Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported 214 cases of COVID-19 (down 23 from Monday) and no new deaths (410 total statewide). Health Commissioner Dr Mark Levine cautioned that while numbers appear down, because of the holiday there have been fewer people seeking to be tested. Health officials anticipate that COVID cases in December will look more like the relatively high numbers earlier in November. Hospitalizations also are elevated. More than 70 percent of those in the hospital are not fully vaccinated, even though they represent less than 20 percent of the eligible population 12 and over.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Health Network announced today that in order to care for an increased number of patients in need of acute inpatient care, as well as a growing number of COVID-19 patients in Vermont’s hospitals, the University of Vermont Medical Center and Central Vermont Medical Center are standing up additional Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and COVID-19 bed capacity, in accordance with calls from the state for more ICU beds. This means that more physical space and staff within the hospitals will be devoted to patients in need of intensive care. Currently, five ICU beds are being added at UVM Medical Center and capacity equal to three beds at CVMC; 10 COVID-19 beds are being added at UVM Medical Center.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Darn Tough Vermont hit the 1 million mark of meals donated to the Vermont Foodbank. Their long time relationship kicked off in 2003 with Darn Tough donating turkeys to feed the community. In 2017, the partnership took the next step when Darn Tough began offering 100% of their online proceeds from Giving Tuesday to the Vermont Foodbank. Darn Tough has continued its community and giveback commitment over the last four holiday seasons, as well as additional days of giving, which brings the total amount of meals donated over their 19-year commitment to 1,000,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan joined a multistate coalition of 24 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in the case Ohio v. Becerra, opposing efforts to halt implementation of the new Title X rule promulgated in 2021 by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The 2021 rule removes harmful restrictions put in place by the Trump Administration and will result in the distribution of Title X funds to a greater number of family planning and related preventive health service providers that deliver care to millions of low-income or uninsured individuals and others.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is currently accepting applications for $1.15 billion in funding through the ReConnect Program. This program provides loans and grants to help Americans living in rural communities get access to quality, high-speed internet service. As a rural state, Vermont’s economic development hinges upon access to high-quality internet and telephone services, particularly as more Vermonters are working from home and more remote workers are moving to Vermont. As school, work and access to health care shifted even further online, access to quality, high-speed broadband service will allow more Vermonters to learn, stay in touch with loved ones, and access essential government services from the comfort of their homes.

Vermont Business Magazine iSun, Inc (NASDAQ: ISUN), a leading solar energy and clean mobility infrastructure company based in Williston with 50-years of construction experience in solar, electrical and data services and a provider of proprietary electric vehicle charging platforms, on Monday announced it has reached a definitive agreement to make a strategic minority interest equity investment in Encore Renewable Energy, a leading innovator in community-scale clean energy and Top 20 US commercial solar developer. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Tuesday issued the following statement amid developing reports of the new Omicron coronavirus variant and the recent move by the World Trade Organization to postpone a major Ministerial Conference in Geneva: “Nearly a year since vaccinations began to roll out here in the U.S. and while too many of our neighbors around the world still are blocked from accessing life-saving vaccines, the time for debate by the members of the World Trade Organization is over. As we face the potential threat of a new coronavirus variant, we must move even more urgently to dismantle the vaccine inequality that undermines our ability to confront this crisis."

Vermont Business Magazine Presenters and Board Members will be participating remotely through Microsoft Teams tentatively through January 1, 2022. Members of the public can attend all meetings at the physical location 144 State St, Montpelier, VT 05602, through the Microsoft Teams application, or via the call-in number.

Vermont Business Magazine In December 2021, the Department of Public Service (PSD) will host five public hearings around the state to provide opportunities for in-person comment on the draft 2022 Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan. Due to the on-going pandemic, the Department will also host additional online public meetings to provide more options for public input on the draft plan.

​by John McClaughry A year ago the Global Warming Solutions Act created a 23-member Vermont Climate Council to develop a Climate Action Plan strict enough to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 80% over the next 28 years. Such a dramatic reduction could conceivably be achieved by Plan A: an increasingly burdensome carbon tax on gasoline, diesel, heating oil, natural gas and propane. A heavy enough tax burden would make those fuels too expensive for many Vermont motorists, homeowners and businesses, and with enough subsidies they would switch to electrified transportation, home and business heat pumps, wood heat, and methane from landfills.

Vermont Business Magazine On December 3, The Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) Foundation will host a LGS Research Roundtable at the American Epilepsy Society's annual meeting. The event will bring together hundreds of researchers, clinicians, and families to discuss the latest in LGS research. The University of Vermont will present one of the research studies. LGS is a rare, severe, life-threatening, epilepsy that leads to uncontrolled seizures, significant brain damage, and a lifelong dependence on others for care.

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont said today that general contractor JA McDonald, Inc, headquartered in Lyndon Center has agreed to pay $637,500 to the United States and the State of Vermont to resolve allegations that JAM violated the federal False Claims Act by knowingly causing the state to present false claims for payment to the United States in connection with the federally-funded construction of several bridges on Route 279 in Bennington and on Interstate 91 in Guilford. This settlement resolves allegations that, between approximately 2008 and 2010, JAM employees materially altered certain components of the bridges at issue by cutting or burning multiple sections of reinforcing steel out of the reinforced-concrete substructures that support the bridges, and that JAM employees took affirmative steps to conceal such material alterations from the Vermont Agency of Transportation.