Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Aspenti Health of South Burlington was named the winner of the Clinical Lab 2.0 Innovation Award, honoring innovation excellence in the clinical laboratory industry. The award was presented before a prestigious panel of national clinical laboratory leaders by the Clinical Lab 2.0 Movement (www.cl2lab.org) at the 24th Annual Executive War College Conference (www.warcollege.com) in New Orleans on May 2, 2019, the largest gathering of clinical laboratory executive leadership in the United States.

Vermont Business Magazine Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) and Community College of Vermont (CCV) are partnering again for an accelerated program to prepare qualified candidates for jobs as Certified Medical Assistants. Enrollment in the one semester program will be limited to twenty participants. Classes will be held on the CCV Brattleboro campus, and all clinical aspects of the course work will be completed at BMH. As part of the joint initiative, BMH is providing full scholarships for eight successful applicants. Scholarship recipients will have their CCV tuition covered and will be hired as Medical Assistants at BMH upon successful completion of the academic program and certification exam.

by John McClaughry My very good friend John M Mitchell died at 80 on March 28 in Rutland.  He was the CEO of Swiss-owned OMYA’s North American operations, managed from Proctor, until his retirement in 2000, and a founding director of the Ethan Allen Institute in 1993.

Elsewhere I have fondly remembered John for his personal qualities and service, but here I’d like to share the message he gave in 2006 to Vermonters about the way the State of Vermont regulates companies doing business here. In this talk he described not huge new projects, like Omya’s proposed Danby Mountain mine, but recurring regulatory practices imposed on operations that had gone on for years.  

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice (CVHHH) in Berlin is reporting that its hospice program recently passed a survey conducted by the State of Vermont Division of Licensing & Protection (DLP) with the highest marks. According to DLP, CVHHH’s hospice program was found to be in “strong compliance” with state and federal hospice regulations, passing the survey with no deficiencies.

Vermont Business Magazine As part fo the celebrated the Southwestern Vermont Health Care group, physical therapy services have opened at Twin Rivers Medical in Hoosick Falls, NY.

Vermont Business Magazine Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) today announced it has entered into definitive agreements to purchase Avera Semiconductor, the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) business of GlobalFoundries. GlobalFoundries local plant, which includes Avera and the semiconductor fab, is located in Essex Junction. This acquisition brings together Avera Semi’s leading custom design capabilities with Marvell’s advanced technology platform and scale, creating a leading ASIC supplier for wired and wireless infrastructure. The agreements include transfer of Avera’s revenue base, strategic design wins with leading infrastructure OEMs, and a new long-term wafer supply agreement between GlobalFoundries and Marvell.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Precisions Tools, an advanced manufacturing company based in Swanton, recently received a grant totaling $12,167.10 from the Vermont Training Program (VTP). With this grant, Vermont Precision Tools is expanding its Blueprint Reading training. The Blueprint Reading Project is a 72-hour course offered on-site. Goals of the training include defining Blueprint syntax, interpreting and applying dimensions and tolerances as defined by ASME Y14.5M-2009, performing math and geometry fundamental to manufacturing operations, interpreting multi-view drawings, and interpreting thread series and notations. This core curriculum helps employees perform valued-added tasks with a new set of skills and acquired knowledge. It also allows them to understand the technical requirements of the product so that they can be more fully engaged in the manufacturing or selling process.

Vermont Business Magazine The fourth graduating class of Castleton University passed across the stage at its 232nd Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 18. Former Vermont Governor James Douglas addressed the more than 3,500 guests in attendance and thousands more streaming the ceremony online.

Vermont Business Magazine GW Plastics President and CEO Brenan Riehl was the keynote speaker at the college's 153rd annual commencement for the applied science and engineering technology program ceremonies on Saturday inRandolph Center. Riehl leads the multi-national company, which is one of North America's top precision thermoplastic and silicone contract manufacturers. As an employer-partner to Vermont Tech, GW Plastics offers credit-bearing training for their incumbent workers, provides scholarship and internships to Vermont Tech students, and hires many graduates. Currently, approximately 20 employees are graduates of the college.

Vermont Business Magazine Looking out over a sea of graduates and their families, UVM’s 2019 Commencement speaker Darren Walker noted the many differences among the personal stories of those gathered on the University Green on a breezy Vermont Sunday morning. Differences in where they are from and where they are going next with their lives, differences in their academic majors and their career goals.

Vermont Business Magazine On February 1^st Vermont Federal Credit Union launched Seed Money, a down payment assistance program offering first-time home buyers up to $7,500 towards closing and down payment costs. The new program is available to first-time home buyers with a household income of $125,000 or below who are purchasing a single family home or approved condominium. The Credit Union is offering 3% of the purchase price up to a maximum of $7,500 for first-time home buyers who meet these qualifications, are doing a conventional mortgage through the Credit Union, and don’t qualify for other down payment programs.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Border Regional Commission Federal Cochair Harold B. Parker announced today that Rich Grogan of Vermont will become the first Executive Director of the Northern Border Regional Commission. Grogan is currently the Executive Director of Community Capital of Vermont. Grogan will oversee the administration of more than $20 million a year in federal funds invested in northern border communities from Niagara Falls to the Gulf of Maine. The Commission, which consists of the presidentially-appointed Federal Cochair and the four governors of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, will charge Grogan with developing a long-term strategic vision for revitalization in partnership with community and economic development organizations across the region.