Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) has announced a continued partnership with OneCare Vermont providing its individual and small employer members access to state health care reform programs. BCBSVT and OneCare will engage with providers through programs focused on improving quality, increasing access to care, and ensuring efficient and cost-effective delivery of health care services. This arrangement covers approximately 24,000 BCBSVT members with primary care physicians in the OneCare network. BCBSVT is the only commercial health insurance company to participate in the State’s All Payer Model and the OneCare Vermont Accountable Care Organization (ACO) delivery program.

Leonine Public Affairs Lawmakers and Governor Scott have yet to have a public spat about these money bills but everyone is holding their breath to see if the governor unveils an April surprise similar to the ones he did in the past two years that sent the money bills into a tailspin. The next two weeks are critical. When lawmakers set off for a week away from the State House on March 1, it will be clear what bills have traction and those that didn’t make the cut and have to wait until next year. The day after we pass crossover is best summed up with, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery.

by Paul Costello Carbon tax. Cap and Trade. Carbon Markets. Depending on our point of view, these concepts might make us nervous about raising the cost of living when we are already struggling to pay our bills. Or we may feel passionately about the necessity of pricing carbon for the future of our climate and our economy. Or both. And a lot of people find it all so confusing that they just tune out.

Rather than choose sides, we need to agree to think together as Vermonters. We need to consider the science around climate change, and work out how we can systematically advance our economy, preserve affordability, incite and inspire the creativity of entrepreneurs while dramatically reducing our carbon impact. No one has all the answers.

Vermont Business Magazine Jamaica Cottage Shop, Inc provides business to consumer wood manufacturing, Internet marketing and online retail. It's also one of the fastest growing businesses according to Inc. 5000. Not only have the companies on the 2018 Inc. 5000 been competitive within their markets, but the list, as a whole, shows staggering growth compared with prior lists. 

Vermont Business Magazine Union Mutual proudly participated in the Penguin Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Vermont on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019 at the Burlington Waterfront. With the widespread support of hundreds of donors, the “Union Mutual Popsicles” were able to set a new high-water mark for the event’s fundraising with a grand total of $44,932. The previous team fundraising record was $30,000, set back in 2012.

“Union Mutual is thrilled to continue its partnership with Special Olympics Vermont and help make the 2019 Penguin Plunge a huge success.  We are truly humbled with the level of support our employees, agency partners, friends and families generated.  Both of our organizations strive to do the best we can to better the lives of those within our communities and we look forward to collaborating with each other for years to come,” Union Mutual President & CEO Michael Nobles said.

Vermont Business Magazine The 24th Annual Burlington & Cool Schools Penguin Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Vermont was held on February 2nd at the Burlington Waterfront. Despite temperatures in the teens, with an even lower wind chill, over 1,200 people braved the elements and plunged into the frigid waters of Lake Champlain. The Penguin Plunge is the largest fundraising event for Special Olympics Vermont, and this year, over $548,000 was raised to support sports training and competition, health screenings, and leadership opportunities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine A Jericho, Vermont, native and 2005 Mount Mansfield Union graduate is serving at the U.S. Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific (NSTCP) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Lieutenant Nicholas Keech has served for nine years and works as a Navy tactics instructor and is serving within the U.S. Pacific Fleet area of operations. The U.S. Pacific Fleet is the world’s largest fleet command, encompassing 100 million square miles, nearly half the Earth’s surface, from Antarctica to the Arctic Circle and from the West Coast of the United States into the Indian Ocean.

by Brandon Arcari The University of Vermont Board of Trustees voted Friday morning to name Dr Suresh Garimella of Purdue University as the university's next president, according to the Vermont Cynic, UVM's student-run newspaper. Garimella was announced February 4 as the sole finalist candidate to replace Tom Sullivan as its next president. Sullivan plans to step down in Summer of 2019. Garimella currently serves as Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships at Purdue University. He is also a PhD in mechanical engineering. Garimella was the presumptive new president and met with the media Thursday.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas today filed its rate proposal asking to decrease customer rates by 2.7%. This is the second rate decrease request in as many years. The request is subject to the Public Utility Commission’s thorough review and approval. If approved by regulators, this rate reduction will mean customers will pay about 30% less or about $530 less per year - than in 2008. Vermont Gas customers reduce their carbon footprint by 28% when they choose Vermont Gas service instead of fuel oil, and they can reduce their energy bills by 20-30% more through Vermont Gas energy efficiency programs. Additionally, the Company’s Low-Income Assistance Program offers a 20% cost reduction to income-eligible customers.

Vermont Business Magazine Preliminary data for 2018 currently shows that nearly all opioid-related fatalities among Vermont residents were of accidental or undetermined intent and that the overall state increase was very small (108 to 110), according to a recent report from the Vermont Department of Health. But the number of fatalities has skewed sharply toward southern Vermont. Opioid-related deaths in Chittenden County were cut in half from 2017 (28) to 2018 (14), but the four southern counties increased 56 percent and more than made up (+22) for the decline in Chittenden (-18). 

Vermont Business Magazine Chittenden County experienced a 50 percent reduction in opioid-related overdose deaths in 2018, from 35 deaths in 2017 to 17 in 2018. This reduction marks a reversal of what has previously been a steady upward trend in overdose deaths since 2014, and the total was lower than in any year since the State began publishing county-by-county results in 2013.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy: There is no national emergency. No one who subscribes to reality can claim otherwise. Crossings are historically down, billions are being spent on border security, and Congress yesterday appropriated still more. President Trump simply failed to get a deal to build his wasteful vanity wall. He failed to get a deal with Mexico, despite promising his supporters more than 200 times that Mexico would pay for it. He failed to get a deal with his own party, even during the two years when Republicans controlled all levers of government. And he failed to get a deal now. The President’s inartful failure to get a deal does not justify him manufacturing a false national emergency.