Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Patient Choices Vermont (PCV) applauds the work of Dr. Diana Barnard, in collaboration with the national organization Compassion & Choices, to challenge the residency requirement contained in Vermont's Act 39 in Federal Court. Act 39, adopted in May 2013, enables terminally ill Vermonters who are capable of making their own medical decisions, the option to request and receive medication they can use to bring about a peaceful death; if and when they so choose. Act 39, like similar laws in other states across the country, makes end-of-life choice available only to residents of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that starting in 2024, individual and small group health plans will cover one set of prescription hearing aids every three years and annual exams. This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved expanded coverage in Vermont’s essential health benefit (EHB) for services including prescription hearing aids. Together with the Food and Drug Administration’s recent announcement establishing a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids, the new EHB benchmark plan ensures that Vermonters will have better access to affordable hearing aids than ever before.

Vermont Business Magazine Tony Blake of V/T Commercial in Burlington announced today that Finney Crossing in Williston, is 100% leased. Developers of the project, Scott Rieley and Chris Snyder, worked exclusively with V/T Commercial over the past few years and leased approximately 60,000 square feet. Commercial tenants of Finney Crossing include the Union Bank, Healthy Living Market & Cafe, H&R Block, Xfinity, Folino's Wood Fired Pizza, LL Bean, Men's Wearhouse, Jersey Mike's, Crumbl Cookies, and Railroad & Main Restaurant. Completion of this phase of the project is anticipated this fall.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Public Service (PSD) seeks feedback from stakeholders and ratepayers on the objectives and metrics by which the state should distribute federal funding provided under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IIJA creates funding opportunities open to Vermont to facilitate electric grid modernization for the purpose of preventing outages and enhancing the resilience of the electric grid. Section 40101(d) of the IIJA allows for states and Indian tribes to receive grants over a five-year period in an amount consistent with a pre-determined formula – approximately $3 million per year for Vermont – for uses that meet certain criteria.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University begins the 2022–23 academic year on Monday, August 29, with approximately 650 new students. First year students in the Corps of Cadets arrived on Sunday, Aug. 21, and new civilian students arrived on Tuesday, Aug. 23, for orientation. The Class of 2026 is comprised of approximately 350 rooks (first year students in the Corps of Cadets) and 298 civilian students (both residential and commuter) coming from 42 states and 21 different countries.

Vermont Natural Resources Council, et al When it comes to getting where we all need to go – which often needs to be by car or truck in rural Vermont – the options for cleaner, more affordable vehicles are good. They are also about to get better with the advancement of two new, innovative programs. Here’s how: Vermont first adopted a set of rules requiring auto manufacturers to provide Vermonters with more efficient cars than federal standards required in the early 2000s. Since then, this program, known as Advanced Clean Cars, has been a critical tool for manufacturer innovation, improved access to cleaner vehicles and emissions reduction. To meet climate commitments and the growing public demand for cleaner vehicles, two new programs are now available to deliver new requirements for zero-emission car sales - the Advanced Clean Cars II (ACCII) rule and an Advanced Clean Trucks rule (ACT) – and Vermont is poised to join both by December of this year.

by Michael Del Trecco, Interim President and CEO, Vermont Assocation of Hospitals & Health Systems Hospitals have just finished two weeks and likely close to 50 hours of budget hearings before the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB). This is an exhaustive, expensive and time-consuming effort, but it has allowed hospitals to share their thorough and candid assessment of where they stand. The financial outlook may be bleak, but the resolve, creativity and leadership exhibited in the face of great challenges was nothing short of inspiring. Our hospitals clearly articulated plans to stabilize and recover and they have asked the GMCB to approve responsible and needed stabilization budgets to ensure they can support their staff and care for their patients.

Vermont Business Magazine Between high housing costs and steady inflation, more and more people are worried about losing their home. QuoteWizard by Lending Tree, in a study released today and based on US Census Bureau data, found that 93% of people in Vermont behind on mortgage payments are worried they will face foreclosure in the next two months. This is by far the highest “fear” rate in the nation, even as the percentage of homeowners behind on their mortgage in Vermont is only 2 percent, which is half the national average of 4 percent (with only a 7 percent average fear factor). The rental situation is similar, with a low number of those actually behind in rent in Vermont but a high level of fear.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets If you paid fees to receive USDA organic certification between October 1, 2021, and September 30, 2022, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets has funding available to reimburse you. With funding assistance through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, certified organic producers and handlers who are newly certified or re-certified are eligible for reimbursement. The reimbursement can be up to 50% of the direct certification costs. The maximum reimbursement is $500 per certification scope. The four scopes are crops, livestock, wild crops, and handling.

Vermont Business Magazine Seventy-two Vermont employers received the Governor’s Excellence in Worksite Wellness Award at the annual Worksite Wellness Conference, held this week at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. The awards recognize Vermont employers for activities, programs and policies to help employees improve their health. Most Vermonters spend more than one third of their day at work. Research has shown that an environment promoting employee wellness in the workplace, actively supported by policies and programs, can have a significant influence on employees' health and well-being. These practices also yield benefits for employers, such as a positive workplace culture attractive to prospective employees, improved employee morale, and reduced absenteeism and health care costs.