Current News

Vermont Business Magazine MENTOR Vermont is excited to announce the start of the 2019-2020 Vermont Mentoring Grants application process. These annual grants are designed to support new and existing youth mentoring programs in Vermont that match adult volunteers as mentors for youth mentees (ages 5-22) in long-term, one-to-one, quality-based mentoring relationships.

The Vermont Mentoring Grants have traditionally been made possible through support from the A.D. Henderson Foundation and the Vermont Department for Children and Families. During the 2018-2019 grant year, MENTOR Vermont and its funding partners awarded 31 grants, totaling more than $300,000, to support more than 100 new and existing mentoring program sites, and more than 1,750 adult-to-youth mentor pairs in communities across Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine TD Bank has named Sheryl L McQuade Regional President for Northern New England, covering Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. In this role, McQuade will lead TD Bank’s Northern New England retail, small business, commercial and middle-market banking operations and lending services throughout a network of approximately 130 stores and 4,300 employees. Her primary office location will be in Manchester, NH.

Vermont Business Magazine On June 26, 2019, Springfield Medical Care Systems (SMCS) and Springfield Hospital (SH) filed for Chapter 11 – Reorganization. The hospital and health centers will remain open and operating as usual while the organizations work through the bankruptcy reorganization process, which is expected to last up to 12 months, but can be shorter or longer depending on a number of factors.

Vermont Business Magazine BioTek’s Synergy Neo2 Hybrid Multi-Mode Microplate Reader received expanded certification from Cisbio Bioassays for their proprietary HTRF technology, a TR-FRET assay platform used in the Life Sciences. BioTek is based in Winooski with global offices. Synergy Neo2 was recently updated with an optional TRF laser. The TRF laser provides ultra-fast measurement speed, along with optimal sensitivity for critical screening applications like Time-Resolved Fluorescence (TRF) and Time-Resolved Fluorescence Energy Transfer (TR-FRET) assays. Synergy Neo2 now offers HTRF certification with both its flash lamp and laser excitation modes and is an ideal solution for high throughput screening (HTS) and core labs facilitating ultra-fast processing of high-throughput biochemical and cell-based assay workflows.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Creamery co-founders Bob Reese and Allison Hooper were inducted into the Specialty Food Association Hall of Fame at ceremony held Sunday during the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City. Bob and Allison founded Vermont Creamery in 1984; over the next 35 years, the improbable business partners became pioneers of the artisan cheese movement in the United States, introducing American diners to goat cheese and later, European-style butter.

“It’s an honor to be inducted to the SFA Hall of Fame,” said Bob Reese, co-founder of Vermont Creamery. The Specialty Food Association has been pivotal in supporting crafters of specialty food and fostering a sense of community amongst innovators and we’re thrilled to be a part of the movement.”

Vermont Business Magazine Rosoka Software and Norwich Pro today announced a partnership for the creation and implementation of the Rosoka Associate Operator and Rosoka Expert Operator Certification. The online training program and certification exam will be offered beginning in October 2019 through Norwich University’s Continuing and Professional Education division, Norwich Pro.

Public Assets Institute The Vermont labor force grew for the sixth straight month in May. This followed declines during almost all of 2018. The growing labor force has helped push down Vermont’s unemployment rate to 2.1 percent, the lowest in the country now and the record low for Vermont since state-specific data began being tracked in 1976.

Vermont Business Magazine When Seven Days launched Vermont Restaurant Week 10 years ago, the goal was to celebrate Vermont’s vibrant food scene, drive traffic to local businesses and help our neighbors in need. At least one measure of the event’s success set a record this year: a $25,344.03 donation to the Vermont Foodbank. Over the past decade, Restaurant Week has generated a total of $147,395.36 for the Vermont nonprofit. Vermont Federal Credit Union is the presenting sponsor of Restaurant Week.

by Julie Lowell, Public Assets Institute Connecticut was able to do what Vermont couldn’t this past legislative session: raise the minimum wage to $15 and create a paid family and medical leave insurance program. Our New England neighbor could provide some guidance for the Vermont Legislature when it reconvenes in January.

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont Extension will expand a program proven to reduce risky behavior in youth, including substance misuse, called PROSPER to schools in St. Johnsbury, Newport and Derby. The program is currently in place at three Vermont schools. PROSPER, for Promoting School-Community-University Partnerships to Enhance Resilience, was developed jointly at Iowa State University and Pennsylvania State University in 2001 and has been implemented in communities around the country since then. Its effectiveness has been demonstrated in nearly 80 published research studies.

Vermont Business Magazine United Way of Northwest Vermont—a local organization working to improve lives in Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties—recently approved $1.5 million in funding to the local community as part of its 2018-2021 community investment process. These funds represent the second year of a larger, three-year funding commitment to 51 local programs serving all three counties.

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will present 35 citizenship candidates to the U.S. District Court for Vermont during a naturalization ceremony at Essex High School on Wednesday. Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy will administer the Oath of Allegiance to the candidates.