Current News

by Tom Raffio, President & CEO, Northeast Delta Dental As Vermonters grapple with the lack of access to dental care, especially in rural areas, it is clear that we must focus on more creative solutions to address the problem.  This is when collaboration matters most. A creative solution is often founded on a single, simple but brilliant idea but its execution can rarely, if ever, occur without the partnership and support of many. According to a study in the international science journal Thinking Skills and Creativity, collaboration has a significant positive effect on creative performance. (For more, see Thinking Skills and Creativity, Volume 50, December 2023.) Recently, after reading about the dental crisis in Vermont, Dr. Mert N. Aksu, Dean at The University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) School of Dentistry, imagined a win-win scenario. What if he could address the overabundance of talented applicants at his university by filling the pipeline of potential dental professionals in Vermont?

Vermont Business Magazine Four members of the communities served by the University of Vermont Health Network will become members of its Board of Trustees, adding clinicians, clinical educators and researchers, a seasoned health care leader and a veteran administrator of legal and social services in northern New York to the health system’s 21-member volunteer board. As the group welcomes new members, Trustee Thomas Golonka will begin a two-year term as board chair, with Betsy Vicencio serving a two-year term as vice chair and Kara Walker, MD, MPH, MSHS continuing as secretary. Trustees Virginia Hood, MD, Debra Leonard, MD, PhD, John Rugge, MD, and Kerin Stackpole, Esq., retired from the board at the conclusion of the 2024 calendar year. Former board chair Allie Stickney stepped down from the board leadership position after serving as chair for three years. She continues to serve as a trustee.

Vermont Business Magazine NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: NBTB) today reported net income and diluted earnings per share for the three and twelve months ended December 31, 2024. Net income for the three months ended December 31, 2024 was $36.0 million, or $0.76 per diluted common share, compared to $30.4 million, or $0.64 per diluted common share, for the three months ended December 31, 2023, and $38.1 million, or $0.80 per diluted common share, for the third quarter of 2024. Operating diluted earnings per share(1), a non-GAAP measure was $0.77 for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $0.72 for the fourth quarter of 2023 and $0.80 for the third quarter of 2024. Net income for the year ended December 31, 2024 was $140.6 million, or $2.97 per diluted common share, compared to $118.8 million, or $2.65 per diluted common share, in the prior year.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington-based Mamava, makers of the first-ever lactation pod, appointed co-founder Christine Dodson its next Chief Executive Officer. In February, Dodson will replace Tom Witschi, who is retiring from his role as CEO and his professional career. This is a natural progression for Dodson, who launched Mamava alongside Chief Experience Officer Sascha Mayer in 2013. The pair identified a lack of lactation spaces in workplaces and public spaces, creating a stand-alone pod as a clean, private space to breastfeed or pump. The first lactation pod was installed in the Burlington International Airport in 2013 and since then the company has gone on to deliver more than 5,000 pods throughout the country in office buildings, stadiums, medical facilities, convention centers, aquariums and more.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) is announcing the results of a new study by Tourism Economics that finds visitors to Vermont in 2023 spent a record $4 billion on goods and services. Researchers also found that 15.8 million guests came to Vermont in 2023, showing a sustained return to pre-pandemic visitation. According to the report, “Economic Impact of Visitors in Vermont 2023,” visitor spending represents 9.3% of Vermont’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is significantly higher than the national state average of 3.0% (2022 data). It also found the visitor economy supports 31,053 jobs, which is 9% of Vermont’s workforce.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch, and Congresswoman Becca Balint, along with the Northern Border Regional Commissioner (NBRC), today announced the recipients of the NBRC’s Fall 2024 Catalyst Program and Forest Economy Program Awards. Seven projects in Vermont will receive a cumulative $3.88 million in funding, which will support projects including early childhood education, a new surplus crop processing center and food hub, and rural health care clinic upgrades. Established in 2008, the NBRC is a Federal-State partnership in northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York designed to stimulate economic growth and inspire collaboration to improve rural economic vitality across the four-state NBRC region. NBRC encourages projects that take a creative approach to accomplishing those goals. 

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.12 per gallon, unchanged from last week. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.90/g while the highest was $3.35/g, a difference of 45.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 0.9 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.08/g today. The national average is up 6.5 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 1.8 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Farmers looking to enhance their agritourism operations won’t want to miss an upcoming series of workshops hosted by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) and local marketing agency, Place Creative Company. These workshops will help farmers market their farm experiences and integrate their operations into Vermont's brand-new agritourism marketing campaign. Funded by a Federal State Marketing Improvement Program grant from the USDA, these workshops aim to support Vermont’s push to showcase our authentic food and farm experiences to visitors from near and far. 

by Maggie Lenz and Nick Charyk on behalf of Atlas Government Affairs Late Wednesday afternoon, the Scott Administration lobbed a big one into the legislative arena: a sweeping education reform proposal that aims to consolidate Vermont’s school districts into five regional entities, rewrite the funding formula, and simplify the property tax system. Ambitious? Absolutely. Risky? Well, that depends on who ends up holding the bag. Here’s the thing about a proposal like this: it’s a gamble. A big one. If it eventually works, someone will ride off into the sunset with a “bold reformer” badge pinned to their chest. But if it doesn’t? Chaos on the ground isn’t just likely, it’s pretty much guaranteed in the short term. Picture school boards grappling with vanishing autonomy, and taxpayers wondering why their bills suddenly look different.

by Emily Bradbury On a cold, bright day in January, Jesse returned home to Riverflow Community after visiting his mother for the holidays. “He just came running toward me and kissed my cheek and exclaimed, ‘Riverfloooow!’,” said Hannah Schwartz, executive director of the organization. “He went around to each person and said their name and hugged them. It was such a moment of joy for everyone. I was like, ‘Okay, we are doing this’.” Jesse, who has Down Syndrome Regression Disorder and will require lifelong supervision, is one of the four founding “Friends” at Riverflow, an intentional community for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Opened in October 2024 in Monkton, Vermont, Riverflow is one of a very few housing options for adults with developmental disabilities in Vermont, which has relied almost exclusively on a shared-living model since the closing of the institution at Brandon Training School in 1993.

Vermont Business Magazine The Rutland Regional Planning Commission (RRPC) has announced that the Agency of Natural Resources, Department of Environmental Conservation, Water Quality Division has awarded the RRPC a contract to administer water quality improvement programs in partnership with the 11 Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs) across the State of Vermont. Funded through the 604(b) Water Quality Management Planning Grant Program of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this initiative aims to promote water quality planning and improvements statewide. 

Vermont Business Magazine Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based, positive youth development program that inspires students in 3rd through 8th grade to be joyful, healthy, and confident. The ten-week program incorporates movement into its curriculum to empower participants to develop critical life skills, build confidence, cultivate positive connections with peers, manage their emotions, and stand up for themselves and others. Volunteer coaches utilize a curriculum to engage teams of girls in fun, interactive lessons. Over 500 volunteer coaches will facilitate lessons for the spring season that begins the week of March 17 statewide. Teams meet twice a week for 90 minutes and the program culminates with all teams participating in one of two noncompetitive, celebratory 5K events in Essex and Manchester, VT.