Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Lawson’s Finest Liquids is excited to announce that it is accepting applications for its “Super Sessions” mini grant program. As one of the pillars of the company’s Social Impact Program (SIP), the Super Sessions initiative was created to motivate people across the Northeast region make a positive impact in their communities through pint-sized grants.

UVM President Suresh Garimella As we begin the new academic year, I feel enormous pride in the students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends, families, community members and leaders in our state government and Congressional delegation who supported one another so well through the toughest year many of us have ever known. Yes, we were fortunate to be able to maintain in-person classes and many other activities for which I am thankful, but our usual routines and enjoyable rituals of campus life were disrupted or significantly modified. Such times can be unfamiliar, even disorienting. But I remain confident that we are better poised than most in higher education to handle the “next normal,” and indeed, to thrive through it.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) held five outdoor town meetings across Vermont over Labor Day weekend – with live music, food, and free COVID-19 vaccine services made available – in Springfield, Newport, St. Johnsbury, Brattleboro, and Middlebury. The town meetings were an opportunity for communities to come together, celebrate, and discuss the $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill, including how it will combat climate change and make critical investments in working families in Vermont and across the country.

Vermont Auditor Doug Hoffer Imagine you need a joint replacement. You live equidistant between two Vermont hospitals, each of which performs knee replacements with no significant difference in the quality of their performance. In fact, procedures performed at the two hospitals are identical in all ways but one – the price. One facility typically charges $26,000 for a joint replacement, and the other charges $36,000. You have good employer sponsored health insurance that will pay nearly the entirety of the cost of your joint replacement regardless of which hospital performs the operation. Which facility will you choose?

Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Retreat has reopened its popular Uniformed Service Program (USP) as a remote telehealth service for uniformed professionals who are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other duty-related mental health and addiction challenges. In light of ongoing concerns about COVID-19 and the rise of viral variants, USP has re-launched as a remote telehealth service where clients enjoy secure internet access to USP staff for individual therapy and medication management, and engage in group programming as virtual peers.

Vermont Business Magazine Anne Sosin, policy fellow at the Nelson A Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College; Libby Bonesteel, Superintendent of Schools for Montpelier Roxbury; Dr Brian Ricca, Superintendent of Schools for Saint Johnsbury District; and Kate Larose, Canaan parent, held a press conference on Tuesday calling on Governor Scott and his administration to adhere to the CDC guidelines and implement universal mask mandates in all schools and indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission to protect Vermont children and create the conditions for them to be in school safely.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Art Council has awarded over $300,000 in Cultural Facilities Grants to 17 Vermont arts and community organizations, making a critical investment in the state’s aging cultural infrastructure. The Cultural Facilities Grant Program supports capital improvements to town halls, theaters, library buildings, museums, community centers, and other public spaces where Vermonters gather for arts and cultural activities. The Vermont state legislature allocated an additional $100,000 in funding for this program in the current capital budget.

Vermont Business Magazine Efficiency Vermont is working with the state’s 12 regional development corporations (RDCs) to entice businesses to move ahead with planned energy efficiency upgrades that may be delayed due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Efficiency Vermont has earmarked $1 million, in addition to existing incentives, for projects that will lower energy costs for struggling businesses, and help the state meet its energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction goals.

Vermont Business Magazine The Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School and the Midwest-based Artisan Grain Collaborative have released a new guide for food-grade grain farmers and processors that breaks down complicated federal food safety regulations related to the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule.

Vermont Business Magazine The nonprofit Vermont Cooperative for Practice Improvement & Innovation (VCPI) is hosting their annual conference – in a virtual format - on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. The theme for this year is Grow Your Impact in Mental Health! and this special online event is free and open to all.

​by John McClaughry A large insurance company has been flooding the television channels with an advertising slogan “Only Pay for What You Need”. It’s an interesting exercise to apply that idea to various public spending issues. Typically, at the state level, our elected legislature decides how the tax dollars they collect from Vermonters are to be spent – supporting schools, maintaining highways, implementing public health measures, subsidizing favored energy producers, paying for law enforcement, and so on. Once the spending bills are enacted into law, all taxpayers are obliged to pay the taxes to cover the spending, whether or not they approve of the spending. The majority rules.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Medical Matters Weekly with Dr. Trey Dobson—a weekly interactive, multiplatform medical-themed talk show—will feature Physical Therapist Caitlyn Boyd, DPT, and Respiratory Therapist Chad DeGrenier, RRT, on its September 8 program. The show will air at noon. The two will share information about pulmonary rehabilitation and how it can help those with breathing difficulties.