Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) announced today that it will expand its parental leave policy to offer six weeks of fully paid parental leave for its employees, effective immediately.

Vermont Business Magazine The Small Business Innovation Research Road Tour is coming to the University of Vermont from 7 am to 3 pm September 16 at the Dudley H Davis Center. The SBIR Road Tour is a national outreach effort connecting entrepreneurs working on advanced technologies with Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, the country’s largest source of early stage funding.  Also known as America’s Seed Fund, the SBIR and STTR programs provide more than $3 billion annually to small businesses in a variety of technology areas.  

Vermont Business Magazine Rutland-based Casella Waste Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CWST), a regional vertically integrated solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of solid waste hauling and transfer assets in Albany, NY and Cheshire, MA from select subsidiaries of Republic Services, Inc. The acquired assets are expected to generate approximately $30 million of annualized revenues. 

“This acquisition is an exciting opportunity for us to extend our operations into two adjacent market areas, and will provide a great opportunity to drive further growth, operational synergies and landfill internalization,” said John W. Casella, Chairman and CEO of Casella Waste Systems, Inc.  “We are pleased to welcome Republic’s hardworking and dedicated employees to our team, and we are committed to maintaining the same excellent service standards for our new customers in these markets.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Copley Health Systems, Inc Board of Trustees has announced that, following a national search, Joseph “Joe” Woodin has been selected to serve as Copley Hospital’s next president and Chief Executive Officer. Woodin will take over leadership of the hospital in mid-October (exact start date currently being finalized), replacing Interim CEO Jeffrey White, who has lead the hospital since the departure of Copley’s previous president and CEO Art Mathisen in May. To those who know Vermont’s healthcare systems, Woodin is a familiar name thanks to his 17 year tenure at Gifford Health Care and Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, Vermont, where he served as president and CEO for 16 of those years. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Justice Reinvestment II Working Group, which was created by Governor Phil Scott in Executive Order 03-19, held its first meeting on August 26 to begin a data-driven approach to analyze and address challenges in the state’s adult criminal justice system. The review is part of Vermont’s participation in the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, a federally funded process aimed at helping states get maximum value out of their corrections spending and reinvest in strategies that can reduce recidivism and increase public safety.

Vermont Business Magazine SaVida Health, a leader in outpatient medication-assisted treatment for opioid and alcohol addiction, is opening a new treatment center in Newport, VT on September 12th.  SaVida Health Newport joins the medical practice's Bennington and Springfield Vermont locations as the third SaVida location in Vermont and its 13th nationally.  

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced today that the Vermont Department of Health will receive a three-year, $9.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to support a comprehensive statewide response to opioid-related overdoses, while strengthening Vermont’s prevention efforts.

The grant will increase the state’s ability to track and respond to overdoses, including those resulting in death; strengthen Vermont’s Prescription Drug Monitoring System, and provide overdose prevention trainings around the state, working with local communities – including libraries -- to better identify overdose risks and strengthen outreach efforts.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), Representative Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) led a bipartisan group of 44 lawmakers urging Congress to defund unauthorized U.S. military involvement in the Saudi-led war in Yemen in the upcoming bill to authorize Pentagon spending. The U.S.-Saudi military campaign in Yemen has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving 24 million Yemenis—80 percent of the population—in need of humanitarian assistance.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont PBS announces today its move to new headquarters in Winooski’s Town Center. The new studio will be just a few miles from its longtime Fort Ethan Allen building constructed 50 years ago by the University of Vermont to house Vermont ETV. The new location is at 10 East Allen Street, where it will occupy approximately 20,000 square feet in the VSAC Building.

“As Vermont’s only statewide independent public television station, it’s vital that we are increasingly visible, accessible, and flexible,” said Holly Groschner, Vermont PBS CEO. “This relocation marks a surge in creatively and productively connecting with everyone, on broadcast tv, cable, the internet, on social media, and soon including streaming via YouTube. We are making a special effort to bring community together and are excited to be part of the diverse and vibrant Winooski Town Center in a space that helps us evolve with Vermont and the media industry.”

Vermont Research News Teen pregnancy and nighttime driving: Vermont is the only state that doesn’t have mandatory nighttime-driving curfews and this may increase teen pregnancies, a new study finds. According to the research, states with stricter laws controlling new drivers have decreased fertility by 3–4% among mothers between the ages of 16 and 18. The researchers suggest that restricting the freedom and mobility of minor drivers can reduce the number of teen pregnancies; Tourism Matters: Vermont ranks 3rd for the importance of the leisure and hospitality industry in the state's overall economy, after Nevada and Hawaii, a new study reports. Employee earnings in the leisure and hospitality industry are below the average employee earnings in the U.S. and have increased more slowly than employee earnings in the overall U.S. economy.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Vermont University-Johnson has partnered with a nonprofit that promotes mental health and suicide prevention awareness for young adults in an initiative to boost support for NVU students.​ NVU will work with clinicians with JED Campus, a program of the New York-based Jed Foundation (JED), to assess and strengthen mental health, substance use and suicide prevention services at NVU.

With less stigma and more awareness of mental health issues, NVU-Johnson and colleges nationwide have seen an increase in students with emotional health and substance use challenges and more requests for campus services.   

“NVU-Johnson wants to be proactive,” campus Wellness Center Director Kate McCarthy says. “We’re partnering with the Jed Foundation to help us evaluate our services...to see what we’re doing well and learn about opportunities to expand and enhance some of our programs.”