Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center has submitted a request to the Green Mountain Care Board for a Certificate of Need that would allow the hospital to expand its robotic surgical services to meet patient needs through the purchase of an additional da Vinci XI robotic surgical system. Robotic-assisted surgery in areas such as gynecological, urological, thoracic, colorectal, ENT and bariatric specialties can lead to better overall surgical outcomes for patients and reduce blood loss, complications, scarring and length of stay in the hospital. Under Vermont’s regulatory structure, health care organizations must seek approval via a Certificate of Need from the Board for the purchase of a single piece of equipment if its cost exceeds $1,682,693. The purchase price of the new da Vinci XI robot is $2.42 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Federal Credit Union has announced the grand opening of its eighth branch location and new corporate campus at 275 Kennedy Drive in South Burlington. The new 40,000-square-foot corporate campus will be home to approximately 100 employees and all Vermont Federal Credit Union internal departments. The new retail branch will bring a full array of banking capabilities and services to the local community.

Vermont Business Magazine Hinda Miller and Polly Smith—fellow NYU stage design graduates—have led remarkable, multi-act lives. Miller has been a successful entrepreneur and a Vermont state senator; Smith is a famed costume designer and eight-time Emmy winner. But their professional lives intersected in 1977 at a Shakespeare Festival in Lake Champlain, Vermont. That’s where Miller and Smith—along with Smith’s lifelong friend Lisa Lindahl—came up with the idea that changed women’s sports, and the ready-to-wear apparel industry, forever: the Jogbra.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) Thursday announced the award of a $500,000 grant through the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures program to restore the historic Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms. With the funding, Shelburne Farms will be able to make critically needed fire safety and other building repairs to protect and preserve one of the great barns in America, including completing restoration of the barns’ exterior. The restored barn will contribute to Shelburne Farms’ mission to support community programs and education focused on sustainability. The Vermont delegation sent a letter of support to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in March advocating for the project.

Vermont Business Magazine For the first time in over two years, Rutland Regional Medical Center was able to welcome people into the facility to celebrate a major milestone, the completion of renovations to the Psychiatric Service Inpatient Unit (PSIU). The event took place at 4pm on Wednesday, September 14 in the hospital’s CVPS/Leahy Community Health Education Center on the lower level. Prior to the start of the celebration, Vermont Mental Health Commissioner, Emily Hawes, and Deputy Commissioner Allison Krompf, were given a private tour of PSIU by unit nurse director, Lesa Cathcart.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on Thursday issued the following statement after rail carriers and rail workers reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement: “Now it’s up to the rank-and-file union members to evaluate this deal and determine whether it works for them. These workers have not had a raise in three years and continue to work incredibly long hours under brutal working conditions. I will respect and support whatever decision they make.”

Vermont Business Magazine Correlate Infrastructure Partners Inc. (OTCQB: CIPI), a technology-enabled energy optimization and clean energy solutions provider for all North America based in Shreveport, Louisiana, has announced a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire Waitsfield, Vermont-based Aegis Renewable Energy Inc. Aegis is a leading commercial, industrial and community solar company focused on solar project development and EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) services in the eastern United States and is a member of the Amicus Solar Cooperative Network. Financial terms were not disclosed. Employment for the Aegis team is expected to expand.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) today intentionally destroyed a heavy-duty truck that was well-used by a Rutland-based field electric maintenance team and replaced it with an all-electric Lion stake body truck. The Destroy-a-Truck event took place at GHR Recycling in Pittsford, where guests got to check out the new all-electric truck. Making the old truck unusable is a requirement of a state of Vermont grant to speed replacement of fossil fuel vehicles with clean electric. Driving with fossil fuels is the largest source of carbon pollution in Vermont, about 40% according to the latest data from the Energy Action Network, so any time drivers switch to clean electric it helps the state reach its climate goals. Vermont provided a grant of about $915,000 in VW settlement funds to help launch GMP’s fleet-wide switch away from fossil fuel, and GMP will gather data for the state on truck performance and charging, as well as emissions reductions.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont fell another 5 cents since last week to $3.84 per gallon. They've fallen 46 cents over the last month but are still 77 cents higher than a year ago. The lowest prices in Vermont as of today are in Brattleboro and West Dummerston ($3.43/g). The highest price is in Orleans ($4.29/g). The national average is $3.67/g, down 5 cents, according to GasBuddy.