What Were You Thinking?

by Maia Segura, Vermont Business Magazine Running a restaurant is a risky business at any time, but during the pandemic the challenges have been compounded and restaurants in Vermont have struggled to hang on. Some did not make it, and others had to reinvent themselves to survive. Meanwhile, defying conventional wisdom to avoid risk in challenging times, a few intrepid entrepreneurs in Southeast Vermont identified and chose to pursue opportunities to open new upscale venues. The Hermitage Inn in West Dover, the White House Inn in Wilmington, and River Garden Marketplace in Brattleboro have faced a host of harrowing challenges from supply chain to labor issues but push on undeterred.

Vermont Business Magazine Walmart has made its selections for the ninth annual Open Call event. With nearly 1,200 small and mid-sized business owners receiving official invitations—including 10 entrepreneurs headquartered in Vermont—this year’s registrants mark the largest group ever selected to participate in the two-day event. Finalists represent all fifty (50) states, including the District of Columbia, with nearly sixty percent (60%) of them self-identifying as a diverse-owned business.

Vermont Business Magazine Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) in St Johnsbury has begun transitioning toward post-COVID operations and now welcomes the community back into much of the hospital’s public facing spaces. The hospital anticipates implementing several changes. They include extending visiting hours, opening the Courtyard Café and the Charles M. and Hannah Gray Gallery to the public, and allowing individuals to drop off expired or unwanted medication in the Drug Deposit Box. Patients may also resume in-person interactions with the NVRH Business Center, Medical Records, and Information Services. Waiting areas are open across NVRH as well.

Vermont Business Magazine The Environmental Justice Clinic at Vermont Law School and Vermont’s Racial Justice Alliance (VRJA) challenged the Burlington "Champlain Parkway project.” The lawsuit supports residents of neighborhoods in the South End of Burlington through which part of the parkway will pass. The plaintiffs argue the $47 million dollar project relies on a legally insufficient traffic analysis, violates public participation requirements related to federal projects of this size in environmental justice communities, and fails to acknowledge changing demographics in the area. 

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced that he is stepping down from the office of Attorney General effective Monday, June 20, 2022, at 5 pm in order to accept the position of Director of Public Policy and US State Strategies for the company Roblox. Roblox is a California-based online gaming firm. Donovan will be based in Vermont. Donovan announced in early May that he would not seek reelection. Rumors circulated shortly after that he would not serve out the rest of his term.