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Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) will deliver a response to President Donald Trump's address to the nation (Tuesday night at 9 pm). Sanders' response will be live streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter following the official Democratic response.

by Scott Giles, VSAC Nearly every conversation about the economic future of our state begins and ends with the need for greater workforce development and for Vermonters to get the education and training required for the available jobs today and the ones coming down the line. Economists project that by 2020, nearly 7 out of 10 jobs will require education or training beyond high school.

Vermont Business Magazine Public Safety Commissioner Thomas D Anderson and Tax Commissioner Kaj Samsom announced today that a tax examiner employed by the Department of Taxes has been arrested by the Vermont State Police on suspicion of embezzling more than $15,000 from the state of Vermont by altering a single taxpayer’s return information in fall 2018.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) and nine House colleagues today introduced bipartisan legislation that would require the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors enrolled in the Medicare Part D program. When the Part D prescription drug benefit was authorized by Congress in 2003, then House Majority Leader Tom Delay, at the behest of the drug lobby, carved out a sweetheart deal that prohibits the federal government from leveraging the enormous purchasing power of the millions of seniors now enrolled in the program to negotiate lower drug prices and save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Vermont Business Magazine The State of Vermont licensed 25 new captive insurance companies in 2018, according to data released by the Department of Financial Regulation. The new licenses were made up of 12 pure captives, 4 risk retention groups (RRGs), 3 sponsored captives, 2 industrial insured captives, 2 special purpose financial insurers, 1 branch captive and 1 affiliated reinsurance company (ARC). The newly formed ARC is the first of its kind and comes less than a year after Vermont passed legislation establishing this new type of captive structure.

“I am extremely proud of the outstanding performance of our captive team and the leadership that Vermont continues to deliver for this industry,” said Governor Phil Scott. “2018 proved to be another great year for captive insurance in Vermont.”

Vermont Business Magazine After the holiday season, packed with gifts and giving, some of us settle back into our routines with that post vacation glow, while others of us are reminded of the harsh, cold months ahead. Winter isn’t easy in Vermont, with temperatures frequently dropping below 0 and fuel costs rising, many Vermonters make difficult choices when budgeting their family’s basic needs.

Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center recently appointed Katherine Connolly, Michael Couture, Brandon del Pozo, and Hanneke Willenborg to its Board of Trustees for three-year terms. Kathy Connelly has lived in Vermont since 1979. Following a career in the insurance industry, she volunteered in the Burlington Community as a park commissioner, a city councilor, and a school commissioner. Kathy is a former Howard Center board member and previously served as a past president of the Howard Center Board. Kathy lives in Burlington.

Vermont Business Magazine The 5th Annual Jingle Bell on December 1 at the Equinox Resort in Manchester, VT, hosted a sold-out crowd of 160 people and raised more than $80,000 for Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC). It was the final charity event of the health system’s 100^th anniversary year.

Vermont Business Magazine Staff of Oceanair Marine, Ltd, of Manchester, VT, visited the Women’s and Children’s Department of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a division of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), on Friday, December 21 to deliver 19 hand-stitched, soft and colorful quilts and blankets for families being treated on the unit during the holidays.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Legislature passed the Essential Maintenance Practices (EMP) Law in 1996. The purpose of the law is to prevent children from getting lead poisoned in rental housing or child care facilities, requiring annual EMP inspections and the use of lead safe work practices when renovating or maintaining these properties. The law applies to all residential rental units and childcare facilities in buildings built prior to 1978.

Vermont Home Inspection Services is certified to perform visual EMP Inspections. EMP Inspections are a visual on-site inspection of the interior and exterior of the building looking for deteriorated paint. Deteriorated paint is identified as any interior or exterior paint or other coating that is peeling, chipping, chalking, cracking or separating from the substrate.

US Senator Bernie Sanders “In Vermont, alone, over 1,300 federal workers may be going without a paycheck, thanks to Trump’s misguided government shutdown. These include employees who work at the TSA, the US Department of Agriculture, Customs and Border Patrol, and the Internal Revenue Service. As a result of this shutdown, there is growing concern in Vermont and around the country about how these federal employees are going to pay their mortgages, feed their families and provide for other basic needs without a paycheck...

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) today presented Albert Besser of Morrisville with the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his heroic service as part of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor that Congress can award to a civilian.

“Albert Besser is an American hero deserving of this honor,” said Welch. “Though no award can adequately do justice to the immense sacrifice and bravery of OSS veterans, I am pleased that this remarkable unit is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Mr. Besser is truly exemplary of the Greatest Generation.”

The OSS was the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and special operations community. Created to gather intelligence and wage unconventional warfare in enemy territory, the OSS was a critical component to the Allied victory in World War II.