Current News

Vermont Business Magazine A group of Florida researchers has found a link between gardening and good mental health. Scientists at the University of Florida studied 23 healthy women and preliminary findings show the women who participated in group gardening activities twice a week reported profoundly reduced stress, anxiety, anger, confusion and fatigue. The women also reported significantly more vigor and friendliness than the women in the control group. Dr Charles Guy, who led the study, cautions that the findings are still being analyzed but he describes the early results as 'huge.' "The fact we could measure anything (in such a small study) in a statistically robust way is surprising," says Guy.

by Bill Schubart Robert Proctor, a science historian at Stanford, has coined a new word that’s getting lots of attention… agnotology. Agnotology is the study of efforts to spread confusion and deceive people in an effort to sell them on a policy or product. Examples given are tobacco, food, and pharma efforts to sell products inimical to our wellbeing or the absurd political solutions proposed by Donald Trump, most of which are either unworkable or unconstitutional. In a BBC interview, Proctor warns: “We live in a world of radical ignorance, and the marvel is that any kind of truth cuts through the noise. Even though knowledge is ‘accessible’, it doesn’t mean it’s accessed.”

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care Foundation’s (SVHC) 2nd Annual Jingle Bell held on December 5 at the Hermitage Club in Wilmington, VT, hosted a sell-out crowd of 230 guests and raised $170,000 for the relocation of the organization’s Deerfield Valley Clinic, the new linear accelerator for the SVHC Regional Cancer Center, and other health care initiatives. The Jingle Bell included a cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing to the New York Players. The program also included a raffle and live auction.  

by John Brumsted, MD Together, we are writing a new prescription for the health of Vermonters: Pay health care providers for keeping people healthy instead of just treating them when they are sick. This is a change the University of Vermont Health Network is committed to making.  We recently set a goal of having 80 percent of our revenue tied to the overall health and wellness of our patients by 2018, rather than being paid for every test or procedure we perform or by our hospital admissions. Right now, less than 15 percent of UVM Medical Center’s revenue comes from payment arrangements tied to the quality, not the quantity, of care provided, so this represents a big change.

Dr John Brumsted, CEO of the UVM Medical Center

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin, his senior health care advisers, and Green Mountain Care Board Chair Al Gobeille today detailed how Vermont will seek to transform its health care system under the so-called All Payer Model from one that rewards fee-for-service, quantity-driven care to one that rewards quality-based care that focuses on keeping Vermonters healthy. That transition caps off years of work that will enable Vermont to address rising health care costs that are squeezing the budgets of families, businesses, and state government.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer released an audit today on fees owed the state by criminal defendants using public defenders. Not only have state courts collected less than a third of what is owed, the courts are not trying hard enough to collect the fees either at the time of the initial assessment, nor later through common means like garnishing income tax refunds. “We found that the State’s processes to collect court-ordered payments are not effective,” Hoffer wrote in his report to the Legislature. “The State has collected less than a third of the $3.1 million in court-ordered assessments for public defender services due between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2014.”

The money owed just disappears. About $7 million in public defender fees that remained uncollected and referred to DOT were excluded from the State’s accounts receivable balance at the end of the fiscal year.

Vermont Business Magazine Public transportation services soon will be unified under one brand for most of northern Vermont. But the biggest development perhaps will be that a rider can check his phone to see when the bus he's waiting for will get there. In the coming months, the Chittenden County Transportation Authority (CCTA) and the Green Mountain Transit Agency (GMTA) will rebrand to become Green Mountain Transit (GMT). In July 2011, GMTA and CCTA became one legal entity, which formalized the operating relationship between the two agencies that had existed since 2003. The rebrand is the last step in becoming one, unified, regional agency.

Vermont Business Magazine Advocates to legalize marijuana in Vermont are ramping up the pressure on the Legislature today by announcing an old fashioned marketing campaign. A new television ad featuring a former Vermont attorney general speaking out in support of regulating marijuana will begin airing statewide on Tuesday. Speaker of the House Shap Smith said earlier this month that he believes legalization will happen, but not this session. Governor Peter Shumlin, like Smith, supports legalization, but with very strict controls on availability, regulation and law enforcement. Pro-legalization advocates are pushing the issue now before the Legislature and the governorship turn over next year.

by Mike Smith The Washington Post editorial board recently criticized the details of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ single-payer health care plan. The Post said, “If Mr. Sanders is to close the sale with voters, he must show he has learned from socialism’s mixed history abroad and devised an updated version that will work in the United States. Judging by the sketchy single-payer health-care plan he unveiled just before Sunday’s Democratic debate, Mr Sanders is not up to the challenge.” The Post goes on to assail Sanders’ health care plan because it lacks cost containment details, is overly optimistic about savings and underestimates true costs. 

Vermont Business Magazine For the eighth year, thousands of Vermont youngsters in need will be able to enjoy warm, high-quality socks again this winter. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s “Blue Socks for Kids” project volunteers delivered 8,400 pairs of premium, Vermont-made merino wool socks to the state’s community action agencies and homeless shelters in December for distribution to children in need of warm clothing just before the holiday season. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, Cabot Hosiery Mills/Darn Tough Vermont, and the state’s community action agencies and homeless shelters again joined forces to improve the health and comfort of Vermont children.

Vermont Business Magazine Mack Molding, a leading custom plastics molder and supplier of contract manufacturing services, recently opened its doors to give students from the Dorset, Vt.-based Long Trail School an inside look at running a business in the Green Mountain State. “As a manufacturer, people are among the most important contributors to our success,” said Mack Molding President Jeff Somple, “and as a Vermont business, we recognize the importance of inspiring the state’s next generation of engineers, technicians and professionals. These students are the future of Vermont and its businesses, and through programs like our Made in Vermont Days, internships and school visits, Mack hopes to inform them of the exciting career paths right here at home.” 

Vermont Business Magazine More than 50 Green Mountain Power lineworkers, supervisors, safety personnel and mechanics are heading to Long Island this afternoon to be ready to help restore power when the massive snowstorm hits the mid-Atlantic region. Near record amounts of snow are expected, with states of emergency already declared in several states.

“Our southern neighbors are facing potentially devastating damage, and we are so pleased that we have workers ready and able to help them in their time of need, just as they help us when we are hit with big storms,” said Dorothy Schnure, GMP spokesperson. “Our crews have the skills, experience and strong work ethic that always make them a welcome addition to crews in other states.”