Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Modernizing Medicine, Inc (ModMed), an electronic health record (“EHR”) technology vendor located in Boca Raton, Florida, has agreed to pay $45 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act, by accepting and providing unlawful remuneration in exchange for referrals and causing its users to report inaccurate information in connection with claims for federal incentive payments, according to the US Attorney for the District of Vermont on Tuesday

Vermont Business Magazine The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) New England regional office today confirmed that New Englanders experienced a slight increase in the number of unhealthy air quality days this year, compared with 2021. Based on preliminary data collected between March and September 2022, there were 24 days when ozone monitors in New England recorded ozone concentrations above levels considered healthy. By contrast, in 2021 there were 23 unhealthy ozone days in New England. There were no such days recorded in Vermont this year or last.

Vermont Business Magazine Customers served by Vermont Public Power Supply (VPPSA) member utilities have another reason to consider driving electric – a free FLO X5 level 2 charger and a $500 dollar rebate to assist with charger installation costs.This limited-time offer is available on a first-come, first-served basis through the PowerShift partnership between VPPSA, their member utilities, and Efficiency Vermont. The goal of PowerShift is to shift the times that grid-enabled devices in VPPSA member homes use energy.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Senate Committee on Committees and the Speaker of the House are currently holding a public application process to fill seats on the newly formed Environmental Advisory Council and are extending the application deadline from November 14, 2022, to December 5, 2022. The Environmental Justice Advisory Council was created by Act 154 to provide independent advice and recommendations to State agencies and the General Assembly on matters relating to environmental justice, including the integration of environmental justice principles into State programs, policies, regulations, legislation, and activities.

Vermont Business Magazine A jury has found Aita Gurung guilty of Murder in the First Degree of Yogeswari Khadka and guilty of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree for the near-fatal attack on Tulasa Rimal. In light of the verdict, Attorney General Susanne Young issued the following statement: “Murder is the most serious charge that can be brought in our system of justice. The Attorney General’s Office has always believed that this matter—the tragic death of Yogeswari Khadka and the near-fatal attack on Tulasa Rimal—deserved to be heard in a court of law and required a response from our justice system."

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced Thursday that John O’Hara, Jr, 43, of White River Junction, Vermont, was sentenced in United States District Court in Burlington to three years of probation following his guilty plea to a charge that he fraudulently converted tens of thousands of dollars in Social Security benefit payments. US District Judge Christina Reiss ordered O’Hara to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration in the amount of $51,346, which is the amount of the SS loss.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger today announced the appointment of Kimberly Carson as the City’s new Director of Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Kim most recently served as the Director of Education and Human Capital Development for the Iowa Judicial Branch Leading Judicial Education and Professional Development for nearly two thousand judicial branch employees and providing strategic leadership for diversity and equity initiatives across the agency.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) announced today that seven additional awards and another $2.15M have been committed to remediate brownfields sites across the state. Since the Brownfields Revitalization Fund (BRF) - State Program opened in October 2021, more than $6.8 million in cleanup funding has been awarded to 20 projects in seven counties (Caledonia, Chittenden, Franklin, Washington, Windham, Windsor, and Orange). The projects combined are anticipated to cleanup more than 35 contaminated acres and create 540 jobs, 288 units of housing, and 115 new hotel rooms.

Vermont Business Magazine Perrigo Company plc (NYSE: PRGO), with a major plant in Georgia, Vermont, announced on Tuesday a $170 million strategic investment to expand and strengthen its US infant formula manufacturing, which is expected to bolster industry capacity, enhance consumer choice and increase access to safe, affordable infant formula for parents and caregivers. As part of this strategic investment, Perrigo has purchased Nestlé's Gateway infant formula plant in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, along with the US and Canadian rights to the Good Start infant formula brand. Also included in the $170 million, Perrigo will immediately invest $60 million to expand Gateway's 29 million pound per year production capacity by 7 million pounds, or more than 100 million more 8-ounce bottle equivalents per year, within 18 months, adding a total of 36 million pounds of capacity to Perrigo.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont rose 9 cents since last week to $3.90 per gallon. They're up 27 cents from last month and up 50 cents from this time last year. The lowest price in Vermont was $3.35/g in Brattleboro and the highest price was $4.19 in West Burke. Vermont gas prices had been tracking below the national average in October but have surged higher in the last week.

Vermont Business Magazine Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) has announced the Partnership Grant projects recommended for funding for 2022. Twenty-four projects were recommended for funding, for a total of $652,414. Vermont received the most grants (tied with New York) for a total of $171,889.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance's (VOBA) 2nd Annual Trailblazer Legacy Award will be presented to Marc Sherman and Mike Donohue, co-founders of the Outdoor Gear Exchange (OGE) in Burlington, by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy. Senator Leahy was the inaugural Trailblazer Award recipient in 2021 for his lifetime of work preserving and protecting Vermont’s remarkable outdoor places, foundational to the successes of outdoor businesses like OGE. The 2022 Trailblazer Legacy Award ceremony will take place as part of VOBA's Fourth Annual Meeting and Outdoor Economy Sessions at HULA in Burlington on November 10.