Current News

Vermont Business Magazine First Children’s Finance VT has announced the recipients of the Fall 2024 Make Way for Kids Grants. These grants, totaling $641,107 to 29 projects in 13 counties, are designed to help Vermont’s early childhood educators meet their local demand for high-quality, affordable child care. These projects are projected to create or maintain 117 infant slots, 148 toddler slots, and 118 preschool slots, supporting families across the state. The new grantees include Little Wildflowers Child Care, a new program in Enosburg Falls owned by Kelsey Caforia; and The Growing Tree, a future full-day, year-round program in Addison led by Michelle Bishop. Both programs are committed to the mission of these grants: Creating innovative child care solutions that meet the needs of their communities.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak today announced Christian Berry, M.Ed. as the Interim Director of the Office of Racial Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (REIB). Berry began the interim leadership role just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Berry began working as the Communications and Community Engagement Manager for REIB in October 2023. Prior to joining the City of Burlington, Berry served as the Public Health Workforce Director for the Vermont Department of Health.  

Vermont Business Magazine Love, Tito’s, the philanthropic heart of Tito’s Handmade Vodka, teamed up with Vermont Foodbank, the state’s largest hunger-relief organization and only food bank, providing nourishing food through a network of more than 350 community, network, and program partners. Tito’s joined a recent fresh produce distribution event in the Rutland, Vermont area. The event created a dignified, welcoming, and comfortable atmosphere where free food was distributed to community members in an environment where there are no eligibility requirements, no questions asked. Ahead of the holidays, the December 6 event enabled the Vermont Foodbank and their volunteers to distribute some of the more than 4 million pounds of fresh food that will be shared with neighbors this year. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported last week that the number of COVID-19 cases rose slightly while hospitalizations also edged up but remained low. There was only one fatality last week. Hospitalizations and general "syndromic" cases were about 5 cases statewide for the week. The number of reported COVID cases rose to 67 from 51 last week. Cases had been falling in April and May and were as low as 31 at the beginning of May, before rising at the end of summer through the early part of the fall. The pandemic death total stands at 1,230 as of November 30, 2024 (the most recent data available). Total reported deaths last January were 29. There were 16 fatalities in February, 12 in March, 3 in April, 6 in May, 2 in June, 4 in July, and 30 in August, which is the highest monthly total since November 2022. There were 20 COVID-related deaths in September and 15 in October and 4 so far in November.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Labor Council AFL-CIO is pleased to announce that JP Isabelle has been selected as the organization’s new Executive Director.  Isabelle started on Monday, December 9.  A seasoned and dedicated union activist, Isabelle brings experience from his time as an employee representative on the State Employees Retirement Board and the State Employees Bargaining Team.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Care Network (CCN) recently recognized 31 employees for their dedicated service to the organization and its clients at CCN’s annual service awards luncheon held in Rutland. Among those recognized at the event were long-time employees Diana Fouracre, Deb Esslinger and Tanya Hall for 30 years of service, and Debbie Avison, Claire Waterman and Anna Pietryka for 35 years of service.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. News & World Report, the global authority in hospital rankings and consumer advice, has named Rutland Regional Medical Center as a 2025 High Performing hospital for Maternity Care. This is the highest award a hospital can earn as part of U.S. News’ Best Hospitals for Maternity Care annual study. Rutland Regional was the only hospital in Vermont to attain this recognition. To see RRMC’s detailed ratings, visit RRMC Best Performing Maternity Care. U.S. News began evaluating maternity care hospitals in 2021, rating hospitals that provide labor and delivery services and submitting detailed data to the publication for analysis. Best Hospitals for Maternity Care assist expectant parents, in consultation with their prenatal care team, in making informed decisions about where to receive maternity services that best meets their family’s needs.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is investing $6.3 billion in rural and Tribal communities across 44 states to expand access to a clean and reliable electric grid, provide safe drinking water and create good-paying jobs. Vermont and New Hampshire projects received $17,897,000. More than 200 projects are being financed to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure in rural places, growing the American economy from the middle out and bottom up. The Washington Electric Co-Op, which serves roughly 12,000 customers in north-central Vermont, secured a $11,195,000 EIL to connect 341 new consumers. 26 of the 1,300-miles of line will be built out or improved, and the loan includes $1,279,600 in smart grid technologies. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Pico Mountain will kick off the 2024/25 winter season at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, December 13, 2024, and operate Thursday-Monday all season long and daily during holiday weeks. This summer, Pico Mountain nearly doubled its fleet of high-efficiency HKD snow guns. Guests will see the new equipment on 49er, Swinger, Ace of Clubs, and Upper and Lower Pike. Over the past 6 years, Pico Mountain has invested more than $6 million to improve snowmaking capacity and efficiency across the resort. This includes an upgraded pumphouse, complete with new, efficient variable speed pumps with a larger water capacity in the summer of 2023, revitalizing the snowmaking pond and adding snowmaking to A Slope with the help of the Pico Ski Education Foundation in 2022. Since summer 2019, more than 16,850 feet of new water supply pipeline was installed to supply water from Killington to Pico, in addition to over 9,000 feet of new and replacement snowmaking pipe at Pico. 

Vermont Business Magazine Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital has been awarded a prestigious 4-star rating by the National Rural Rating System (NRRS), a program through the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) that recognizes excellence in rural healthcare and includes listing on the 2025 National Rural Honor Roll. 18 hospitals in the United States were awarded a 4-star rating; Grace Cottage was the only hospital in the Northeast to receive this 4-star distinction. The National Rural Honor Roll was created to honor rural hospitals and clinics that consistently deliver exceptional patient-centered care. Rural hospitals on the National Rural Honor Roll have met the highest standards for patient experience, based on cumulative ratings in patient surveys during 2024. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s first Open Enrollment deadline is approaching. To have coverage starting on January 1, 2025, Vermonters must enroll through Vermont Health Connect by December 15. Now is the time to check available plans and take advantage of health coverage savings available through Vermont Health Connect. During Open Enrollment, Vermonters can sign up for or change their health and dental plans for 2025. This year, many Vermonters will be eligible for better coverage plans at lower premium costs due to increased federal subsidies. The Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) encourages everyone to check available plan options on the Vermont Health Connect Plan Comparison Tool to ensure the best possible coverage. 

Vermont Business Magazine A team of UVM scientists led by Mark Nelson, Ph.D., from the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, has uncovered a novel mechanism that reshapes our understanding of how blood flow is regulated in the brain. The study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a high-impact, peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), introduces Electro-Calcium (E-Ca) Coupling, a process that integrates electrical and calcium signaling in brain capillaries to ensure precise blood flow delivery to active neurons. In the human body, blood is delivered into the brain from surface arteries through penetrating arterioles, or very small blood vessel that branch off from arteries, and hundreds of miles of capillaries, which enormously extend the territory of perfusion.