Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has reached an agreement in principle with opioid maker Endo over its role in promoting the opioid crisis. Endo, an Ireland-based drug maker with US headquarters in Pennsylvania, makes generic and branded opioids, including Percocet and Endocet, and Opana ER, before it was withdrawn from the market in 2017. The settlement will require Endo International plc and its lenders to pay up to $450 million to participating states and local governments, turn over millions of documents related to its role in the opioid crisis for publication, and bans the marketing of Endo’s opioids forever. Today’s announcement regarding Endo marks the third settlement the Attorney General’s Office reached with opioid makers since July when it announced agreements in principle with Teva and Allergan. To date, the Office has negotiated more than $100 million in opioid settlements for Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine A new report from HelpAdvisor.com found that in Vermont, only 2.4% of all rental units are vacant as of Q2 of 2022, which is the 2nd lowest percentage out of any state. Only Connecticut has a lower rate. While a very high rental vacancy rate can indicate other local economic hardships, an extremely low rental vacancy rate can signal a scarcity of affordable housing options for many Americans. The vacancy rate for residential rental properties in the US is at its lowest point in 38 years. Not since early 1984 has the rental vacancy been below the 5.6% rate registered in the second quarter of 2022.

Vermont State Police Wednesday afternoon, following his discharge from the hospital, David Johnson was arrested by the Vermont State Police on charges of aggravated assault and reckless endangerment arising from his charging a Burlington Police Department officer with a knife Saturday afternoon. Johnson, 20, of Burlington also is facing a charge of domestic assault related to an incident that occurred with a family member several days earlier. Johnson was brought to the VSP barracks in Williston for processing. He will be transported to the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Burlington for arraignment, which is expected later today.

Vermont Business Magazine The who's who of Vermont's ski and snowboarding world will gather at Timberline Lodge at Bolton Valley Resort on Saturday, September 24th to celebrate the Induction of the class of 2022 into the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame. The event, hosted by the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe, will also honor the recipients of the Paul Robbins Journalism Award and Bill McCollom Community Award. This year's Hall of Fame inductees include Bolton Valley Resort's founder Ralph DesLauriers, Olympic ski jumper, entrepreneur, and Norwich native, Jim Holland, Olympian, TV announcer, and movie star from Rutland, Rip McManus, and Mad River Glen ski area visionary, Betsy Pratt. The Paul Robbins Journalism Award is going to ski writer and author, Greg Morrill, of Stowe. The Bill McCollom Community Award will be presented to the Catamount Trail Association.

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Medical Center (UVM Health Network-CVMC) has again earned a 5-star quality rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which announced its annual hospital ratings for 2022 in late July. The ratings, found on Medicare’s Care Compare website, rate hospitals based on more than 40 quality measures over five categories: safety of care, readmissions after treatment of common conditions, patient experience, mortality, and timely and effective care. CMS reviewed data from the 2021 calendar year for the ranking determination.

Vermont Business Magazine Inc. magazine has ranked Select Dental Management, a Dental Partnership Organization boasting 37 practices across the Northeast US, No. 185 on its annual ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country. That ranking also places the Florham Park, NJ-based company at No. 4 in New Jersey, No. 13 in Health Services and No. 18 in the New York Region. Select currently has practices in Castleton, Manchester, Richmond and Rutland. The ranking is based off Select’s impressive 2,800% revenue growth, with 2021 revenues of over $55 million.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) announces the opening of applications for the second competitive round of the Climate Catalysts Innovation Fund. In collaboration with local funders, VCRD is supporting innovators in developing solutions that move Vermont closer to its climate and energy goals by providing at least $20,000 in grant funding toward local projects. The second round follows a successful initial round of investments in 18 projects (out of 29 applications).

Vermont Business Magazine New Breed, the premier revenue performance management firm for the world's fastest-growing companies, today announced that it has earned a place on this year's Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. This is the fourth consecutive year in which New Breed has made the Inc. 5000 list, which represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segment — its independent small businesses.

"We are thrilled to earn this recognition for four years running and especially proud to join many of our clients on this list," said New Breed CEO Patrick Biddiscombe. "We are committed to helping high-growth organizations achieve their revenue goals, and we look forward to many more years of shared success."

Vermont Business Magazine Earthkeep Farmcommon’s weekly “Farm Night” — a farmer’s market featuring goods produced sustainably and onsite by the Earthkeep Farmers’ Collective — on Thursday, Aug. 18, from 4-7 p.m., Charlotte-based Earthkeep will offer an expanded Farm Night in collaboration with the Charlotte Land Trust. Earthkeep on Route 7 is the former Nordic Farm. The evening will feature local, sustainable food, a chance to celebrate and to learn more about the Charlotte Land Trust’s efforts to preserve land and support farmers.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University dedicated the Senator Patrick Leahy School of Cybersecurity and Advanced Computing today during the “U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy Cyber Symposium.” Formerly the School of Cybersecurity, Data Science, and Computing, the new name reflects Leahy’s longstanding support of cybersecurity education at Norwich University and in the state of Vermont. Vermont’s longest-serving U.S. senator and the fifth-longest-serving senator in U.S. history, Leahy’s career of eight terms spans almost five decades. His pending retirement will cap 25 years of cybersecurity education support that helped birth the Norwich University Applied Research Institutes and land the university and senior military college over $70M in cybersecurity-related research and development grants and contracts.

The Vermont State Police investigation is continuing Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 16, 2022, into a police shooting that occurred late Monday by a member of the Ludlow Police Department on South Hill Road. The man who was shot is identified as Michael Mills, 35, of Cavendish. He is hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.