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Community’s Support Can Help Double the Donation to $10,000 by Sharing the Story on Social Media

Vermont Business Magazine Liberty Mutual and Safeco Insurance have announced that The Richards Group has earned a 2022 Make More Happen Award, which recognizes its exceptional volunteerism with Rotary Club of Deerfield Valley and commitment to making a positive community impact. The award includes an initial $5,000 donation with a chance to double the amount to $10,000 that will directly benefit Rotary Club of Deerfield Valley. They are a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing service to others, promoting integrity and peace through a fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders.

Vermont Business Magazine Forty-one state legislators sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Monday urging the federal agency to drop the deportations of ten immigrant farmworkers. The letter comes two months after the group, dubbed the “Migrant Justice 10,” first petitioned ICE to close their cases and allow them to remain in the US. On June 21st, the ten farmworkers gathered with supporters in front of the U.S. Federal Building in Burlington to formally request that ICE apply federal guidelines and exercise prosecutorial discretion in their cases. The petition was filed with initial support from Vermont's congressional delegation, Lieutenant Governor Molly Gray, and State’s Attorneys Sarah George and Todd Shove.

Vermont Agency of Education With testing no longer a first-line strategy for COVID-19 prevention in Vermont, school nurses should revisit their pre-COVID-19 school sickness policies. If the student or staff member is presenting with mild symptoms, the decision to test or return to class should be made by the school nurse based upon their clinical decision-making. Mild respiratory disease symptoms include runny nose or nasal congestion, minimal cough, and absence of fever in an individual with no current or recent household exposure to Covid-19.

Vermont Business Magazine Patient Choices Vermont (PCV) applauds the work of Dr. Diana Barnard, in collaboration with the national organization Compassion & Choices, to challenge the residency requirement contained in Vermont's Act 39 in Federal Court. Act 39, adopted in May 2013, enables terminally ill Vermonters who are capable of making their own medical decisions, the option to request and receive medication they can use to bring about a peaceful death; if and when they so choose. Act 39, like similar laws in other states across the country, makes end-of-life choice available only to residents of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that starting in 2024, individual and small group health plans will cover one set of prescription hearing aids every three years and annual exams. This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved expanded coverage in Vermont’s essential health benefit (EHB) for services including prescription hearing aids. Together with the Food and Drug Administration’s recent announcement establishing a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids, the new EHB benchmark plan ensures that Vermonters will have better access to affordable hearing aids than ever before.

Vermont Business Magazine Tony Blake of V/T Commercial in Burlington announced today that Finney Crossing in Williston, is 100% leased. Developers of the project, Scott Rieley and Chris Snyder, worked exclusively with V/T Commercial over the past few years and leased approximately 60,000 square feet. Commercial tenants of Finney Crossing include the Union Bank, Healthy Living Market & Cafe, H&R Block, Xfinity, Folino's Wood Fired Pizza, LL Bean, Men's Wearhouse, Jersey Mike's, Crumbl Cookies, and Railroad & Main Restaurant. Completion of this phase of the project is anticipated this fall.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Public Service (PSD) seeks feedback from stakeholders and ratepayers on the objectives and metrics by which the state should distribute federal funding provided under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IIJA creates funding opportunities open to Vermont to facilitate electric grid modernization for the purpose of preventing outages and enhancing the resilience of the electric grid. Section 40101(d) of the IIJA allows for states and Indian tribes to receive grants over a five-year period in an amount consistent with a pre-determined formula – approximately $3 million per year for Vermont – for uses that meet certain criteria.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University begins the 2022–23 academic year on Monday, August 29, with approximately 650 new students. First year students in the Corps of Cadets arrived on Sunday, Aug. 21, and new civilian students arrived on Tuesday, Aug. 23, for orientation. The Class of 2026 is comprised of approximately 350 rooks (first year students in the Corps of Cadets) and 298 civilian students (both residential and commuter) coming from 42 states and 21 different countries.

Vermont Natural Resources Council, et al When it comes to getting where we all need to go – which often needs to be by car or truck in rural Vermont – the options for cleaner, more affordable vehicles are good. They are also about to get better with the advancement of two new, innovative programs. Here’s how: Vermont first adopted a set of rules requiring auto manufacturers to provide Vermonters with more efficient cars than federal standards required in the early 2000s. Since then, this program, known as Advanced Clean Cars, has been a critical tool for manufacturer innovation, improved access to cleaner vehicles and emissions reduction. To meet climate commitments and the growing public demand for cleaner vehicles, two new programs are now available to deliver new requirements for zero-emission car sales - the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) rule and an Advanced Clean Trucks rule (ACT) – and Vermont is poised to join both by December of this year.

by Michael Del Trecco, Interim President and CEO, Vermont Assocation of Hospitals & Health Systems Hospitals have just finished two weeks and likely close to 50 hours of budget hearings before the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB). This is an exhaustive, expensive and time-consuming effort, but it has allowed hospitals to share their thorough and candid assessment of where they stand. The financial outlook may be bleak, but the resolve, creativity and leadership exhibited in the face of great challenges was nothing short of inspiring. Our hospitals clearly articulated plans to stabilize and recover and they have asked the GMCB to approve responsible and needed stabilization budgets to ensure they can support their staff and care for their patients.