Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Newly released child care and school immunization data from the Vermont Department of Health shows that while a high number of Vermont children in child care and school have received all their required vaccines, a significant number of children are under-vaccinated – creating a danger that vaccine-preventable diseases like measles can take hold and spread

Vermont Business Magazine When it comes to inpatient treatment of a range of mental health and mood disorders — from anxiety and depression to schizophrenia, suicidality and acute psychotic episodes — a new study suggests that physical exercise is so effective at alleviating patient symptoms that it could reduce patients’ time admitted to acute facilities and reliance on psychotropic medications.

“The general attitude of medicine is that you treat the primary problem first, and exercise was never considered to be a life or death treatment option. Now that we know it’s so effective, it can become as fundamental as pharmacological intervention,” explains David Tomasi, a lecturer at the University of Vermont, psychotherapist and inpatient psychiatry group therapist at the University of Vermont Medical Center and lead researcher of the study.

Vermont Business Magazine Aspenti Health of South Burlington was named the winner of the Clinical Lab 2.0 Innovation Award, honoring innovation excellence in the clinical laboratory industry. The award was presented before a prestigious panel of national clinical laboratory leaders by the Clinical Lab 2.0 Movement (www.cl2lab.org) at the 24th Annual Executive War College Conference (www.warcollege.com) in New Orleans on May 2, 2019, the largest gathering of clinical laboratory executive leadership in the United States.

Vermont Business Magazine Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) and Community College of Vermont (CCV) are partnering again for an accelerated program to prepare qualified candidates for jobs as Certified Medical Assistants. Enrollment in the one semester program will be limited to twenty participants. Classes will be held on the CCV Brattleboro campus, and all clinical aspects of the course work will be completed at BMH. As part of the joint initiative, BMH is providing full scholarships for eight successful applicants. Scholarship recipients will have their CCV tuition covered and will be hired as Medical Assistants at BMH upon successful completion of the academic program and certification exam.

by John McClaughry My very good friend John M Mitchell died at 80 on March 28 in Rutland.  He was the CEO of Swiss-owned OMYA’s North American operations, managed from Proctor, until his retirement in 2000, and a founding director of the Ethan Allen Institute in 1993.

Elsewhere I have fondly remembered John for his personal qualities and service, but here I’d like to share the message he gave in 2006 to Vermonters about the way the State of Vermont regulates companies doing business here. In this talk he described not huge new projects, like Omya’s proposed Danby Mountain mine, but recurring regulatory practices imposed on operations that had gone on for years.  

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice (CVHHH) in Berlin is reporting that its hospice program recently passed a survey conducted by the State of Vermont Division of Licensing & Protection (DLP) with the highest marks. According to DLP, CVHHH’s hospice program was found to be in “strong compliance” with state and federal hospice regulations, passing the survey with no deficiencies.

Vermont Business Magazine As part fo the celebrated the Southwestern Vermont Health Care group, physical therapy services have opened at Twin Rivers Medical in Hoosick Falls, NY.

Vermont Business Magazine Marvell (NASDAQ: MRVL) today announced it has entered into definitive agreements to purchase Avera Semiconductor, the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) business of GlobalFoundries. GlobalFoundries local plant, which includes Avera and the semiconductor fab, is located in Essex Junction. This acquisition brings together Avera Semi’s leading custom design capabilities with Marvell’s advanced technology platform and scale, creating a leading ASIC supplier for wired and wireless infrastructure. The agreements include transfer of Avera’s revenue base, strategic design wins with leading infrastructure OEMs, and a new long-term wafer supply agreement between GlobalFoundries and Marvell.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Precisions Tools, an advanced manufacturing company based in Swanton, recently received a grant totaling $12,167.10 from the Vermont Training Program (VTP). With this grant, Vermont Precision Tools is expanding its Blueprint Reading training. The Blueprint Reading Project is a 72-hour course offered on-site. Goals of the training include defining Blueprint syntax, interpreting and applying dimensions and tolerances as defined by ASME Y14.5M-2009, performing math and geometry fundamental to manufacturing operations, interpreting multi-view drawings, and interpreting thread series and notations. This core curriculum helps employees perform valued-added tasks with a new set of skills and acquired knowledge. It also allows them to understand the technical requirements of the product so that they can be more fully engaged in the manufacturing or selling process.

Vermont Business Magazine The fourth graduating class of Castleton University passed across the stage at its 232nd Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 18. Former Vermont Governor James Douglas addressed the more than 3,500 guests in attendance and thousands more streaming the ceremony online.

Vermont Business Magazine GW Plastics President and CEO Brenan Riehl was the keynote speaker at the college's 153rd annual commencement for the applied science and engineering technology program ceremonies on Saturday inRandolph Center. Riehl leads the multi-national company, which is one of North America's top precision thermoplastic and silicone contract manufacturers. As an employer-partner to Vermont Tech, GW Plastics offers credit-bearing training for their incumbent workers, provides scholarship and internships to Vermont Tech students, and hires many graduates. Currently, approximately 20 employees are graduates of the college.

Vermont Business Magazine Looking out over a sea of graduates and their families, UVM’s 2019 Commencement speaker Darren Walker noted the many differences among the personal stories of those gathered on the University Green on a breezy Vermont Sunday morning. Differences in where they are from and where they are going next with their lives, differences in their academic majors and their career goals.