Current News

Vermont Business Magazine A pair of autistic twins whose behavior, school attendance, and hygiene problems nearly exhausted efforts by educators and their own parents; a boy whose constant school absence and untreated ringworm were symptoms of his mother's hoarding and health issues; a quiet, 14-year-old girl who suffered physical and mental abuse from her alcoholic mother – these are just three cases of southern Vermont families in crisis that might have concluded with youngsters removed from their homes and placed into state custody.

Instead, all three cases and hundreds like them in Brattleboro and Springfield have ended far happier, thanks to the efforts of Healthcare & Rehabilitation Services of Southeastern Vermont (HCRS), funding from the Vermont Department of Children & Families (DCF), and a program called Intensive Family Based Services (IFBS).

by John McClaughry Most of us believe that “freedom” is a good thing - that we deserve to pursue our ends without unjust interference from others, so long as we don’t use our freedom to diminish that of others. We believe the state we live in ought to conscientiously protect the freedom of its citizens, limiting their individual freedom only when it is clear that its exercise would result in greater harm to society as a whole.

But governments today regularly, sometimes aggressively, interfere with our freedoms. Two scholars at the libertarian Cato Institute have put together a Freedom Index of the fifty states using some 150 variables. It identifies those states most, and least, protective of three dimensions of freedom: fiscal, regulatory, and personal.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont is launching a new graduate certificate program in fall 2016 that features a concise, six-course immersion in the quantitative sciences of public health used for analyzing diseases and health-related conditions. Epidemiology has many applications and plays a critical role in research, health care planning and investigating disease outbreaks. Epidemiology is increasingly used globally in public health research and practice, including cases like the Zika virus, to assess public health impact and develop guidelines and policies.

“Now more than ever, epidemiology — the foundation science of public health — is a crucial and timely area of study,” says Dr. Jan K. Carney, associate dean for public health at the UVM College of Medicine. Carney is one of several College of Medicine faculty for the program.

According to the World Health Organization, nearly two-thirds of Americans are overweight and yet 50% of American women and 25% of men are currently on a diet. These two statistics seem to be at odds and beg the question: What’s not working?

Community Health Education at Rutland Regional Medical Center is offering its second wellness and weight loss workshop to assist participants to lose weight while adopting habits and tactics that introduce sustainable behavior changes for maximum, long-term results.

“The ultimate goal, beyond the weight loss itself, is to introduce a mindset as well as a set of behaviors that are anchored in making healthy choices”, said Elizabeth Dulli, Rutland Regional Community Health Education Coordinator. “We want participants to focus on wellness, rather than on the concept of ‘dieting’”.

Vermont Business Magazine In response to a report showing lower-than-expected state revenues in the first month of the new fiscal year, Phil Scott for Vermont Campaign spokeswoman Brittney Wilson issued the following statement: “Yet again, our state’s general fund revenue is failing to meet expectations. This pattern illustrates why we cannot afford to continue a budget practice that relies on unpredictable revenue expectations and leaves Vermonters to make up the difference.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power has reached an agreement with Enel Green Power NA to acquire 14 of its small hydroelectric power stations located mainly in northern New England, with an approximate total capacity of 17 MW. GMP has also entered into a power purchase agreement with Enel for the rights to the output of two other Enel hydroelectric power stations in accordance with a 25-year PPA. This $20.3 million acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval by the Vermont Public Service Board and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is expected to close in 2017. GMP and Enel reached agreement in July

Map of GMP's hydro stations. Above, the Taftsville site on the Ottauquechee River in the town of Woodstock. GMP images.

Vermont Business Magazine Deep in concentration, a student solders a circuit for an ROV – a Remotely Operated Vehicle - that will be deployed underwater in Mt Abraham High School’s pool and later in Lake Champlain. Miles away, in the Boat Shop at Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, another student takes out a wet, steaming strip of white oak to be bent and placed as one of the ribs in a 32-foot rowing vessel. Each student is accomplishing tasks that increase self-esteem, improve marketable skills, and can earn academic credit that will help him or her graduate from high school.

Vermont Business Magazine Cypress Equities announced today that it has closed on the acquisition of Maple Tree Place, the dominant retail center in Williston, VT.  The center is comprised of 488,975 square feet of mixed use retail and office space.  Maple Tree Place is located at the intersection of Route 2 and 2A, known as Taft Corners, in the fast growing area of Chittenden County. Financial terms were not disclosed. Maple Tree Place is a premier retail center, located in Chittendan County, the most populous area in the state of Vermont. Currently, the property is anchored by national tenants such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Old Navy, Best Buy, Shaw’s and Christmas Tree Shops.

Vermont Business Magazine As the new academic year is set to begin, the innovative work of four University of Vermont research teams is moving closer to the marketplace thanks to a Shark Tank-like competition called SPARK-VT.  Each winning team will receive up to $50,000 in seed funding from the university’s Office of the Vice President for Research. Winning projects range from a tablet-based tool to screen for suicide risk and a robotic device to improve patient handling, to a micro-propulsion system for satellites and a medical device that simplifies a common orthopedic surgery procedure.

Launched in 2013 by the College of Medicine’s Department of Medicine and expanded to the full university in 2014, SPARK-VT helps bridge the divide between research and the marketplace by bringing promising researchers together with business innovators and biotech leaders.

by Mike Smith One thing we learned from the results of the Vermont primary last Tuesday is that being likable is worth a whole lot more than $2 million. Just ask former Wall Street executive Bruce Lisman, who poured perhaps that much into his failed attempt to defeat Phil Scott, the current Republican lieutenant governor.

Scott is very well known and liked in Vermont. Even Lisman acknowledged this in an early ad by saying, “Phil Scott may be a nice guy …” but then the remainder of his ad turned negative when he tried to link Scott to outgoing Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin. What Lisman never seemed to appreciate — and he learned a valuable lesson the hard and expensive way — is that unless you build up your own likability, which he never did, it’s difficult to tear down someone else’s. In the end, Scott crushed Lisman in the Republican primary for governor.

Vermont Business Magazine In this A.M.BestTV episode, which wraps up the third day of the annual Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) conference, captive regulators from South Carolina, Vermont and Tennessee review captive oversight, including a strategy that has some domiciles offering tax breaks to captives that re-domesticate. Vermont is the nation's largest domicile for captives and would have the most to lose if this strategy proves successful. Vermont also just hosted the industry's premier conference, which concluded last week in Burlington. Tennesse has been successful using this strategy, but South Carolina warned about this "unwelcome development" that arm-twists a large company to move its captive to a state without substantial regulation. David Provost, deputy commissioner, Vermont Captive Insurance Division, said a few companies have left the state to return to the parent company's home state. He does not think this is a major problem for Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine A new law that will shape the future of education in Vermont (the Every Student Succeeds Act) was discussed by more than 150 parents and community members who attended a conference at the Jay Peak Resort, Aug. 10-11, 2016. ESSA is the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 and signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 15, 2015. The law was designed to address structural inequities in education funding for marginalized students. Public comment by educators, communities, parents and students across the country will weigh heavily on how the law is implemented.