Current News
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Vermont Business Magazine Continuing efforts to oppose the federal government’s plan to repeal the Clean Power Plan, Attorney General TJ Donovan announced that he joined with 21 other states, the District of Columbia, and six cities to file a lawsuit seeking review of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) replacement rule. In a petition for review filed at the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, the coalition asked that the court review the final version of the “Affordable Clean Energy Rule,” the EPA’s intended replacement for the Clean Power Plan.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education has awarded seven Equity Literacy grants to 13 Vermont school districts and supervisory unions across the state. The grants, totaling nearly $200,000, will support individual and collaborative projects in addressing equity gaps in their school communities. The applications involved numerous partnerships and collaborative work. Grantee awards will range in funding from approximately $4,000 to $44,000. Summaries of the grant proposals can be found on the agency’s website.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced the nine recipients for the Above and Beyond Awards, an award category designed to showcase the inspiring workforce shaping Vermont today. The Above and Beyond Awards will be given to individuals who have taken that extra step in their job, industry, or community work, thus contributing to a more vibrant state for Vermonters to live, work and play. Special recognition for their outstanding qualities and achievements will be showcased during the annual Vermont Chamber Citizen of the Year & Above and Beyond Awards Dinner on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at the Hilton Burlington Hotel.
2019 Above and Beyond Award Recipients:
• Steve Bryant, Dorset Inn
• Steve Costello, Green Mountain Power
• Mark Delaney, Smugglers’ Notch Resort
• Leslie Griffiths, GlobalFoundries
• Julie Holcomb, Vermont Employment Agency
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Vermont Business Magazine The annual Rabies Bait Drop, a cooperative effort between the State of Vermont and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Wildlife Services to stop the spread of rabies, began on August 11. The week-long bait drop is part of a nationally coordinated effort to halt the fatal disease. Rabies vaccine — in the form of a sweet-smelling oral bait that is attractive to raccoons and skunks — will be dropped in rural areas of Vermont from low-flying aircraft and placed by hand in residential centers. Approximately 450,000 quarter-sized blister packs containing rabies vaccine will be distributed in nearly 100 Vermont communities across nine counties. A switch allows pilots to control where the baits fall, in order to avoid roadways, homes and other places where people are most likely to be.
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Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced Josh Hanford of Randolph has been appointed as commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development where he will lead Governor Scott’s efforts to create more housing and help Vermont communities grow.
“Josh has decades of experience making government work for communities,” said Governor Scott. “He also understands the urgency of building more housing units and undertaking new and innovative approaches to rural economic development.”
Josh Hanford as a VBM Rising Star in 2013.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Retreat will host the 10th Annual Ride for Heroes event at 10:00 am on Saturday, Aug. 17th with registration beginning at 9:00 am. The motorcycle ride starts and ends on the Retreat campus with a post-ride barbeque lunch. This is the 10th annual Ride for Heroes in support of the Retreat’s Uniformed Service Program (USP), which offers specialized trauma and addiction treatment for people who are, or have been, active military, law enforcement, fire fighters, veterans, EMS, and corrections personnel.
“The need for services that target men and women in uniform has never been greater,” said Dr. Louis Josephson, president and chief executive officer of the Brattleboro Retreat. “While the stresses of duty in today’s world can easily become overwhelming, proper treatment definitely helps individuals reclaim their lives. The Ride for Heroes raises needed funds to keep these services operating.”
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Vermont Business Magazine A new study shows Vermont with the 20th highest suicide rate in America with 18 suicides per 100,000 people with the rate growing faster than the national average. Suicide rates in the US have grown by 20% in the last decade and are at the highest level since 1942 with 14 suicides per 100,000 people. Vermont’s suicide rate has increased by 73.1% since 1999, which marks the 4th largest increase of any state over this time.
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by John McClaughry In the wake of horrendous mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, leading political figures are once again demanding sweeping measures of gun control. Former VP Joe Biden, the front runner in the Democratic Presidential pack of twenty, said on CNN that he favored a ban on “military style rifles” He acknowledged that there’s no legal way of confiscating such rifles from private owners, but “we can, in fact, make a major effort to take them off the street and out of the possession of people,” suggesting a voluntary buyback program.
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Vermont Business Magazine Ronald McDonald House Charities of Burlington needs your help by voting for them to receive a $25,000 grant from State Farm® to help improve their community. Starting August 14 at 12:01am ET, U.S. residents
who are 18 and older with a valid email address can vote for their favorite cause.
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Vermont Business Magazine Union Bank announced Monday the opening of its newest full service branch located at 31 Market Street, Finney Crossing, Williston. The newly constructed branch location features a 9,300 square foot building that houses both the new bank branch and mortgage loan center which has relocated from Kimball Avenue in South Burlington to the second floor of this new facility. There is an additional 1,500 square foot space currently available for rent.
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Vermont Business Magazine Jeffersonville food entrepreneur Lea Ann Macrery has never lacked for drive. Now, thanks to financing from the Vermont Community Loan Fund, her new business, My Favorite Things Food Truck, is ready to hit the road. Lea Ann grew up in Pretoria, South Africa’s bustling administrative capital. With a South African mother and American father, she was granted dual citizenship at birth. When a year of college didn’t feel like the right fit, she set out at age 18 for New York City’s culinary lights.
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Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointments of Michael Schirling as commissioner of Public Safety, and Lindsay Kurrle as secretary of the Agency of Commerce & Community Development. Both have served in Scott’s cabinet throughout his time in office. Schirling, currently serving as secretary of ACCD, will fill the vacancy left by Thomas D Anderson, who resigned in July. Kurrle will move from the Department of Labor to take the leadership role at ACCD.
Michael Schirling, left, with Governor Scott in 2017.