Current News

Vermont Business Magazine VNAHSR provides training for those interested in becoming hospice volunteers. Training will be held on Friday, February 9 from 8am – 4pm in the Casella Conference Room at the Rutland office, located at 7 Albert Cree Drive. Training is free and open to individuals 16 years of age and older. Volunteers need to pass a background check. No previous hospice and health care experience is required. Pre-registration and proof of COVID-19 vaccination are required. At the VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region (VNAHSR), volunteers play a critical role in enhancing the end-of-life experiences of people facing serious illness and their families. Volunteers represent all life experiences and are drawn to hospice for a variety of reasons, but the defining characteristics that unite them are compassion and the desire to help others. Their many skills are matched to important tasks within our mission.

The Vermont State Police on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, arrested a third suspect on charges arising from the Feb. 2, 2022, homicide of 17-year-old Isiah Rodriguez in Danby. Elijah Johnson, 22, of Manchester was taken into custody on an outstanding warrant on a charge of being an accessory after the fact. Prosecutors also have filed additional charges of conspiracy to commit murder and aiding in the commission of a felony. Police arrested Johnson in Burlington following his release from federal custody on unrelated charges. He was transported to the Rutland Barracks for processing and then subsequently jailed at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility for lack of $15,000 bail.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger celebrated the official start of construction for the transformational Great Streets Main Street project. He was joined by key partners: Public Works Director Chapin Spencer whose department is managing the project, Ward 8 City Councilor Hannah King, DPW Commission Chair Peggy O’Neill-Vivanco, and Executive Director of the Flynn Theatre Jay Wahl, along with many City employees and community members, including Burlington High School students from the City-Lake semester program who had provided input during the design process, and employees of SD Ireland, the contractor for this project. 

Vermont Business Magazine Bowman Consulting Group Ltd (NASDAQ: BWMN), a national engineering services firm delivering infrastructure solutions to customers who own, develop, and maintain the built environment, today announced the acquisition of Trudell Consulting Engineers and its wholly owned Vermont Underground Locators subsidiary, a multi-disciplinary engineering firm located in Williston, Vermont. Financial terms were not disclosed. Founded in 1975, TCE works with both public and private clients across multiple sectors. Led by current CEO and president Jeremy Matosky, PE, the firm provides civil engineering, landscape architecture, land surveying, utility locating and environmental services to clients throughout Vermont. 

Vermont Business Magazine Community Care Network (CCN) in Rutland today announced its 2023 service results in conjunction with the release of its 2023 Impact Report. “CCN is pleased to share its 2023 Impact Report, which provides an overview of the key service results and areas of improvement seen at CCN during 2023,” said Dick Courcelle, Chief Executive Officer with Community Care Network. “2023 brought substantial growth and progress at CCN on a number of significant, client-focused initiatives, while the organization continued to deliver high-quality, timely services to those seeking our assistance each and every day. We are incredibly proud of the efforts our staff and volunteers, and collaborations with community partners, toward not only sustaining quality service delivery on a daily basis, but also identifying and implementing new programs, tools and processes to continuously improve client experiences and outcomes.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office has filed a lawsuit to hold a logging business accountable for violations of the Vermont Consumer Protection Act. The Attorney General’s Office alleges that Codling Brothers Logging and David, Joe, and Paul Codling have conducted fraudulent business practices in logging in the State of Vermont. In the Complaint, the State alleges that the Codling Brothers used unfair and deceptive practices with at least five Vermont landowners. The Attorney General alleges that this logging business solicited landowners at their homes, making misleading statements about their services and subsequently taking more logs than agreed, failing to compensate landowners and leaving a mess that landowners had to clean up at their own expense. 

by Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, VAHHS While the policy committees keep up their quick pace, the appropriations committees received further detail on the budget last week. It’s easy to assume that the Administration’s budget process is hush hush until the floodgates of knowledge open with the Governor’s speech, but the truth is, there’s usually some gaps in understanding until agencies and departments come in to testify and elaborate on the proposals. Read on for more, and feel free to visit our bill tracker. Post-acute and long-term care budget: VAHHS is keeping a close eye on the budget for skilled nursing facilities, because they have a direct impact on our hospitals’ ability to discharge patients. The FY’25 budget proposes the following base funding: $9.9M in rate stabilization funds for skilled nursing facilities along; $2.3M anticipated rate for the Bennington Health and Rehab including iCare costs; and $2.5M in special rate incentives for complex patients for the upcoming iCare facility.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.20 per gallon, up 4.4 cents per gallon from last week's $3.16/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.79/g while the highest was $3.40/g, a difference of 61.0 cents per gallon. The national average is up 4.0 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 32.5 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Vermont Farm to Plate has released the The Vermont Food Security Roadmap to 2035. This new plan charts a path towards ensuring everyone in Vermont has the food they need and that Vermont communities are resilient and climate-ready. To achieve the plan's goal of a food secure Vermont by 2035 the Roadmap prioritizes systems and policy changes over individual-level interventions. It builds on government programs, community innovation, and the shared experiences of Vermonters in recent years. It includes policy recommendations and actions we can take in Vermont to create permanent, equitable food security for all. 

Vermont Business Magazine Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Sunday released the following statement on the ongoing war in Gaza. “The United States cannot continue to fund Netanyahu’s horrific war against the Palestinian people. This is not JUST about 27,000 Palestinians killed and 67,000 wounded - two-thirds of whom are women and children. This is not JUST about 70% of the housing units in Gaza being destroyed or damaged. This is not JUST about 1.7 million people driven from their homes. This is not JUST about hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children starving to death."

Vermont Business Magazine At the Champlain Housing Trust’s recent Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner, members elected two new Board members and re-elected four to the Board, and recognized outstanding contributions to our mission from three individuals and two organizations. Over 300 people attended the event in Burlington to participate in the governance of the organization and celebrate the completion of Champlain Housing Trust’s 39th year. The Brenda Torpy Founders Award for Exemplary Contributions to Perpetually Affordable Housing went to Vermont Representative Tom Stevens of Waterbury, who is the chair of the House Committee on General & Housing. 

by Community News Service Staff Bus and other transit riders throughout Vermont are bracing for a big change come March 6. Green Mountain Transit is set to reinstate fares for Chittenden County–based services, including some that travel to Montpelier and St. Albans, after a more than three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fares aren’t only set to return — they’re changing. The transit system announced a $2 fare for urban local routes, a 33% increase. But fares for LINK Express routes are set to decrease by 50%, down from $4 to $2. That brings those two fares in line with the commuter routes fee.