Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The COVID-19 case data is still backed up after a technical glitch inside the State of Vermont's system in the reporting of test results. However, data is expected to be updated Wednesday. In the meantime, the VDH and DFR are estimating that case counts will increase about 4,000 since the system was disrupted beginning last Saturday. Going forward with the more virulent Omicron variant, cases will be going up from the current about 2,000 a day to upwards of 5,000 a day through the end of the month, before they begin to subside in February. As for testing, the state will be relying more heavily on self reporting as rapid antigen tests become more prominent. The rapid tests will become the standard in schools as daily testing of close contacts will replace the PCR surveillance testing and contact tracing now used in the Test to Stay program.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department for Children and Families announced today that many 3SquaresVT households will continue to receive a higher benefit in January and February. This extra help is part of the federal Coronavirus Relief Bill. It will not permanently change a household’s monthly benefit. It is a temporary increase from the federal government to help those affected by the pandemic. Households at a zero benefit will not receive a benefit. Everyone else will receive the maximum benefit for their household size.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections detected three new incarcerated cases of COVID-19 in isolation testing of symptomatic incarcerated individuals at Northeast Correctional Complex (NECC) in St. Johnsbury. The tests were performed Saturday and Tuesday, with results returned Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon. The positive individuals are from two units in the same building. The facility is on full lockdown.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of Golrang (Rey) Garofano, Democrat, to fill the Chittenden-8-1 House District vacancy. Garofano replaces former Representative Marybeth Redmond (D-Essex) who resigned last month. Garofano has been a public servant at the State of Vermont for 16 years, serving in various leadership roles supporting Vermonters, including the most vulnerable. She currently serves as a childcare quality program administrator at the DCF. She has a deep personal commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and has been actively engaged in multiple community projects over the last decade to promote racial equity and inclusion in and around Essex.

Vermont Business Magazine GunSense Vermont today announced the hiring of Conor Casey as their Executive Director, effective immediately. Casey began his career in the office of Senator Edward Kennedy and brings with him over 15 years of public policy experience in Vermont, serving recently as the Executive Director for the Vermont Democratic Party after spending eight years as Legislative Director of the Vermont State Employees' Association.

UVM Gund Institute for Environment Property damages from flooding in Vermont are calculated to exceed $5.2 billion over the next 100 years, new University of Vermont research finds. The most flood damages are projected along the Winooski River floodplains, which houses many of the state’s most populous towns, including Burlington, Essex, Colchester, Williston and Montpelier.

​Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging (SVCOA) has named Laurie Knauer of Castleton Community Seniors its Community Partner of the Year for 2021. Knauer, Program Director with Castleton Community Seniors and the Castleton Community Center, and Vice President of Tai Chi Vermont, has partnered with SVCOA for many years on numerous wellness-related events and programs including the nationally-recognized, evidence-based “Matter of Balance” and “Tai Chi For Fall Prevention” classes. Most recently, Knauer served as a master trainer for the “Matter of Balance” program and trained 12 individuals to become class instructors in both counties.

by John McClaughry On January 5 Governor Phil Scott delivered an upbeat State of the State message. He declared that though Vermont has many unmet needs - his leading example was a “desperate need for more people and workers.” - “anything is possible.” For years Vermont budgeteers of both parties have recognized that a sudden influx of one-time money can be perilous: using the money to launch or expand programs that Vermonters will soon have to pay for out of their own pockets.

Vermont Business Magazine With a national workforce shortage impacting nearly every aspect of health care throughout the region, The University of Vermont Medical Center and the Institute for American Apprenticeship (IAA) at Vermont Healthcare & Information Technology Education Center (HITEC) have partnered to offer an innovative training and development initiative that will both prepare graduates to become certified phlebotomists and guarantee them a job at UVM Medical Center following graduation.

Vermont Business Magazine New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) is now accepting Nursing Scholarship applications for 2022. Three scholarships of $3,000 each are awarded each year to applicants who qualify. Applicants must be members of NEFCU who are applying to or are enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate nursing program. Applications must be postmarked by February 28th, 2022. Scholarship winners will be notified by April 22, 2022.

​Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont (UVM) College of Nursing and Health Sciences Lecturer Susan Whitman was selected as the 2021 recipient of the Prelock Online Teaching Award for her course “Intro into Integrative Health” (HLTH101). Whitman is a Physician Assistant and National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. She teaches and mentors health coaching students at Duke Integrative Medicine and The University of Vermont. She has been active in the healthcare field for over 25 years and helped found the UVM Integrative Health and Wellness Coaching Program in 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine Along with hitting the gym more often and starting a diet, quitting smoking tops many New Year’s resolution lists. Quitting tobacco isn’t easy, but 50 million ex-smokers in the United States are proof that it’s achievable.  Tobacco use remains the nation’s leading cause of preventable death and disease and is a serious public health threat. Nationally, nearly 40 million Americans smoke. In Vermont, the adult smoking rate is 15.1% and high school tobacco use rate is 28.2%.