Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) on Friday will welcome Carole Johnson, Administrator of the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), to Vermont to meet with health care providers and educators. The discussions will cover a range of health care issues in Vermont, including the health care workforce crisis, Vermont’s extensive Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) network, and opportunities to support and strengthen primary health care across the state. HRSA, an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services, oversees federal initiatives to support the primary health care workforce, including the National Health Service Corps and Nurse Corps, and the delivery of primary care to more than 30 million people – including over 180,000 Vermonters – through FQHCs.

Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Museum & Art Center (BMAC) has been awarded a $50,000 grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) through the “Inspire! Grants for Small Museums” program. The funding will support initiatives to improve digital and in-person accessibility, allowing people with a wide range of abilities and learning styles to take part in meaningful experiences at the museum. A new, fully accessible BMAC website will make it easier to gain information about exhibits and events, and the museum’s online events will include real-time captioning. Visitors to the museum will be able to use assistive listening devices and iPads pre-loaded with videos of ASL translations of exhibit text.

by Al Gobeille and Rick Vincent, UVMHN Recently, we presented the University of Vermont Health Network’s proposed budget for next year to our Vermont regulators, the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB). Despite years of serious belt tightening, several major forces are driving our need for a significant increase. We took this opportunity to share with the GMCB what’s at stake and explain why our budget proposal is necessary to stabilize our finances and put us on a path to sustainability. Together, the two of us have more than three decades of experience managing and reviewing hospital budgets. From our perspective, this is the most crucial budget we’ve assembled. Actions taken now will clearly impact the future of health care in our communities.

Vermont Business Magazine US Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Dr Jewel Bronaugh today announced USDA is investing $121 million in critical infrastructure to combat climate change across rural America. The funding will include grants for 15 energy-efficiency and renewable-energy projects throughout New Hampshire and Vermont. These include the Big Picture Farm in Townshend which received a $18,039 REAP grant and the VT NH Veterinary Clinic in East Dummerston received a $16,378 REAP grant.

Vermont Business Magazine South Burlington students will be riding to school pollution-free this year, thanks to four new electric buses that have joined the school district’s fleet. Innovative vehicle-to-grid (V2G) bus chargers will also allow the buses to provide stored energy to the grid during energy peaks which further reduces carbon emissions and costs for all Green Mountain Power customers across Vermont. To help fund the project, the District received a grant in the amount of $965,000 through the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation with funding from Vermont's Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust Funds. GMP provided additional incentives toward the buses and V2G chargers based on the amount of carbon emissions the project is expected to reduce - the equivalent of taking 905 gas powered cars off the road.

Vermont Business Magazine Hunters traveling outside Vermont to hunt deer or elk need to keep in mind that a regulation designed to protect Vermont's wild deer from chronic wasting disease remains in effect, according to a reminder from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal disease of the brain and nervous system in deer and elk. Abnormal prion proteins produce lesions in the brain that cause disorientation and emaciation in conjunction with other abnormal behaviors. This highly contagious disease is always fatal to deer. For the latest information on CWD, check these websites: www.vtfishandwildlife.com and www.cwd-info.org. The potential exists for CWD prion proteins to be introduced to the environment through the bodily fluids of CWD-positive deer, elk or moose and then persist in the environment for extended periods of time

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) together with US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and Governor Phil Scott, and the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC), announced Wednesday that 14 Vermont communities will be receiving a combined $5.8 million from NBRC’s State Economic and Infrastructure Development program. The NBRC supports economic development in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Maine.

Vermont Business Magazine On Monday, August 22, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont filed a lawsuit against Teva Pharmaceuticals, the manufacturer of Copaxone, a brand-name drug that alleviates the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS). After learning of Teva’s years-long scheme to reap excessive profits from Copaxone, Blue Cross petitioned the court to recover the excessive costs we paid on behalf of our members as a result of Teva’s illegal and anti-competitive conduct. The cost of a yearly course of the drug has skyrocketed from $10,000 in 1997 to nearly $70,000 today. A major component of Teva’s nefarious scheme is offering manufacturer coupons to patients, insulating patients from the out-of-pocket costs for Copaxone. That practice gives patients a false sense of savings and incentivizes using expensive brand-name drugs over lower priced alternatives. But as insurers and employers pay the ever-rising costs for those brand-name drugs, insurance premiums rise.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) released the following comments on President Biden’s announcement Wednesday on student loan debt forgiveness: “I commend the President for proposing a way to help people with student debt. At home in Vermont, UVM for instance has recognized these challenges and refrained from tuition increases for the last four years while our state colleges strive to provide affordable access to higher education for Vermont’s students..." The Department of Education will provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education, and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said, "The result of this decision is that millions of Americans will now be in a better position to start families, or buy the homes and cars they have long needed. This is a big deal."

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) today announced that it will award $3,130,800 in grants to municipalities for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure improvement projects. The combination of construction projects and planning grants will benefit cities and towns statewide by improving connectivity and safety for travelers while also providing tangible economic benefits. As in past years, there is ongoing interest throughout Vermont in making communities and streets more usable for all modes of transportation. In downtowns and village centers especially, municipalities are responding to public interest in better conditions for walking and bicycling.

Vermont Business Magazine The Lake Champlain Chamber and the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation (GBIC) announced Wednesday that they will host the Fifteenth Annual Taste of Vermont Reception in Washington, DC, with honored guest Senator Patrick Leahy (D Vt.), on Thursday, September 22. The annual event has become well known throughout the Capital Region for its dynamic showcase of Vermont specialty food products. Of the more than 30 participants represented at the reception, 17 of their founders, CEOs, and presidents will attend and will be helping to serve their delicious creations to all attendees. The Taste of Vermont Reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 22, in the historic Kennedy Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. This special event is by invitation only, with an attendee list that will include US Senators, US Representatives, as well as Federal and State officials.