Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 56 cases of COVID-19 for Sunday. There were 104 on Saturday and 143 Friday. There have been no additional deaths since last Thursday for 615 statewide. There have been 7 fatalities since March 5. As the Omicron BA.2 variant is now the most common coronavirus variant in New England (55 percent), overall cases are edging up but serious outcomes have fallen.

Vermont Business Magazine Revitalizing Waterbury has entered into a lease agreement with Black Cap Coffee & Bakery of Vermont for a new café and bakery at the Waterbury Train Station. Black Cap Coffee & Bakery of Vermont is expanding its successful coffee shop business by adding Waterbury as its fourth location. It currently has shops in Stowe, Morrisville and on Church Street in Burlington. Black Cap is known for its delicious coffee and lattes, in-house baked fresh pastries, breakfast and lunch sandwich menus and friendly service, with a Vermont vibe.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative (VOREC) today announced 24 recipients of the VOREC Community Grant Program. In announcing this round of grant recipients of over $4 million, the governor restated his support for outdoor recreation as an important means for economic recovery and development. The grant recipients, announced at an event in Danville today, joined the nine other communities who have received funding through the program since it was established by Act 194 in 2018.

by Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, VAHHS I’m very superstitious when it comes to the legislature. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s to knock on wood and to never proclaim anything as a win until the final gavel falls. This past week, however, two bills became law that will help our hospitals in very different, but hugely impactful ways. COVID Regulatory Flexibilities: Act 85 extends much-needed regulatory flexibilities to help alleviate the current workforce crisis for health care providers and any subsequent COVID variants. Prohibition of Firearms in Hospital: Gov. Scott signed S.4, a law that prohibits guns in hospitals and closes the “Charleston Loophole” on Friday.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Vermont University (NVU) and Lyndon Institute (LI) officials, as well as student program participants, joined together today to announce the innovative expansion of the successful early college program, the Lyndon Learning Collaborative. With this expansion, program graduates will now be able to graduate Lyndon Institute with an Associate Degree.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power’s ongoing commitment to deliver innovative storage programs to benefit customers expanded with the announcement of a pilot program with Enphase Energy Systems. As part of the pilot program, customers lease or purchase two Enphase IQ Batteries for their home. Customers agree to share access to the batteries to cut power demand during expensive energy peaks when people are using a lot of energy, which helps lower costs for all.

The Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets has announced the opening of the 2022 Farm to School Vision grant. This competitive funding opportunity is designed to help schools, childcare providers and afterschool programs engage with food system issues through youth education and empowerment. Awards of up to $16,000 are available to support projects that help Vermont youth learn about and engage in issues related to agriculture, nutrition, health, and related fields. We are specifically interested in projects that offer innovative and impactful approaches, can be easily scaled or replicated, and address contemporary issues affecting the food system.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) held a roundtable discussion at the Vermont State House on Saturday afternoon with the student finalists of his twelfth annual State of the Union essay contest. The contest gives Vermont high school students an opportunity to write about a major issue facing the country and propose what they would do to solve it.

by David Coates & Mark Crow Recently the Pension Benefits, Design and Funding Task Force released its final report with recommendations to fix the retirement systems for state workers and teachers.

While the recommendations are a good start, they do not include the systemic solutions needed to make the systems sustainable.

What is the deal? Basically, the state would add $200 million of one-time funding to the systems’ pensions and $67 million to prefund the systems’ retiree health care benefits. The state would also put in $30 million from fiscal year 2024 through fiscal year 2026. and then contribute $30 million annually after that. State workers’ and teachers’ contributions to the pensions would increase and there would be limitations upon cost-of-living increases.

Vermont Business Magazine The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), representing the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, has awarded more than $450,000 in funding to six Overdose Response Strategy pilot projects to help address the opioid crisis in their communities, including: Springfield Turning Point Recovery Center, Vermont; $120,000. The Supportive Outreach Project has received funding as an Overdose Response Strategy Pilot Project for the third year in a row following a Planning Grant and Implementation Grant in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Supportive Outreach Project will continue to build off this work and use the current Expansion Grant to extend the project to additional areas – Windsor and Windham Counties, VT.

Immerse Yourself in an Inspiring Cohort Experience

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermont transitions away from the pandemic, leaders who value a strong network of support to move forward will find the greatest success. After such a challenging, exhausting, and at times isolating, two years, there is strength now to be gained from comradery. Strong leadership rooted in the value of peers coming together to work collaboratively and uphold one another is more important than ever.