Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education has committed $200,000 to support two national refugee non-profits with a presence in Vermont to ensure that refugee students and their families are provided with access to summer programs and community mentoring. The AOE will also leverage an existing partnership with the WIDA Consortium to offer targeted professional learning opportunities for teachers serving Afghan students and other multilingual newcomers. As of spring 2022, Vermont is now home to over 100 school-aged Afghan children and more families are expected to arrive in summer 2022. The AOE will use $200,000 in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to create the Afghan Refugee Partnership Grant.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine As the independent administrator of Vermont's and New England’s wholesale electricity markets, ISO New England runs an annual forward capacity auction to ensure sufficient resources will be available to meet the region’s expected future reliability needs. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Enforcement (FERC OE) is currently investigating whether there were violations of ISO’s tariff and a fraudulent scheme related to said violations by a project developer that participated in a previous auction. While FERC OE has alleged that the project developer engaged in a fraudulent scheme to deceive the ISO and the market, and failed to provide the ISO with complete and relevant information, this investigation also includes the ISO’s role in administering the capacity market. ISO New England said it has cooperated fully with the investigation.

Vermont Business Magazine One Inc, the leading digital payments network for the insurance industry, announced today that Union Mutual, a Vermont-based personal and commercial insurance company, has selected the One Inc Digital Payments Platform to provide both inbound and outbound digital payments. This is part of an overall effort to streamline and transform the carrier's customer experience. First established in 1874, Union Mutual Companies have been a quality insurance provider for nearly 150 years. From what started as a fire insurance company in Vermont, the carrier has expanded regionally with several personal and commercial product lines available. Union Mutual will continue to focus on maintaining long-term relationships with its policyholders and agents.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department says three new hunting or trapping related laws passed by the Vermont Legislature during the 2022 session are going into effect. Under the new laws: hunting coyotes with dogs and training dogs to hunt coyotes will be temporarily banned in Vermont starting July 1; the retrieval and use of game and furbearing animals by hunters and trappers are now required with some exceptions; and the Fish and Wildlife Department is beginning a process with the Fish and Wildlife Board and Legislature to identify and implement new best management practices for trapping in the state.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department is providing new maps on its website of lands it owns along streambanks. Fish and Wildlife staff have developed maps for Streambank Management Areas for over 200 parcels spanning nearly 100 miles of streambanks statewide.  These newly created maps depict streambank areas providing public access for perpetuity.  A user-friendly overview map has narratives describing the stream sections and their associated fisheries.