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Mostly cloudy. Low near 35F. Winds light and variable..
Mostly cloudy. Low near 35F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: May 2, 2026 @ 7:22 pm
On April 29, Blue Cross VT employees participated in National Walk@Lunch and Green Up Day to get some exercise and pick up trash around the organization’s Berlin headquarters. As the only local nonprofit insurer, Blue Cross VT employees log volunteer time each year to support community well-being.
Pepin Pepin
Huston Huston
Naser Naser
Pepin Pepin
Huston Huston
Naser Naser
On April 29, Blue Cross VT employees participated in National Walk@Lunch and Green Up Day to get some exercise and pick up trash around the organization’s Berlin headquarters. As the only local nonprofit insurer, Blue Cross VT employees log volunteer time each year to support community well-being.
AROUND VT
BARRE — Central Vermont Council on Aging announced the appointment of Casey Winterson to executive director, effective May 11. Winterson succeeds John Mandeville, who will remain in the role for a brief transition period before retiring May 22.
Winterson, who served most recently as director of economic and community based services at Northeast Kingdom Community Action, brings experience in nonprofit leadership, collaborating with local and statewide partners to expand organizational impact.
Mandeville has been with CVCOA since July 2021. He led staff through the creation and implementation of a strategic plan and a state-directed policy change in case management, which has brought growth to the workforce and workload of the organization.
Working closely with the Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living, CVCOA is one of Vermont’s five Area Agencies on Aging and serves towns in Lamoille, Washington and Orange counties, as well as Bethel, Hancock, Granville, Pittsfield, Rochester, Royalton, Sharon and Stockbridge.
DERBY — Community National Bank President/CEO Christopher Caldwell announced the promotion of Holly Pepin to assistant vice president and treasury and municipal relationship manager.
Pepin started her CNB career in 1995 as a teller in Derby. In 2001, she joined the trust department, where she worked for a year before leaving to start a family. Pepin returned to CNB in 2010 as a teller in Troy until 2020 when she accepted the position of marketing assistant. In 2023, she assumed her new position as treasury and municipal relationship manager. She is a designated certified teller, has received a General Banking diploma and earned her certified treasury manager certificate from Banker’s Hub. In an effort to build fraud awareness, Pepin gives presentations sharing best banking practices to CNB communities.
CNB has offices located in Derby, Barre, Barton, Derby Line, Enosburg Falls, Island Pond, Lyndonville, Montpelier, Morrisville, Newport, St. Johnsbury and Troy; and loan production offices in Burlington and in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
St. JOHNSBURY — Connection to Recovery, a virtual mental health provider, is expanding access to support for individuals, families and couples across Vermont, including the Northeast Kingdom.
Through community outreach, collaborative partnerships and engagement with local organizations and health care providers, the organization serves clients in both Vermont and Texas. Connection to Recovery works with a range of insurance providers, including Medicare and Medicaid, and offers options to make it easier for individuals and families to access the support they need. For more information, visit connectiontorecovery.com or call 802-800-2958 or email hello@connectiontorecovery.com.
MONTPELIER — Greenvest investment management firm, specializing in socially responsible investing, announced its addition of Harrison Wustefeld as a full-service registered investment adviser representative.
He attended the UVM Grossman School of Business, where he earned his BA while also pursuing interests in agroecology. Wustefeld remained at UVM for its Sustainable Innovation MBA program during which he contributed to the management of a donor-funded investment portfolio focused on green energy and the electrification of the economy.
RANDOLPH — Vermont State University Office of Culture and Institutional Excellence announced it has received a $50,000 grant from Hannaford Supermarkets. These funds will support one of the primary goals which is to improve campus culture by creating “more welcoming, vibrant, and equitable spaces for the VTSU community.”
Noted in the grant application, four of VTSU’s five campuses are in parts of the state with limited levels of access to retail outlets selling healthy and affordable foods, otherwise known as food deserts. Additionally, in 2022, 2 in 5 people in Vermont were food insecure, and in the past year, some food shelves have been forced to close across the state due to lack of funding, including one in the Northeast Kingdom, close to VTSU’s Lyndon and Johnson campuses.
The funds from this grant will provide the VTSU Office of Culture and Institutional Excellence the ability to establish or make changes to its existing food pantries and begin to consolidate some other services, like its Winter Clothing Closets free winter wear resource for students, into communal spaces. Items like refrigerators, freezers and long-term storage options will be a part of this project and will enable students’ and employees’ access to healthy, fresh foods.
ReArch Construction, with northern New England offices in Vermont, and Lebanon and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, announced leadership changes that support its expansion.
Chris Huston has been promoted to executive vice president for the approximately 80-employee construction management firm. He has led ReArch’s preconstruction efforts for more than six years.
As part of this leadership transition, Kurt Naser, of Essex Junction, Vermont, has joined ReArch as vice president of preconstruction, succeeding Huston. He was recognized as a Rising Star by Vermont Business Magazine in 2025.
BURLINGTON — The University of Vermont announced the speakers for its 225th Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 16.
UVM President Marlene Tromp will deliver the traditional address to graduates. Two-time Olympic medalist cross-country skier Ben Ogden will deliver a guest address at the ceremony. A fourth-generation Vermonter, Ogden grew up in Landgrove, and graduated from UVM in 2022 with a degree in mechanical engineering. The other featured speaker will be Lewis First at the Larner College of Medicine’s ceremony on Sunday, May 17. First is retiring after more than 30 years as professor and chair of UVM’s Department of Pediatrics and chief of pediatrics at Golisano Children’s Hospital at UVM Medical Center.
This year’s UVM Commencement will feature a format change as the main ceremony on the university green will be held Saturday, May 16, instead of the traditional Sunday. Individual school and college ceremonies will be held on campus and at the Champlain Valley Expo Center.
Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children celebrates National Apprenticeship Week, April 26-May 2, a nationwide recognition of apprenticeship programs building a skilled workforce.
In partnership with the Vermont Department of Labor, VTAEYC’s registered Apprenticeship Program and independent Youth Apprenticeship Program pair participants with qualified workplace mentors and build skills through supervised on-the-job training, college courses, and additional community-based trainings; 124 students have completed a Youth Apprenticeship, and from 2018-2026, 95 individuals have participated in the Apprenticeship Program.
Both programs are funded in partnership with the Vermont Department for Children and Families, Child Development Division, and the Apprenticeship Program is also supported through a TEACH Early Childhood Vermont scholarship. During National Apprenticeship Week, VTAEYC joins partners across the state and country in recognizing the importance of investing in workforce development solutions.
BURLINGTON — The Vermont Brewers Festival is returning on July 17-18 to Burlington’s Waterfront Park, for its 33rd year. Hosted by Vermont Brewers Association, the festival will feature three tasting sessions, 40 world-class breweries and more than 200 specialty offerings.
For the first time, the festival is introducing a VIP Experience Ticket ($115) for Session 1 on Friday, July 17. Expanding the Designated Driver (DD) experience, these $22 tickets now include unlimited nonalcoholic beer from participating brewer tents. “At-par” ticket pricing is offered to Canadian residents ($60 CAD advance/$65 CAD day-of); attendees must present a valid Canadian driver’s license or passport at ticket pickup.
This year’s brewers roster includes Hill Farmstead, Other Half, Foam Brewers, Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Lost Marble Brewing, Kingdom Brewing, and Valley Craft Ales.
Tickets went on sale at 11 a.m. May 1 at vtbrewfest.com. All general admission tickets ($60 advance/$65 day-of) include 15 tasting tabs and souvenir festival glassware.
Session 1, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, July 17.
Session 2, noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 18.
Session 3, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, July 18.
JOHNSON — Vermont Electric Co-op members are invited to its 2026 annual meeting May 9 at Smugglers’ Notch Resort. The event begins at 8 a.m. with breakfast; the formal meeting runs from 9:30 a.m. to no later than noon.
Starting with the complimentary breakfast, attendees explore informational displays, connect with fellow VEC members, and get an up-close look at one of VEC’s new hybrid bucket trucks. After breakfast comes updates from VEC leadership, the Board of Directors election results, and a presentation from Kerrick Johnson, Vermont’s commissioner of the Department of Public Service, who will discuss statewide energy issues.
The meeting wraps up with the raffle. Prizes include an electric power washer donated by Smugglers’ Notch Resort and a battery-powered string trimmer from Efficiency Vermont. Additional prizes are a gift certificate to the Jericho Café and Tavern from Paul Frank + Collins P.C.; a Vermont State Parks pass from Wilschek and Iarappino PLLC; gift cards to national retailers courtesy of Eustis Cable; and items from The Family Table, Martell’s at the Red Fox, and the Cambridge Village Market.
MONTPELIER — Vermont Mutual Insurance Group recently reported on company results for 2025 at the annual meeting held April 15. In 2025, milestones included producing a record $101 million in underwriting income and the growth of surplus by 19.2% to a record high of $1 billion.
In other meeting business, the following officers were re-elected by Vermont Mutual Board of Directors: Board Chair, President/CEO Mark McDonnell; Executive VP/COO Brody Gilbert; VP/Chief Underwriting Officer Jonathan Becker; VP/Chief Legal Officer & Secretary William Cahill; VP/Chief Claims Officer David DeLuca; VP/Chief Marketing Officer Shaun Farley; VP/Chief Information Officer Samuel Hopkins; VP/Chief People Officer Sarah Young; VP/Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer Joshua Wykle.
Do you have a news item for our Business Briefs? Email it to news@rutlandherald or news@timesargus.com. When submitting photographs, please be sure they are larger than 1MB in a jpg format.
Pepin Pepin
Huston Huston
Naser Naser
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