Current News

by Brandon Arcari, Vermont Business Magazine Students at Middlebury College are celebrating a win after a seven-year student-led campaign calling on the school to divest from fossil fuels succeeded January 29. Middlebury’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted that Tuesday to fully divest the approximately $55 million of its $1.056 billion dollar endowment invested in the fossil fuel industry, over the next 15 years, as part of its Energy2028 plan.

​Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) announced its schedule of 2019 Stay to Stay Weekends, exploratory vacations for people who are interested in moving to Vermont. The Stay to Stay Weekends will take place in four communities during 15 separate weekends from February through November: Bennington/Manchester, Brattleboro, Burlington, and Rutland. For its 2019 Stay to Stay program, VDTM has included a ski weekend option for skiers, riders, and winter recreation enthusiasts interested in exploring a permanent move to Vermont. The Stay to Stay Ski Weekends will take place in three communities that have partnered with local ski resorts: Mount Snow, Bromley and Killington.

​Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) has successfully met, and in some cases exceeded, the first round of statewide renewable energy and fossil fuel reduction requirements under Vermont’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES).

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of Judy Henkin as the next Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Corrections. Henkin, who will assume the role on February 19, takes over the position left vacant after then-Deputy Commissioner Mike Touchette was appointed commissioner of the Department of Corrections.

Vermont Business Magazine Sterling College has received a challenge grant from the Peter Alfond Foundation to make possible $1.34 million to establish the Peter Alfond Wellness Center. As a natural extension of growing and preparing the healthiest food in any collegiate kitchen in America, Sterling will strengthen its programming in areas related to individual health and wellness for both its students and the greater community. The facilities of the Peter Alfond Wellness Center will include a fitness center, meeting and classroom spaces, gathering spaces for mental health and physical therapy services, outdoor education equipment and resources, and a laundromat and post office facility that will also serve as a community food pantry.

Vermont Business Magazine Members of the Laboratory team at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), gathered in celebration of their recent reaccreditation. The lab has two accrediting agencies, the New York State Department of Health and College of American Pathologists (CAP). Both agencies reaccredited the lab in late 2018 and early 2019.

“Meeting the high standards of our accrediting organizations is one way that we show our commitment to quality patient care,” said Marianne DeMarco, MD, the department’s medical director. “I am very proud of our dedicated team of lab professionals and the work they do every day to ensure that we meet and surpass these important standards.”

Vermont Business Magazine Erin Fernandez, executive director of Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, the nationally recognized year-round organization offering daily adaptive sports programs to people with any disability, recently announced that the organization is officially underway with the final phases of its Home Sweet Home Permanent Homes Campaign and plans to break ground on a new state-of-the-art $1.7 million adaptive sports facility at Mt Ellen at Sugarbush Resort in Spring 2019.

​Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging (SVCOA) has launched its first “Care to Share Food Drive,” a new month-long initiative aimed at helping to support local food shelves in Bennington and Rutland counties. “We launched the Care to Share effort to restock food shelves that can be depleted mid-winter after the holidays, and to help ensure food supplies for those affected by the recent government shutdown,” said Anna White, nutrition assistant and 3SquaresVT coordinator with SVCOA. “We are looking for as many groups, teams, businesses and organizations as possible to participate in the food drive, a simple, easy way to help those in need in our community.”

Vermont Business Magazine If it’s been a tough year for your teddy bear, back by popular demand, the Teddy Bear Clinic returns to Rutland WinterFest where Community Health Centers of the Rutland Region (CHCRR) staff and volunteers will lovingly mend your favorite bear’s worn coat, punctured paw
or torn ear. Also, CHCRR be competing in the Chili Cook Off, to warm you inside and out with a free tasting of chili on a winter's day.

Vermont Business Magazine ValleyNet announced Monday that it has chosen David Rottmayer to succeed Carole Monroe, who announced her intention to retire in late 2018. “It has been my pleasure to bring ECFiber from the startup stage with several hundred customers to where we are today with over 3,000.” Monroe will continue to assist ValleyNet in a consulting role. Rottmayer has over 30 years of telecom experience (including fiber-to-the-home startups) and will start work in February.

“I’m very excited to help ValleyNet and ECFiber expand the availability of fiber-to-the-home service in the region,” Rottmayer said in a pressrelase announcing the hire.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Mayors Coalition (VMC) on Thursday introduced the new members of the Vermont Mayor’s Coalition and announced its 2019 legislative session goals and its commitment to collaborate on and advocate for these areas of common interest for their cities. At a news conference in the State House Cedar Creek Room, the Coalition released its legislative policy summary for the 2019 legislative session.

The VMC was created in 2013 by Vermont’s eight mayors. Six mayors must concur on any recommendation for the Vermont Mayors Coalition to take a position. The eight mayors of the VMC are: 

·       Lucas Herring, Barre;

·       Miro Weinberger, Burlington.

·       Anne Watson, Montpelier;

·       Paul Monette, Newport;

·       Dave Allaire, Rutland

·       Tim Smith, St. Albans;

·       Renny Perry, Vergennes; and

·       Seth Leonard, Winooski.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) has been named one of the 2019’s Best Places to Work for the fifth year in a row. SVHC received the honor for the first time in 2015. It remains the only hospital in the state of Vermont to be recognized by the awards program.

“The employees of SVHC derive genuine satisfaction in fulfilling our mission of exceptional care and comfort for the people we serve,” said Tom Dee, president and chief executive officer of SVHC. “It’s their commitment and teamwork that enable our groundbreaking achievements and grow SVHC’s reputation as a place to make a truly meaningful and rewarding career.”