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Public Assets Institute, Montpelier Health care costs account for almost half of the increase from the fiscal 2016 budget passed by the Legislature last spring to Gov. Peter Shumlin’s proposed 2017 budget. The governor’s total proposed increase is 3.8 percent, or a little more than $213 million, which includes an adjustment to the current fiscal year’s budget and an additional increase for next year, fiscal 2017. Before the Legislature adjourned last May, it approved $5.60 billion¹ in total spending for the current fiscal year, which runs from July 2015 through June 2016. For the next fiscal year, the governor is proposing a budget of $5.81 billion.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont is near the very bottom in charitable giving, accord to a report released Tuesday by the Urban Institute. Vermonters gave an average of $831 in actual charitable contributions. When adjusted by the state's average adjusted gross income per return (Vermont ranks 34th at $54,284), Vermont ranks 49th in the nation for charitable giving. This yearly publication reviews the individual charitable contributions reported on itemized tax returns published by the Internal Revenue Service from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This brief finds that total itemized charitable contributions and the average itemized charitable contribution per tax return in the United States increased from 2008 to 2013 ($1,339).

Vermont Business Magazine FreshTracks Capital announces the return of Peak Pitch Vermont on Thursday March 3rd.  Now in its eleventh year, Peak Pitch gives entrepreneurs and investors a wonderful opportunity to network on the slopes of the Sugarbush Resort.  Peak Pitch brings entrepreneurs and investors together for a unique version of the classic "elevator pitch." In the traditional elevator pitch, entrepreneurs take advantage of an opportunity to share an elevator ride with a potential investor or adviser and present their business idea.  At Peak Pitch, a shared chairlift ride gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to pitch and tune their business plans to a variety of venture capitalists, angel investors, commercial bank officers, and other entrepreneurial advisors as they ride up the mountain on a chair lift.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resource’s Department of Environmental Conservation today announced that it formally settled environmental violations involving the Burlington International Airport (BTV). The City of Burlington operates the airport. The settlement includes a $37,754 penalty. The airport, located in South Burlington, is subject to three underground injection control (UIC) permits, issued by the Department. The permits authorize BTV to discharge stormwater containing aircraft de-icing fluid to the groundwater via four injection wells. Under the UIC permits BTV is required to perform annual inspections of each injection well system, and biannual monitoring of the groundwater with submission of the required reports to the Department’s Underground Injection Control Program. After reviewing information provided by BTV, the Department determined that BTV had failed to comply with the conditions of the UIC permits for a period of four years. 

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) has released a second draft of the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) for public review.  This draft, to be presented to the legislature and the public over the coming weeks, has been substantially revised to incorporate public input. As a result of Act 64—the Vermont Clean Water Act—signed into law in June 2015, the Agency of Agriculture was tasked with updating the Accepted Agricultural Practices (AAPs) to further reduce the impact of agriculture on water quality across the state. The RAPs are an updated version of the AAPs, the rules which regulate farms in order to protect water quality, re-written to a higher level of performance.  The Agency sought public input on its first draft of the new regulations, to ensure the RAPs reflected the realities of farming and the legislative intent of Act 64.

Vermont Business Magazine Use of alcohol among Vermont high school students decreased significantly in the past two years, according to the newly released 2015 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey. In 2013, nearly 60 percent of high school students reported ever drinking alcohol. In 2015, that figure dropped to 56 percent. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey is administered at school every other year to students in grades six through 12, and details the prevalence of a wide range of behaviors that affect health – from smoking, drinking and drug use, to physical activity, nutrition and weight, to violence and mental health status. The survey is conducted by the Vermont Department of Health and Agency of Education. More than 21,000 high school students (grades 9-12), and 13,600 middle school students (grades 6-8) participated in the latest survey, conducted during February and March 2015.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today urged the Vermont Pension Investment Committee to reevaluate their opposition to divesting Vermont of coal and ExxonMobil stocks. The governor called for Vermont to divest from those assets in his State of the State Address. State Treasurer Beth Pearce has opposed the plan in order to keep the pension funds financially sound. The governor believes strongly that divestment is a tool that should be used to address climate change, especially after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill last year to divest the state’s nearly $500 billion in pension assets from coal and study divestment from oil. Acknowledging VPIC’s past opposition to arguments about the moral imperative of using divestment to combat climate change, Shumlin focused his remarks on the bad economic investment that coal and ExxonMobil represent.  

Vermont Business Magazine The Gifford Health Care Board of Directors announced on Friday that long-serving Administrator Joseph Woodin will be leaving the organization in May to live in Massachusetts where he has accepted the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital CEO position. In announcing his resignation, Woodin stressed that the move was for personal reasons. “There is not a single reason why I should leave, or want to leave Gifford,” Woodin said. “In the last three years I lost my wife, and then my mother, and it has been a time of personal reflection for me. It’s the right time for me to move forward in life and pursue another opportunity.”

Joe Woodin. Courtesy photo.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Foodbank’s Veggie VanGo, a mobile food pantry, will deliver its second round of healthy groceries to the University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center in partnership with Hunger Mountain Coop on Friday, February 26. All families and individuals in need are invited to pick up free, fresh produce and other groceries from 9 to 11 a.m. in Conference Rooms 1 and 2 on the lower level of the hospital in Berlin, Vt. More than 150 people turned out for the first event in January. The Veggie VanGo will continue to distribute food at the hospital on several Fridays throughout the winter and spring including April 1, April 29, May 27 and June 24.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) has announced the appointment of Richard Ader, Kathleen Fisher, and Sue Maguire to its Board of Trustees. “These individuals have unique skills and experiences and will make tremendous contributions to our Board of Trustees,” said David Meiselman, the board chair. “I am delighted to welcome them and eager to see what we can accomplish together.” Ader is the founder of U.S. Realty Advisors, LLC and a recognized real estate expert. He is a graduate of the University of Vermont and serves on the Board of the University of Vermont Foundation and as Chairman of the Advisory Board to the College of Arts and Sciences.

Ader is the owner of the Bennington Tennis Center. He became aware of the hospital when a family member was a patient in the emergency department.

Vermont Business Magazine Members of the Cancer Center Community Crusaders (known as the 4Cs) and the Quiet Valley Quilters have joined forces to support patients at Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center in Bennington. In October, the three organizations worked together to provide 14 handmade quilts to cancer patients whose treatment had ended who had transitioned to hospice care. The quilters are preparing quilts for six additional patients now. Cancer patients and staff build deep relationships throughout their appointments, sometimes over many years. Once a patient has transitioned to hospice care, they no longer come to the Cancer Center. Both patients and staff feel that separation.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College, recently named the “#1 Most Innovative School in the North” by US News and World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges,” will hold an open house on Monday, March 21 to highlight its career-focused professional degree programs for adults. The open house at the Champlain College Miller Center at Lakeside, 175 Lakeside Ave., from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., will offer information on more than 50 online programs in the areas of business, education, cybersecurity, healthcare, human studies, law and technology, plus two campus-based Emergent Media master’s programs, to encourage local residents to take advantage of the offerings. It is free and open to the public.