Current News

Vermont State Police As the investigation continues into Sunday’s shooting in Leicester, the Vermont State Police are identifying the deceased victim as Scott Lanpher, 35, and the injured man as his 31-year-old brother, Larry Lanpher Jr. Both men lived on the property on U.S. Route 7 where the shooting occurred. An autopsy performed Tuesday, June 6, 2023, at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington determined the cause of Scott Lanpher’s death was gunshot wounds to the upper body, and the manner of death was a homicide. Larry Lanpher Jr. remains hospitalized at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. 

The Small Business Administration Vermont is hosting a free webinar at noon June 7 about its guaranteed loan programs. SBA guarantees loans making it easier for small businesses to get the funding by reducing lender risk. Funds can be used for most business purposes, including long-term fixed assets and operating capital. Amounts range from $500 to $5.5 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) and Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) on Tuesday introduced legislation to reauthorize the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP), a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) initiative providing no-interest loans to rural utilities to help communities access cost-effective energy upgrades for homes and businesses.  With support from RESP, rural utilities can finance projects to electrify household heating and cooling, increase energy efficiency, and transition to renewable energy. The bill both reauthorizes RESP and improves the program to help rural utilities maximize the program’s benefits for customers.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) issued a statement today responding to the drug company Merck’s lawsuit to block drug price negotiation provisions included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Welch was a key architect of the bill’s drug pricing program and longtime advocate for lower drug prices and health care access. “This lawsuit is completely without merit and yet another example of Big Pharma putting profits over the health of working families."

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today at his afternoon press conference announced that he had vetoed the Legislature's signature bill this session, H.217, which is related to child care funding and expansion. Scott emphasized that he a lawmakers have the same goal of what he calls "cradle to career" universal education. He also reiterated that he has pushed for a funding package that includes the online sales tax, now $56 million per year. But in his veto statement today, he balked at the "regressive" payroll deduction to be implemented to help pay for it and the overall cost, which will be $124.8 million in FY2025, when it's fully implemented. Scott is likely facing an uphill battle in an effort to have his veto sustained. The measure passed comfortably over the two-thirds majority in both chambers. 

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont has launched an open-access academic press aimed at removing the financial barrier between peer-reviewed research and audiences worldwide. Fully funded by the university and overseen by UVM Libraries, the UVM Press operates under a “diamond open access model” – meaning that authors pay no fees to publish with the press, and readers pay no fees to access the press's published materials.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College Online has appointed Sergio Tenreiro de Magalhães, Ph.D., as Chief Learning Officer and Sarah McMaster as Executive Director of Marketing and Enrollment Management. Following the announcement of Chris Montagnino as Vice President of Champlain College Online (CCO) last year, the online institution has positioned its leadership team to support strategic goals, including new remote learning opportunities, program growth, and enrollment management. 

Vermont Business Magazine In May, organ donation and organ transplants in New England attained a new monthly record high. New England Donor Services (NEDS), the federally-designated Organ Procurement Organization responsible for the recovery of organs and tissues in the six state region, reported it coordinated a record-breaking 61 organ donors that resulted in 160 life-saving transplants.

Vermont Business Magazine On June 1, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed Treasurer Mike Pieciak’s public retirement initiative proposal, VT Saves (S.135), into law. Passed unanimously by the Vermont House and Senate, the program requires employers not already offering a retirement plan to sign up for VT Saves, establishing a Roth IRA for their employees with automatic payroll deductions. The program is of no cost to the employer, and employees can opt out of the program at any time.

Vermont Business Magazine In 2022, Joe Wiah was honored with the Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial, Community Leadership. The director of the Ethiopian Community Development Council’s Multicultural Community Center in Brattleboro, Wiah is helping refugees integrate into community life in Southern Vermont. In a recent interview, he talked about his work and what receiving the award meant to him both personally and professionally. The annual award recognizes Con’s life by rewarding a community leader who shares his vision of a better Vermont and who seizes the responsibility for making that vision a reality. 

Vermont Business Magazine Fidium Fiber is expanding service coverage of its all-fiber internet network to 2,400 homes and businesses in Waterbury, Moretown and Duxbury. Construction is scheduled to begin by Monday, June 12, with local build-out scheduled for the coming weeks. More than 80,000 Vermonters can now order Fidium Fiber, and through this expansion thousands more homes and small businesses will soon have access to Fidium’s multi-gig speed fiber internet service.   

Vermont Business Magazine The medical staff of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) recognized the following individuals for their contributions to clinical insight and teamwork. Marie George, MD, infectious disease physician, received the 2023 Clinical Excellence Award, recognizing her outstanding diagnostic acumen and commitment to communication with medical colleagues. Dr. George is a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic physician who has worked at SVMC since 1999. She is a past president of the Medical Staff and serves as medical director of infection prevention.