Medical Center continues to follow the federal government and State of Vermont plan to vaccinate health care workers identified for the first phase. The plan first called for Vermont hospitals to prioritize their providers and staff, EMS and Home Health & Hospice. This week marks an even greater shift to community-based providers, those not employed by hospitals. UVMMC has already vaccinated more than 6,000 people with about a third – or 2,000 – being community providers. UVMMC also has begun administering the second vaccine dose to those who have already received an initial Pfizer-BioNTech dose. Second doses of the Moderna vaccine will also be administered in the coming weeks.
Vermont Business Magazine The Peck Company Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ: PECK), a leading commercial solar engineering, procurement and construction company based in South Burlington and Burlington-based iSun Energy LLC, a provider of innovative solar power, electric mobility and smart city solutions for government, commercial, retail, academic and data-center projects, announced Wednesday that they have entered into a binding term sheet under which Peck will acquire iSun in an all-stock transaction. Peck will change its name to iSun Energy and trade on Nasdaq under the ticker “ISUN” upon closing.
Vermont Business Magazine VBM is proud to announce a special monthly Business Forum with top business minds and thought leaders to give insight to businesspeople in Vermont during these unprecedented times. The upcoming year will hold many challenges for Vermont businesses so to help you through these troubling times, we are giving you free access to successful executives, leaders, and experts.
Vermont Business Magazine Burlington-based North Star Leasing announces that 2020 was a record-setting year in the 41-year history of the equipment leasing company, with all-time highs set in annual, quarterly, and monthly funding. Buoyed by a $10 million December – the company's top funding month ever – North Star Leasing closed the year on a remarkable run, exceeding 2019 funding levels, it’s prior annual high-funding level. Additionally, total funding in Q4 ‘20 set a record, while North Star Leasing processed over 6,600 applications totaling $236 million during the year.
Agency of Commerce & Community Development will host a webinar for Vermont businesses regarding updates to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) on Wednesday, January 6th at 3 pm. The Agency’s leadership team will be joined by the Vermont Department of Labor, the Vermont Bankers Association (VBA), the Small Business Administration (SBA) Vermont District Office and Thomas Lauzon, CPA to help businesses navigate and understand the updates to these programs.
Vermont Business Magazine While it’s still too early to know how the recent holidays impacted COVID-19 cases in Vermont, Health Commissioner Mark Levine MD said at Tuesday’s press conference that Vermonters can still protect one another by getting tested. This message comes on a day when the VDH reported a spike in case counts, which have surpassed 8,000, and five more deaths for a statewide total of 149. The post holiday numbers will still take another week or so to fully play out. Meanwhile, the vaccine rollout has frustrated government officials as it has Vermonters. The federal government has not met its original distribution goals in Vermont or elsewhere.
Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s State House is first in the nation to have clean backup power stored in batteries – using a GMP program to help lower costs for all Vermonters. A coalition of Vermont businesses, state officials, and GMP are demonstrating that storage is a clean alternative for backup power over fossil fuel. The backup system received an allocation of $450,000, which was originally to replace the old diesel system.
Vermont Business Magazine The City of Burlington’s Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (REIB) department, in concert with their Rapid Response Team (RRT) and Business Support Team, today announced the recipients of the BIPOC Small Business and Non-Profit Relief Grant Program. In total, they received 30 inquiries about the program and fulfilled 29 applications with awards of $2,000-$7,000, amounting to $180,000 dollars. These grantees covered a wide range of industries and services including, but not limited to, food, beauty, exercise, language access, legal aid, mental health, masonry, holistic healing, and more.
Lawmakers Urged to Put Economy Front and Center
Vermont Business Magazine Nearly two dozen business organizations, representing more than 200,000 workers, issued an open letter to the Governor and Vermont General Assembly in December acknowledging the daunting task lawmakers have in governing during a global pandemic. The virtual nature of lawmaking during this extraordinary time – requiring physical distancing – creates challenges for everyone.
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont legislative schedule for first (January 6) and second day of the House and Senate is presented below. The Speaker and a few members will be in the House Chamber, but the House of Representatives will not be convening in person, and the events of the day will be live streamed. A quorum of Senators will be present in person on Wednesday, with the remainder participating remotely, and the events will be live streamed. The Senate will convene remotely on Thursday.