Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Dr John Saroyan has been appointed as the Executive Director of Vermont’s Blueprint for Health Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) program, a long-standing and widely recognized health care reform initiative. The Vermont Blueprint for Health (Blueprint) was established to promote the integration of high-quality primary care with human services that impact health and wellbeing.

Ahead of its time when established in 2006, the Blueprint has since been recognized as a national model for enhancing and improving primary care. The program also supports primary care clinicians in providing medication-assisted treatment and wrap-around supports for opioid use disorder as part of the Hub and Spoke model.

Mission-Driven Educator and Champion of Career-Focused Education to Lead One of America’s Most Innovative Colleges

Vermont Business Magazine The Champlain College Board of Trustees announced today that Alejandro (“Alex”) Hernandez will become the tenth President of Champlain College. Hernandez currently serves as the Dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies (SCPS) and Vice Provost of Online Learning at the University of Virginia (UVA). He will begin his new role on June 6, 2022, and relocate to Burlington this summer.

Vermont Business Magazine Efficiency Vermont recognized seven large commercial & industrial partners for their leadership in energy efficiency, helping to reduce Vermont’s carbon emissions and reducing their operating costs with lower energy bills. The Energy Leadership awards are traditionally announced as part of Efficiency Vermont’s annual Best Practice Exchange, a conference for large commercial and industrial customers, supply chain partners, and energy experts to share ideas and build professional relationships. Although this year’s conference was canceled due to surging COVID-19 cases, Efficiency Vermont offered three online workshops to help facility managers at large operations continue learning about key technologies.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health on Wednesday reported 404 cases of COVID-19 (up 104 from yesterday). Hospitalizations, which have been increasing, broke its record today with 92 statewide, one more than the previous record set just Tuesday. ICU stays also are elevated at 28, three short of yesterday's 31, which is the record high. The VDH also today reported six additional COVID-related deaths, which stand at 425 statewide. This more than doubled the number of deaths in December, which are now 11.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Wednesday announced changes made by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to the dairy safety net program that will benefit Vermont’s small dairy farms. As it opens enrollment of the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program for 2022, changes to the program sought by Leahy will deliver additional payments to Vermont producers. A change in how feed costs are calculated will mean an additional $3.1 million in retroactive payments will be distributed to Vermont farmers who were enrolled in DMC in 2020 and 2021.

Vermont Business Magazine Evernorth, RuralEdge, New Depot Square Commercial Properties, LLC, funders, elected officials and community members were among those that celebrated the much-anticipated re-opening of New Avenue that is already bringing new life and vitality to downtown St. Johnsbury. Originally constructed in 1897 as the “New Avenue House,” the building was one of the grandest hotels of its day. The hotel stopped operating in 1970 and the upper floors were converted into apartments while the street level floor was converted to commercial space, all of which suffered from years of neglect thereafter.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that he has appointed Kristin Clouser as secretary of the Agency of Administration and Douglas Farnham as deputy secretary. Clouser served as deputy secretary since November 2020, before being named interim secretary last month, following the retirement of Secretary Susanne Young. Farnham currently serves as chief operational officer of the Agency.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) today released a video and toolkit alerting Vermonters of the dangers of imposter romance scams—a scam involving the formation of a relationship or friendship followed by requests for “financial help.” Imposter scams continue to be among the top scams reported by Vermonters to CAP. In 2020, “phony relationships” were the fifth most reported scam, resulting in a total loss of $349,166. Today’s video and toolkit are the first to be released in a three-part series on imposter scams.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott has been invited by President Joe Biden to virtually address the Summit for Democracy being held December 9-10. The Summit, hosted by the President, will bring together world leaders, heads of state, advocates for human rights and democratic values, and others to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing democracies in the 21st Century.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the $20 million Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond for Burlington Electric Department with 70% of voters supporting the ballot measure. Largely cost neutral to ratepayers, the Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond will allow Burlington Electric Department to continue and expand the Green Stimulus incentives that have helped hundreds of Burlingtonians switch from fossil fuel-burning cars and furnaces to electric vehicles (EVs) and cold-climate heat pumps. The bond also will support grid updates for reliability, technology systems to better serve customers, and new EV charging stations.

Vermont Business Magazine As Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman approached the end of a solid 12-year NBA career in 1987 and pondered life as a restaurant franchisee, he wondered whether there was a secret that separated the business success enjoyed by team owners from the athletic success of the players who worked for them. He came to realize the answer was no, and that the secret of success in business and athletics wasn't really a secret at all.

Vermont Business Magazine The program, funded using federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, will invest a total of $5 million into the state’s aging housing stock. VHIP will provide grants of up to $30,000 per unit with a 20% funding match required to bring code non-compliant units back into habitability. This round of grants is dedicated to units serving renters who are exiting homelessness.