Current News

Vermont Business Magazine HR 3 would allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, set an annual out-of-pocket cap for seniors in Medicare Part D, and crack down on relentless drug price increases by pharmaceutical companies. In addition, the $500 billion that the Congressional Budget Office estimates taxpayers will save over the next ten years would be reinvested back into the Medicare program to create important new dental, hearing, and vision benefits. These benefits would improve older adults’ health and well-being and reduce future health care costs.

Vermont Business Magazine This week, Governor Phil Scott and senior state officials joined representatives from Walmart and Vermont Smoke & Cure to celebrate American jobs with a tour of the meat stick manufacturing facility. The company became a Walmart supplier after taking part in the retailer’s Open Call to U.S Manufacturers in 2017. As a result of their growing business with Walmart, Vermont Smoke & Cure has today increased its workforce by 20%.  Additional support from the Vermont Departments of Labor and Economic Development allowed Vermont Smoke & Cure to invest in top-notch job training resulting in job proficiency and promotion eligibility.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermontijuana is a media, events, and advocacy organization founded by Eli Harrington under the management of Vermont-based Greenbridge Consulting LLC. Familiar to many as a cofounder and spokesperson of Heady Vermont until his resignation six months ago, Harrington has returned to the cannabis media scenes to apply the last four years of experience to “#ElevateTheState” of the cannabis community in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) has made a number of donations to community organizations to round out its 2019 community giving initiatives. Donations went to nine organizations.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas Systems received a largely positive result from an exhaustive report filed Wednesday by a third-party investigator on behalf of the Vermont Public Utilities Commission. The PUC ordered the investigation of the Addison Natural Gas Project based on several charges that VGS violated the terms of its Certificate of Public Good. The interested parties that called for the investigation in February 2018 included opponents of the pipeline, environmentalists, landowners and abutters, and ratepayer groups like AARP. The principal focus was on the safety of the natural gas pipeline, which runs 43 miles from Colchester down to Middlebury.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Glove, a 100-year-old company that hand cuts and stitches gloves in Vermont, launched its retail program, partnering with Vermont retailers Gardener's Supply, Lenny’s Shoe and Apparel, and others. In addition, the storied company will be sold in with national retailers, Huckberry and Airstream Supply Company.

Vermont Business Magazine Most people who experience severe trauma recover their health. But 23 percent develop PTSD, a difficult-to-treat illness that combines intrusive thoughts about the trauma, avoidance of reminders of it, low mood and an exaggerated startle reaction. Which trauma victims will develop the disorder and which will be spared is not well understood.

Vermont Business Magazine The Rutland Regional Planning Commission (RRPC) is pleased to announce expanded outreach and services to municipalities and the public to improve tactical basin planning efforts for Lake Champlain and overall water quality efforts.  The work is provided through a grant provided by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. Activities began this fall and will extend through September 2020.

The Tactical Basin Plan (TBP) for Basin 3 (Otter Creek Watershed) was recently updated by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Two years ago, DEC completed a TBP for the South Lake Champlain watersheds, Basins 2 and 4. Tactical Basin Plans help identify and focus efforts needed to protect or restore specific watersheds through the state. 

Vermont Business Magazine As 2019 comes to an end, the Vermont River Conservancy (VRC) reflects on a successful year of projects protecting land along Vermont’s rivers. VRC staff and board members enjoyed listening to how communities would like to improve their relationships with the rivers that run through their cities and town centers throughout 2019 with its Face the River initiative. From this initiative grew the Confluence River Park concept in Montpelier- a future park at the confluence of the main stem and North Branch of the Winooski River. VRC looks forward to working with the City of Montpelier to see the Confluence River Park through the design phase in 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine Generator announced Meg Hammond has been named executive director of the nonprofit makerspace devoted to providing tools, expertise, education, and opportunities enabling members of its community to create, collaborate, and to make their ideas reality. Hammond has been a college development director and leader in community arts and education in Vermont for the last 15 years. She was co-founder and CEO of the Langdon Street Café, the collectively run art and music venue in Montpelier that that Seven Days named, “the crown jewel of the Montpelier arts community.” She succeeds Chris Thompson, who held the post starting in 2016 and transformed Generator from a two-year-old boot-strapping non-profit to an institutional leader in the entrepreneurship, STEM education, and arts communities.

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Small- to mid-size businesses find that energy-efficiency upgrades increase worker productivity and improve customer satisfaction, but with limited time and budget it’s difficult to know where to start. Here are four low-risk, high-reward projects to prioritize in 2020:

Vermont State Police On December 11, 2019, at approximately 1842 hours, Vermont State Police responded to a reported “Laser Strike” on an aircraft. It was reported that an aircraft was hit with a laser pointer one mile south of Shelburne Air Park Road in Charlotte. Trooper’s searched that area but did not locate any suspicious activity. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Vermont State Police Williston Barracks.

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