Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro landfill solar project was energized on June 30, 2018 and is now producing clean, renewably generated electricity. Officials from Windham Solid Waste Management District, along with multiple towns, schools and non-profits securing financial benefits associated with the project, celebrated its commissioning at a ribbon cutting ceremony today. It was also attended by numerous government officials and those responsible for developing the project.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets has announced up to $1,000,000 is available in funding to improve water quality. The Capital Equipment Assistance Program (CEAP) is available for new or innovative equipment that will aid in the reduction of surface runoff of agricultural wastes to state waters, improve water quality, reduce odors from manure application, separate phosphorus from manure, decrease greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce costs to farmers when they apply manure or implement a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP). Eligible recipients include custom applicators, non-profit organizations, and farmers.

Grant application are due by November 1, 2018. Complete applications will need to include submission of the CEAP Application as well as a one-page letter of intent, equipment quote/s, and a letter of support. Notification of grant funding will occur by February 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine The number of opioid prescriptions written by physicians at The University of Vermont Medical Center continued to drop compared to previous years throughout 2018, as part of an ongoing, comprehensive effort to prevent more patients from becoming addicted to opioids. The UVM Medical Center’s most recent self-evaluation, the “Opioid Prescribing Practices” report, covers April 2018 to July 2018. The report shows a 44 percent drop in the number of prescriptions for more than 50 pills in the third quarter of 2018, compared to the same period in 2017. Since the beginning of 2016, the number of those prescriptions is down 71 percent.

Hospital leaders noted in a press release today that while prescription numbers continue to fall, the steepest drop appears to have occurred from early 2017 to the middle of 2017 – before a new state law governing prescribing practices went into effect.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education announced results from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Program on Wednesday. These relatively new scores are replacing the "No Child Left Behind" assessments. The new results, while generally indicating progress, do not offer much perspective. There is not a national comparison in the results (see tables below), nor were local school scores yet released. This is also the first year under the new system that 9th graders were assessed.

What the results do show, however, is that in English, especially, scores have improved. They were also relatively better than the Math results, where only 3rd graders reached at least 50 percent proficiency. In English, every grade reached that level.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Vermont’s new electric school and transit bus pilot program. The RFP is the next step in launching the pilot program. Results from the program will allow the state to determine whether this technology can be applied more broadly across Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Van Dora Williams, an associate professor and program director of Broadcast Media Production, Filmmaking and Sonic Arts in the Division of Communication and Creative Media at Champlain College, has been selected to participate in the Television Academy Foundation’s 2018 Faculty Seminar Program. Members of the Television Academy selected 25 professors from colleges and universities nationwide to participate in the prestigious program.

The faculty fellows will gain the latest information on the television and content development industries from top entertainment professionals during a weeklong Southern California seminar from Nov. 5-9, 2018.

Champlain photo of Van Dora Williams

Vermont Business Magazine Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are lands that have been protected as wildlife habitat and are open hunting, fishing and trapping. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department's 93 WMAs offer free access to Vermont's wilderness during your favorite hunting season. Since 1919, the department has protected more than 140,000 acres now designated as WMAs.

Vermont Business Magazine The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed that insects collected from ash trees in South Hero, VT are larvae of the emerald ash borer (EAB). This location is about fifty miles from the closest confirmed EAB infestation in Vermont. This invasive insect was first discovered in Vermont in February, and has also been confirmed in Orange, Washington, Caledonia, and Bennington counties.

State and federal agencies are planning a delineation survey based on tree symptoms to determine the extent of the newly detected EAB infestation. Landowners and other residents of South Hero and surrounding towns are urged to look for signs and symptoms of the insect and report suspicious findings on vtinvasives.org. Detailed information about the pest and what to look for may be found at the same website.

Vermont Business Magazine Two Vermont organizations have received $1.2 million in federal funds from the US Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The award was announced Tuesday by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont). The CDFI Fund awarded $184 million in grants and loans to 264 community credit unions and loan funds across the country that provide affordable financial products and services in economically distressed areas.

Two Vermont programs received funds through these awards:

· NeighborWorks of Western Vermont received $500,000
· Vermont Community Loan Fund Inc. in Montpelier received $700,000

Vermont Business Magazine Chittenden County housing leaders, joined by Congressman Peter Welch, Vermont Speaker Mitzi Johnson and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, announced today that one of two housing production goals was being met for the county, indicating mixed results for the second year in a row. The Building Homes Together campaign, supported by over 100 local and state leaders, stayed on pace to create 3,500 new homes over five years but is falling short of a target of 700 new permanently affordable homes by the end of 2020.

“Every Vermonter should have the peace of mind that comes with a safe and affordable home. The Building Homes Together campaign has brought us a few steps closer to that goal. Today, we celebrate its success and recommit to the work ahead of us,” Congressman Peter Welch told the assembled crowd.

Vermont Business Magazine This afternoon, President Trump signed into law legislation co-authored by Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) that eliminates so-called “gag rules” imposed on pharmacists that prevent them from steering their customers to the lowest cost option when filling a prescription. Currently, contractual requirements imposed on pharmacists by pharmacy benefit managers forbid them from informing customers that their cost would be lower if they paid out of pocket rather than using their insurance plan. Pharmacists violating these rules have been subjected to significant penalties.

“In a time of skyrocketing prescription drug prices, it defies common sense that pharmacists are prohibited from helping customers save money on their medications,” said Welch. “This new law empowers pharmacists to steer customers to the lowest cost option when filling a prescription.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pass-through funds for Water Quality Management Planning. Funding will allow TRORC and other Regional Planning Commissions to conduct data collection of river corridor or stormwater master plans; conduct outreach and work with municipalities on possible support for reclassification of surface waters, wetlands, and Outstanding Resource Waters; and support water quality monitoring activities.