Current News

Vermont Business Magazine On Saturday, July 25th, 123 volunteers will gather on Zoom to conduct virtual team building and training in final preparation for Camp Ta-Kum-Ta’s signature summer program. This year, it includes a Camper Parade that will kick off Camp’s 36th year by delivering lawn signs that read “Camp is Home, Ta-Kum-Ta Magic in Progress” along with a bag filled with goodies to the front lawns of every camper’s home across Vermont and upstate New York. Volunteers with decorated cars will safely blow horns and sing songs from a distance as all the materials needed for Camp’s virtual program get delivered to the camper’s front lawns. Inside the Camp bags they will find specially designed Camp clothing, arts and craft kits, s’mores kits and much more - everything they need for a full week of interactive online programs being facilitated by our creative volunteers.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger released the following statement on the Burlington School District’s plan to reopen this fall with a hybrid model:

Vermont Business Magazine As the state continues its sustained efforts to encourage mask use as a tool to limit the spread of COVID-19 and protect the most vulnerable, Governor Phil Scott today announced strengthened mask requirements in public places and congregate settings.

“Based on national and regional data on how the virus is spreading – and rather than waiting like other states have – I feel we need to act now to protect our gains, which have allowed us to reopen much of our economy,” said Governor Scott. “That’s why today I signed an Order, which will strengthen our current mask mandates, so that we do not take steps backwards and we can stay open into the fall as people move more of their interactions indoors,” Governor Scott added.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Rebecca Armell, 47, of Shelburne, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to one year and one day of imprisonment following her guilty plea to a charge of credit card fraud. U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss also ordered that Armell serve three years of supervised release following completion of her prison term and pay restitution totaling $301,000. The court directed Armell to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on October 13 to begin serving her sentence.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) has invested $750,000 in the latest breast imaging technology for its newly renamed Breast Health and Imaging Center, formerly SVMC Women’s Imaging. The funds purchased two Hologic Selenia Dimensions 3-D Mammography units. Both provide proven superior clinical performance compared with less recent technology.

“Our aim is to give patients and providers the crucial information they need to make decisions for further care, if needed,” said Melissa Spiezio, RT(R)(M), SVMC’s director of Imaging Services. “This advanced technology will help us meet that goal for years to come and to do so more efficiently and more comfortably than ever.”

Vermont Business Magazine Common Good Vermont is pleased to announce the Vermont Edition of the 2020 Survey on Nonprofit Wages and Benefits in Northern New England. The Survey is conducted every two years in partnership with the Maine Association of Nonprofits and the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits.

The Report tells an important and deeply informative story about the health and viability of our sector which is important now more than ever. This year’s survey includes additional COVID-19 questions to help assess the short-term impacts of COVID-19 on Vermont’s nonprofit sector.

Vermont Business Magazine Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Friday announced the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agreed to postpone its scheduled furlough of more than 13,000 public servants through Aug. 31. The action affects 1,109 Vermonters who earlier had received furlough notices effective Aug. 3.

The announcement came after Leahy pressed the organization to reverse course on its intended furloughs after he made public the fact that new revenue estimates showed the agency ending the fiscal year in a surplus, and not the previously projected $571 million deficit. USCIS Acting Director Joseph Edlow gave the assurances to Leahy that the furloughs would be delayed on Friday morning by phone.

UVM President Suresh Garimella A year ago, I wrote you on my first day on the job. I still feel the same sense of honor and gratitude at being entrusted with leading this great University of the Green Mountains. Perhaps a little less mystique, and a little more of a sense of comfort and belonging, because my family and I did immerse ourselves in the community as I had hoped we would.

And while I acknowledged even then the challenges facing higher education, I can’t help noting the hope I expressed in that first-day letter. Hope that we could weather these challenges and thrive if we focused on our educational offerings, impactful research and scholarship, and meaningful engagement with our community. Through our work together and your feedback, these priorities are now reflected in our strategic imperatives plan, “Amplifying Our Impact,” approved by the Trustees on May 15. It is a strong framework that positions us for future success, and we can all take pride in its creation and offerings.

Vermont Business Magazine While the grandparent scam has long plagued older Vermonters, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a new twist that scammers are exploiting. Scammers, posing as the grandchildren of unsuspecting grandparents, call and pretend to be in the hospital, in jail, or stranded overseas and in urgent need of wire transfers, gift cards, or cash. By presenting an emergency in which their "grandchildren" need help getting out of, scammers pressure panicked grandparents into acting before they can realize it’s a scam. The Attorney General's Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) has received 93 reports of the grandparent scam since the beginning of the year, of which 34 have been logged since June 1.

Vermont Business Magazine On July 24, 2020 at approximately 0114 hours, Troopers from the St. Johnsbury Barracks responded to the Northeast Correctional Complex for a report of an escaped inmate. Troopers arrived on scene and learned that Shannon Edwards (35) escaped the facility by scaling an exterior fence.

Vermont Business Magazine In the spring of 2020, amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Vermont Technical College faculty wrapped up the pilot for the Student Survival Project and prepared it for launch to all Vermont Tech students in the fall 2020 semester. Funded by a $10,000 grant from the Davis Educational Foundation in 2019, this project's mission was to develop educational modules and activities designed to enhance the first year student experience and assist in development of the skills necessary for successful student transition to the college experience. Two Vermont Tech professors, Dr. Lisa Fox, School of Nursing and Allied Health Coordinator, and Jessica Riley, School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences Coordinator, developed Student Survival Modules to improve student retention and success.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell by nearly 200 last week after a moderate increase overall during the last month. After a steep decline as the economy began to reopen in April, initial unemployment claims for the last several weeks flattened and then rose in June. They've been slowly declining again in July. For the week ending July 18, 2020, the Labor Department processed 1,637 Initial Claims, down 193 from the previous week and 1,375 more than the same time last year.