Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Union Mutual was proudly represented by nearly four dozen employees, independent agency partners, and family members at the Burlington Waterfront for the Penguin Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Vermont on Saturday, March 12, 2022. The Union Mutual Popsicles were the event’s leading fundraiser for the fourth year in a row, with a grand total of over $85,000. The event raised over $500,000 in total. The team fundraising all-time record was set by Union Mutual in 2020. Since 2016, Union Mutual has raised nearly $370,000 for Special Olympics Vermont through participating in the Penguin Plunge.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Tuesday sent a letter to incoming Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz ahead of his announced return to the company, highlighting some of the egregious anti-union efforts the company has undertaken to fight employees who are building a movement to unionize Starbucks locations around the country. “If Starbucks can afford to spend $20 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and provide a $20 million compensation package to its CEO, it can afford a unionized workforce."

Vermont Business Magazine A new report finds that the $66.4 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants awarded in Vermont last year supported 1,026 jobs and $146 million in economic activity. The University of Vermont received the lion share of the grants, worth about $60 million in 2021. According to a report released Monday by United for Medical Research (UMR), research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) supported 552,444 jobs and generated $94.18 billion in economic activity last year – or $2.60 of economic activity for every $1 of research funding.

Vermont Business Magazine At its March 21 meeting, the Burlington City Council passed a plan to build "pod" shelters for homeless people and a plan to add bike lanes to North Winooski Avenue, which had received some push back from residents and business owners. But the Council failed to override Mayor Miro Weinberger's veto of an ordinance that would add stricter requirements to short term rentals, such as Airbnb.

Vermont Business Magazine Gifford is contributing to the humanitarian effort in war-torn Ukraine by donating medical supplies such as band-aids, IV bags, gauze, rubber gloves, gowns and catheter IVs. The effort started after Ryan Langlois, an associate division manager at Applied Research Associates in Randolph, reached out to neighboring Gifford. Applied Research Associates is a globally recognized scientific research and engineering company with more than 1,500 employee-owners nationwide. In partnership with international logistics provider Meest, Applied Research Associates, is sending humanitarian supplies to Ukraine.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr. Trey Dobson is pleased to welcome Tracy Dolan, the director of Vermont’s Refugee Office, at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23.

The show is produced with cooperation from Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV). Viewers can see Medical Matters Weekly on facebook.com/svmedicalcenter and facebook.com/CATTVBennington. The show is also available to view or download a podcast on www.svhealthcare.org/medicalmatters.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that provides sports and recreational programs state-wide, year-round to people with disabilities, was recently awarded a $30,000 grant from The Hartford for new adaptive sports equipment. The grant enabled Vermont Adaptive, a member of the Move United Network, to purchase four sit skis; two Monique Mono Skis and two Dynamique Bi Skis. Each ski costs more than $5,500, plus other costs for outriggers and custom-fit accessories.

Vermont Business Magazine Sixteen-year-old Marcy Dukette made her way from Northfield School to her health occupations coop as a nurse’s aide, walking between her classes and Mayo’s residential care community. The year was 1974 and, as the world watched the unfolding Watergate scandal, Dukette embarked on a 48-year career with Mayo Healthcare. “I’ve always called Mayo my second family because I’ve been there since high school,” she noted. Marcy Dukette will retire on March 25.

Vermont Business Magazine The Case Management team at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), was the recipient of the DAISY Team Award for Extraordinary Nurses in February. The department was nominated by a colleague who recognized the group’s extraordinary efforts to satisfy the complex needs of their patients.

Vermont Business Magazine In a first-of-its-kind study, research from the University of Vermont Cancer Center has linked phthalates, commonly called the “everywhere chemical,” to higher incidence of specific childhood cancers. Phthalates are chemical additives used to enhance the durability or consistency of plastics and a wide range of consumer products. Humans are routinely exposed to these compounds when they leach out of the products and into the environment. They are also used as inactive ingredients in some medications, especially those that require extended or delayed drug release to work properly, for example, some anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 84 cases of COVID-19 for Sunday, down from 120 on Saturday (142 on Friday). There were no additional deaths, which stand at 611 statewide. There have been four fatalities since March 5. March is shaping up to have the fewest deaths since last July. Vermont is averaging 119 cases over the last 7 days. Cases are down 94% since the Omicron peak. The state loosened its mask guidance on March 14 to individual preference. UVM ended its mask mandate on Saturday. Most cities and towns also have let mandates expire.

Hoffer Says Extremely Fast Grant Process Led to Millions in Improper Payments

Vermont Business Magazine State Auditor Doug Hoffer released an audit today of Vermont’s Health Care Stabilization Grant Program. Administered by the Agency of Human Services (AHS), the program issued 323 grant awards totaling $143.6 million to a wide range of health care providers. The audit reviewed $92.7 million of the awards and found that more than half of those payments – representing $7 million or 8% of the total grant money reviewed – were either too large or should not have been made at all per state statute and federal COVID rules.