Jobs
Here are the Hill Country Observer’s articles about jobs, listed from newest to oldest. Questions about local economies surface in The Hill Country Observer as we follow movements in co-ops, small businesses, nonprofits and sustainable ways to make a living in our rural communities and support kinds of work that fulfill workers and local needs.
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Issue: December 2024-January 2025
Taxing times in Vermont
Election results add to pressure for school funding changes By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer The debate over school funding in Vermont is gaining new urgency after an election that wiped out Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature. Even as the Democratic presidential ticket was carrying the state by more than 30 percentage read more
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Issue: September 2024
Equity project pushes to transform region’s cultural workplaces
Equity project pushes to transform region’s cultural workplaces Christopher Duggan photo courtesy of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer Imagine the people who make creative work happen in an arts or cultural institution all having a stake and a voice in the organization’s operations and mission. Or imagine creative organizations clearly read more
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Issue: September 2024
Waiting for the train — State advances study of potential North Adams-to-Boston run
State advances study of potential North Adams-to-Boston run State Rep. John Barrett III, D-North Adams, stands along the tracks near the Western Gateway Heritage State Park. Barrett and others are pushing to restore passenger rail service from North Adams and Greenfield east to Boston, and a new state study details options for the project. Joan read more
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Issue: September 2024
Election 2024 — Public financing aids challenger in Saratoga race
By MAURY THOMPSON Contributing writer New York’s new public campaign finance system has given a big boost to the campaign of Democratic challenger Minita Sanghvi in the state Senate district that covers Saratoga County. The new system, which uses public money to match small-dollar contributions after certain fund-raising thresholds are reached, is intended to dilute read more
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Issue: July 2024
Intimate spaces, innovative shows — Region’s small theaters blaze a path through post-pandemic upheaval
Region’s small theaters blaze a path through post-pandemic upheaval Courtesy of Adams Theater By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer ANCRAM, N.Y. “And there are drums on the mountain …”On a July night, Martha Redbone will come to the banks of the Sankhenak river to compose music drawn up from her own folk, blues, gospel and Native read more
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Issue: July 2024
Online-betting windfall stirs debates
As states cheer revenue, critics point to costs of gambling addiction By MAURY THOMPSONContributing writer Two years after New York legalized mobile sports betting, it appears the biggest winner by far has been the state government. From early 2022 through the beginning of this year, Albany raked in more than $1.55 billion from its read more
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Issue: June 2024
Signs of economic change
Region’s manufacturing takes high-tech turn as some familiar employers exit The sign outside AngioDynamics’ medical device plant in Queensbury, N.Y., says the company is now hiring, but the factory is set to shut down at the end of 2025. Employee shortages are one reason the company has cited for its decision to close its read more
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Issue: May 2024
The museum that transformed a city — Mass MoCA turns 25
Mass MoCA, now 25, gave rise to North Adams’ new creative economy By KATE ABBOTTContributing writer NORTH ADAMS, Mass. When Tom Bernard worked at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art 20 years ago, he wore his grandmother’s badge from Sprague Electric Co. clipped to his own. She worked in Sprague’s sprawling mill complex in read more
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Issue: May 2024
A month in the hills — Birthing center to stay open with state aid
The only remaining maternity ward in Rensselaer County will stay open after receiving a promise of $5 million in new state grants. St. Peter’s Health Partners announced April 29 that it will keep the Burdett Birth Center in Troy open for at least five years while the hospital system works to improve the center’s economic read more
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Issue: May 2024
Fresh food at a farm stand for members
Start-up grower gives members access to produce from range of area farms Aliza Pickering, seen here at her parents’ greenhouse and garden center in Arlington, Vt., has set up a membership group that provides subscribers with fresh local produce from area farms, including her own, through a roadside farm stand in Saratoga County. Joan K. read more
