Current News

by Lori Fisher, Executive Director, LCC Earlier this month, Lake Champlain completely iced over for the first time since 2015. In this issue of Enews we share some of the magic of winter on the lake with articles on snow kiting, Nordic skating and ice fishing. Read on to learn about how ice thaws, check out a series of upcoming events including a World Water Day presentation about plastics in Lake Champlain and a special international conference that draws on the past and looks to the future. You’ll also find clean lake tips, nature notes and water news from near and far.

As winter wanes, we hope you have a chance to take in the special beauty of a frozen lake. Thanks as always for your support and stewardship of this great waterway.

by Rob Miller, CEO, VSECU Unlike many financial institutions, VSECU is not run by outside investors, we’re run by our members. This makes us uniquely positioned to respond to what Vermonters need from their lenders. That’s why we’ve put a strong focus on investing in renewable energy. Our members know that investing in efficient renewable energy supports Vermont and our local economy.

Energy Action Network (EAN) recently released their 2018 Annual Progress Report, which adds further evidence for why these investments are the right thing to do for Vermonters, our environment, and our economy.

For instance, supporting Vermonters’ investments in renewable energy supports homegrown Vermont renewable energy businesses, which now employ almost 19,000 Vermonters – 6 percent of our workforce. That’s the highest share of any state’s renewable energy employment in the nation.

Vermont Business Magazine Runamok Maple and Sogle Property LLC (d/b/a Thunder Basin Maple Works) have been granted a combined $95,779.90 in Vermont Training Program (VTP) funds.  Both companies are co-owned by Eric and Laura Sorkin and together tap 81,000 maple trees on 1,350 acres in Cambridge and Fairfield, Vermont. Production across both companies has doubled in size over the last year

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger today announced the appointment of Deanna Paluba as the new Director of the City’s Department of Human Resources. Paluba brings over 20 years of experience to the position, including three years as the Director of Employee Relations at Gilead Sciences and 12 years in Human Resources at IBM. Mayor Weinberger has asked the City Council to confirm Paluba’s appointment at its meeting on Monday, March 25.

Mayor Miro Weinberger and Deanna Paluba. Courtesy City of Burington.

March 20^th is national SBDC Day, a national movement and social media campaign to help share collectively the small business success stories and notable impact SBDCs have fostered in communities nationwide.  For nearly 40 years the America’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network has helped aspiring and emerging small business owners achieve the American dream of entrepreneurship.

Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) along with our clients, stakeholders, and partners will post on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn today, using the hashtag #SBDCDay, and encourage liking, commenting and sharing.

Vermont Business Magazine VHB, with offices in South Burlington, has acquired Montpelier-based The Johnson Company (JCO)—a 30-person environmental science and engineering firm serving clients throughout the US. Together with JCO, VHB’s growing firm is poised to deliver a broader array of services and additional resources to meet market demands for clients nationwide. JCO brings a new Contaminated Site Assessment and Remediation (CSAR) practice to VHB.

by Howard Dean The Trump Administration and conservative, right-wing politicians across the nation are waging a war on women’s rights. Health care coverage, birth control access and abortion rights are being systematically dismantled at both the state and federal level. With the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, the final dam protecting reproductive rights seems set to break. Roe v. Wade could be overturned as soon as this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and Financial Regulation Commissioner Michael Pieciak today announced the appointment of Kevin Gaffney as deputy commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation’s (DFR) Insurance Division.

Vermont Business Magazine A record 129 workplaces in Vermont will receive awards for their onsite efforts to promote physical fitness and a healthy work-life balance. Governor Philip B Scott, state health commissioner Mark Levine and Janet Franz, chair of the Vermont Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, will present the awards to business owners, company presidents and human resources directors on March 21 in Burlington.

A special award for Business Wellness Leadership will be presented to Sean McMannon, Superintendent of the Winooski School District, for motivational role modeling, generous service to the community and strong leadership in sustaining a culture of wellbeing. Sean will receive $100 from the Governor’s Council to give to the Vermont Ibutwa Initiative, the charity of McMannon’s choice.

Vermont Business Magazine Why did the salamander cross the road? To move between its breeding and terrestrial habitats – and a recent report submitted to the Vermont Agency of Transportation wants to make such road crossings safer. The method proposed in the report seeks to identify amphibian road-crossing “hotspots” and guide the placement of potentially life-saving road modifications to make the cross safer.

by Brandon Arcari, Vermont Business Magazine Rutland Regional Medical Center suffered a breach to several employee email accounts starting late last year, Vermont Business Magazine has learned, potentially exposing sensitive patient data including names, diagnoses and prescription information. The breach, which occurred between November 2, 2018, and February 6, 2019, was identified by an employee who noticed spam emails sent from their account. On February 6, the medical center confirmed that nine employee email accounts had been compromised, and unauthorized users could have accessed any data contained within those accounts.

Over 72,000 patients may have been affected by the breach, according to a press release, which also stated that 3,683 Social Security Numbers were also vulnerable.

Rutland Regional said in a press release that it has not heard of any instances of personal information being misused as a result of the breach.

Vermont Business Magazine The annual “Big Change Roundup for Kids” raised $339,663.75 to support specialized care provided at The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital.  The Roundup is the largest fundraiser each year for the hospital, and this is the largest preliminary total in the 14-year history of the event, outpacing last year’s mark of $331,000.