Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Scott and the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation announced on Monday March 28 the award of nearly 5 million dollars in funding to 24 outdoor recreation projects statewide including three - in Groton, Cabot and Montpelier - that will help extend the Cross Vermont Trail network.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Department of Corrections Commissioner Nicholas Deml announced key leadership changes Tuesday at Northern State Correctional Facility (NSCF) in Newport. NSCF Superintendent Scott Martin has been placed on paid administrative leave and will not be returning to his position. Assistant Superintendent Mike Koehler will serve as Acting Superintendent until further notice.

Vermont Business Magazine On Monday night the Barton Village Trustees voted unanimously to recommend the sale of Barton Electric Department (BED) to Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC). The vote followed a three-year process of developing a long-term plan for Barton Village and Barton Electric, including almost three years of contracting with VEC for services, following the departure of Barton’s manager and line workers in April 2019. The decision is the result of a thorough process that included a Request for Proposal, “Sale of Assets of Barton Electric Department” issued by the Village Trustees on September 27, 2021, and delivered to Vermont’s distribution utilities, including all municipal electric utilities.

Photos courtesy of VOREC, Onion River Outdoors, Timber & Stone, Kaden Apparel

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance (VOBA) received a $150,000 grant from the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (VOREC) Community Grant Program for workforce development and business assistance in the outdoor recreation sector in Washington, Caledonia, and Rutland Counties.

Big Change Roundup Supports Vital Services During Difficult Times

Vermont Business Magazine The annual “Big Change Roundup for Kids” is officially underway. Over the next five weeks, from March 28 to April 29, civic organizations, community members, businesses and key partners including New England Federal Credit Union, Maplefields and Med Associates, Inc., will round up donations to support specialized care and vital services provided at The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital. The program is the largest annual fundraiser for the non-profit medical center, and is a joint project of 98.9 WOKO-FM and the UVM Children’s Hospital.

Vermont Business Magazine Patients and visitors entering Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), will use an alternative entrance starting Wednesday, March 30. Named the “canopy entrance,” for the prominent tent-like structure and enclosed walkway, it is accessed using the second right turn for patients entering the hospital campus from Dewey Street. The canopy entrance will be used for many patient services—including emergency department, laboratory, imaging, surgery, endoscopy, sleep studies, and visitors to inpatient units—for approximately 16 months, while the current main entrance and the adjacent Emergency Department undergo a significant renovation and expansion.

by Jeff Tieman, VAHHS President and CEO As I glanced over this week’s selection of VAHHS Update stories, I was struck by something profound. The first story is a Vermont Business Magazine feature of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center’s innovative effort to increase badly needed high-quality and affordable childcare capacity for their staff and their community. The second story is a WPTZ piece announcing the groundbreaking of an apartment building that will make dozens of new homes available to UVM Medical Center’s potential staff members who say they cannot accept jobs here for lack of available places to live.

Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center will present its fifth annual conference, Vision, Visionaries and Voices virtually on April 7 from 9 am – 4 pm, featuring international speakers, Mary Bassett, Anita Hill, Byron Katie, Ethan Nadelmann and Tara Westover.

Vermont Business Magazine Patients suffering with chronic pain have new choices to manage it at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC). Called the Southern Vermont Interventional Pain and Treatment Center, the practice greatly expands the number of pain management procedures available to local patients. Pain-blocking techniques to help make day-to-day activities less difficult for patients who suffer from pain related to trauma, surgery, cancer, arthritis, or other conditions. In the past, patients seeking these treatments would have had to travel up to an hour from Bennington.

Vermont Business Magazine Internationally recognized mud run and obstacle race Tough Mudder is the focus of the next Medical Matters Weekly with Dr. Trey Dobson. Chris Maltbie, the company’s director of global product, will be on the show at noon on Wednesday, March 30. The show is produced by Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) with cooperation from Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV). Maltbie oversees the development of racer experiences and events for Tough Mudder. He previously co-founded Pine Coast Culture Company, a New Jersey-based kombucha brewery. He studied Neurobiology and Physiology at the University of Maryland, before working with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in a developmental biology laboratory at Johns Hopkins.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that Jenney Samuelson and Todd Daloz have been named secretary and deputy secretary of the Agency of Human Services (AHS), respectively. Secretary Samuelson was appointed deputy secretary of AHS by Governor Scott in June of 2020 and has served as interim secretary since January, following the retirement of Secretary Mike Smith. Deputy Secretary Daloz previously served as AHS general counsel, overseeing legal affairs for the agency and working closely with the AHS commissioners and their senior staff. As with many others in AHS and across the state, much of his work over the past two years focused on the State’s response to the pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Monday issued the following statement after President Joe Biden released his fiscal year 2023 federal budget proposal: "I thank the President for submitting his budget proposal to Congress and I look forward to reviewing it closely. At a time when corporations are making obscene profits by charging outrageously high prices for gas, food and rent, we need a budget that takes on the unprecedented corporate greed that is taking place in America today by enacting a windfall profits tax and preventing corporations from ripping off working families. At a time when over 700 billionaires in America became nearly $2 trillion richer during the pandemic while tens of millions continue to struggle, we need a budget that demands that the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of taxes."