Current News

Vermont Business Magazine On June 1, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed Treasurer Mike Pieciak’s public retirement initiative proposal, VT Saves (S.135), into law. Passed unanimously by the Vermont House and Senate, the program requires employers not already offering a retirement plan to sign up for VT Saves, establishing a Roth IRA for their employees with automatic payroll deductions. The program is of no cost to the employer, and employees can opt out of the program at any time.

Vermont Business Magazine In 2022, Joe Wiah was honored with the Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial, Community Leadership. The director of the Ethiopian Community Development Council’s Multicultural Community Center in Brattleboro, Wiah is helping refugees integrate into community life in Southern Vermont. In a recent interview, he talked about his work and what receiving the award meant to him both personally and professionally. The annual award recognizes Con’s life by rewarding a community leader who shares his vision of a better Vermont and who seizes the responsibility for making that vision a reality. 

Vermont Business Magazine Fidium Fiber is expanding service coverage of its all-fiber internet network to 2,400 homes and businesses in Waterbury, Moretown and Duxbury. Construction is scheduled to begin by Monday, June 12, with local build-out scheduled for the coming weeks. More than 80,000 Vermonters can now order Fidium Fiber, and through this expansion thousands more homes and small businesses will soon have access to Fidium’s multi-gig speed fiber internet service.   

Vermont Business Magazine The medical staff of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) recognized the following individuals for their contributions to clinical insight and teamwork. Marie George, MD, infectious disease physician, received the 2023 Clinical Excellence Award, recognizing her outstanding diagnostic acumen and commitment to communication with medical colleagues. Dr. George is a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic physician who has worked at SVMC since 1999. She is a past president of the Medical Staff and serves as medical director of infection prevention.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported May 31, 2023, that COVID-19 hospitalizations increased. COVID-19 activity remains in the "Low" range, according to the VDH. There were 5 COVID-related deaths in the last week for a pandemic total of 974 as of May 27 (this is the most recent update). VDH reported 15 COVID-related deaths in March, the fewest since the summer of 2021, 19 in April and 9 so far in May.

by John McClaughry In this era dominated by aggressive steps to deal with “climate change”, it’s worth inquiring into what the climate activists are working to install in our public school system, presumably to lead their pupils into supporting a long list of policies on the climate change agenda. This is not a new thought. As far back as 2007, a Governor’s Commission on Climate Change called for “promoting enormous systemic and long term cultural, cross-generational change in our awareness and behavior through the efforts of our formalized K-12 public and private school systems.”

Vermont Business Magazine The staff and providers at Menig Nursing Home in Randolph Center recently achieved a deficiency-free survey from the Vermont Division of Licensing and Protection (DLP). The survey report, released May 10, followed a comprehensive three-day review of the care and services provided at the 30-bed skilled nursing facility, part of Morgan Orchards Senior Living Community at Gifford.

Vermont Business Magazine The VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region, (VNAHSR), one of the state’s largest providers of skilled home health and hospice services, recently announced the Employee of the Year and HEALTH Matters Award Winners. Brian Fleming, PT, was recognized as VNAHSR’s Employee of the Year.

by Michael Del Trecco, CEO, VAHHS My daughter, Jillian, will graduate from high school in a week. We’ll be “sort-of” empty nesters then. She’ll head to Quinnipiac in the fall with the ultimate goal of being a dentist. This is such a bittersweet time of year. These young people are full of so much hope and optimism, but also, being a kid these days isn’t easy, so there’s plenty of heartache and stress. Frankly, as I look around, I see similar juxtapositions everywhere. Wins and struggles; joy and loss. That’s the way it always is, but what determines our ultimate success is our resilience through the hard times. 

Vermont Business Magazine In conjunction with Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) and Umbrella, The Northeast Kingdom Prevention Center of Excellence invites the community to attend the Building Communities that Thrive Through Connection conference on Thursday, June 22, 2023. The conference, which is free and open to all community members 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Burke Mountain Resort, will focus on three topics: Youth Mattering, Community Resilience and Positive Childhood Experience (PCEs) research. 

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today signed S.100 – known as the Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone or HOME Act – which will enable more significant progress addressing Vermont’s housing shortage. The HOME Act modernizes local zoning and land use regulations by allowing higher density development in areas with sewer and water service, which will create more housing opportunities and affordable homes for more Vermonters. The bill includes additional provisions and directs funding to further address the needs of renters and homeowners, which will be finalized with the State Fiscal Year 2024 budget.

Vermont Business Magazine New England state air quality forecasters are predicting air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups, due to elevated concentrations of fine particle air pollution due to wildfires in Quebec and Northern Ontario.  Areas predicted to exceed the Federal air quality standard for 24-hour particle pollution level concentrations on June 6 are: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire (central, south and western parts of the state), Rhode Island, and Vermont.