Current News

Vermont Business Roundtable Vermonters and Americans enjoy more freedoms, protections, and economic opportunities than almost anyone else in the world, yet these benefits are sadly not equally available to all of us because of pervasive racism in our country. There has never been and never will be any moral justification for racial injustice, yet it exists; a fundamental contradiction to our nation’s foundational value of equality for all.

Systemic racial injustice is engrained in our economic, judicial, and societal systems. With the recent murder of George Floyd, all of us must make a courageous and unwavering commitment to confront racism wherever we find it and to provide all Americans access to the same benefits.

by John R. Brumsted, MD, President and CEO, The UVM Health Network Across our network, we’re welcoming back patients for non-urgent and elective appointments and procedures, including procedures requiring a hospital stay. We’re starting with those that had been postponed by COVID-19.

I want you to know that we are taking every possible step to make sure you and your families are safe when you see us again. As part of our commitment to safety and high-quality patient care, we’d like to introduce some of the changes you’ll experience during your next appointment.

What Has Changed?

We are taking extra precautions to provide safe, high-quality care for you and your family, and to serve the needs of our entire community.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Bank NA recently presented a $7,500 donation to the Williston Police Department in support of its Comfort K9 program. The comfort dog program is the first of its kind in Vermont. K9 Duke was born in March and officially joined the Williston Police Department in the beginning of May. Comfort dogs provide thoughtful interactions during investigations to reduce anxiety and increase communication between the adult or child victim/witness and investigators. The dogs offer comfort to people during times of crisis and provide aid and relief to those impacted by violence or tragic events.

by Dimitri Garder, CEO Global-Z International Growing up in Queens, our family escaped to Vermont each summer. In the mid-1980s, we returned for good, making a home in southern Vermont. I went to college at UVM, but made my way back to Bennington, joining my parents to start our company, Global-Z. As my business and my own family grew, I became deeply committed to economic development in our region. With community partners, I’ve invested in many economic development projects – some more successful than others. But we approach each with the same goal: How can we ensure that Bennington County, Vermonters and our neighbors prosper? Child care emerges again and again as the key to ensuring that parents and children are healthy, happy, and economically secure.

Vermont State Police The victim whose body was discovered Thursday, June 4, 2020, in a creek near Wymans Falls Road in Chester has been positively identified as Joshua A. Webster, 39, of Springfield. Mr. Webster had been reported missing in March to the Hartford Police Department. Subsequent investigation into his disappearance included the Chester Police Department and the Vermont State Police.

Vermont State Police The man shot Friday afternoon, June 5, 2020, in Swanton died overnight at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. He is identified as Kyle A. LaBelle, 32, of Swanton. The suspect, James Mulholland, 22, also of Swanton, was ordered jailed without bail on suspicion of first-degree murder.

Vermont State Police On June 6, 2020 at 0306 Vermont State Police responded to a reported crash on East Orange RD in Washington Vermont. The operator identified as Samantha Roberts was traveling east on East Orange Road, operating a Polaris ranger. In the Ranger there were two other passengers identified above. According to witness statements the ATVs were heard driving up and down the roads well into the early hours of the morning at high rates of speed. The vehicle was traveling too fast for the freshly grated dirt road and lost control. As the vehicle lost control it ended up rolling onto the driver’s side. The vehicle rolled onto its roof ejecting two of the passengers and pinning one under the vehicle. One passenger was pronounced dead at the scene by Barre City Emergency Medical Services.

Leonine Public Affairs This week started with a strong statement by Governor Scott condemning the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and acknowledging the legitimacy of protests over that killing. The governor stated his view that Floyd’s treatment by police was "barbaric and totally inexcusable" and that “enough is enough” concerning deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police officers. On top of all of this the legislature intends to develop, by the end of this month, one or more bills that spend the balance of the $1.25 billion the state received under the federal CARES Act (while some of that money has already been spent most of it is still available). Also, the House has released a draft memo earlier this week proposing that $100 million be spent to fund broadband deployment solutions and aid electric utilities. And on Friday the House gave preliminary approval, by a 142-5 vote, to a state budget bill, H.961, which funds the first quarter of the state’s fiscal year that starts in July.

Agency of Commerce and Community Development Governor Phil Scott announced Friday the reopening of indoor dining and an easing of travel restrictions. Effective June 8, 2020, interstate travel to and from New England and New York counties with 400 or fewer active COVID-19 cases per million is permitted without quarantine requirements. Effective June 15, 2020, travelers may complete quarantine requirements in their home state before entering Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center has opened a new adult primary care facility in Essex that provides access to more services at one location, allows for expanded use of telehealth, improves patient privacy and comfort, and facilitates coordination of care within the UVM Health Network.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems and Goodwill won the 2020 NHBSR Partnership for Innovation Award on Wednesday at the New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility’s annual spring conference. The business/nonprofit partnership lets people in New England act more sustainably while also helping people who have significant barriers to employment get and keep great jobs.

“This partnership is an extension of our company’s 40-year history of building community and environmental sustainability,” said John Casella, chairman and CEO of Casella Waste Systems. “Working with Goodwill to give people facing challenges a ‘second chance’ is an important part of our focus on finding, training, and growing talented employees from all walks of life.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported today that to date, 34 Winooski residents have tested positive for COVID-19 in a recent outbreak. An outbreak means a number of cases in a community are connected to each other in one way or another. The outbreak was within a network of more than one family and that half of the positive tests were adults and the other half children. He said the cases were not related to a school or nursing home or business or the recent protests or any other mass gathering. Otherwise since Thursday, there has been only one new case statewide, there is no one hospitalized and deaths are holding at 55.