Current News

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Today the Senate is considering perhaps the most significant bill to reform our criminal justice system in nearly a decade. The First Step Act takes modest but important steps to remedy some of the most troubling injustices within our sentencing laws and our prison system. It is my hope that this bill represents not just a single piece of legislation, but a turning point in how Congress views its role in advancing criminal justice.

by Don Jamison, Vermont Employee Ownership Center “2018 was a transformative year for us,” says Cindy Turcot, one of the original employees and now President of Burlington-based Gardener’s Supply Company. A national retailer, Gardener’s Supply is one of Vermont’s best-known companies, a leader in the socially-responsible business community, and 100 percent employee-owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Part of what made 2018 exciting at the company were some major changes: a reorganization of leadership, acquisition of Longacres Nursery Center in Lebanon, NH, and its grand reopening as Gardener’s Supply’s third retail location, and, last but not least, recognition as the national ESOP Company of the Year.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general yesterday in filing a motion challenging Friday’s ruling in Texas v HHS, in which the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional. The states’ motion requests that the Court make clear the ACA is still the law of the land and will continue to be enforced and implemented by states and the federal government while the case continues. The motion also asks the Court to allow an immediate appeal of Friday’s ruling.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation awarded $450,000 in matching grants to 18 nonprofits serving small- to mid-sized towns and cities across America to produce free outdoor concerts as part of the fifth annual Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant Awards. St Johnsbury's Catamount Arts is once again a winner. Reflecting the Levitt Foundation's commitment to creative placemaking projects generating community support, the Levitt Foundation opened the Levitt AMP selection process to the public to choose the top 25 finalists.

Vermont Business Magazine Many Vermonters are not benefiting from the state’s economic growth. That’s the central message of State of Working Vermont 2018, released today by Public Assets Institute. The data are new. But the message was similar in the 2017 report—and the year before that, and the year before that. State of Working Vermont, based on US Census and economic data through 2017, showed that the Vermont economy grew last year—not as much as the rest of the country, but more than three of the other New England states. Even with its overall growth, however, Vermont was one of 10 states where income for the typical household fell in 2017.

Vermont Business Magazine Mt Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC) has announced the addition of a wide-bore Espree 1.5 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner. The unit will be available on-site at the Hospital campus in Windsor, Vermont every other Monday starting January 14, 2019. The wide-bore MRI will join the closed-bore MRI, which is at MAHHC every Thursday.

MRI units generate three-dimensional images of the body’s interior without radiation and are useful in detecting and diagnosing an array of medical conditions. The new wide-bore unit is designed to accommodate larger patients and those who may experience anxiety or claustrophobia with traditional, narrower MRI units. The system features a 27.5 inch diameter entry point. This leaves fifteen inches to seventeen inches from the tip of one’s nose to the top of the scanner as compared to traditional models, which provide eight inches to ten inches of clearance.

Vermont Business Magazine Rutland Regional Medical Center has two long-standing holiday traditions that benefit local community members: the Silver Stocking Program and Adopt-A-Family. Through the Silver Stocking Program, individual employees or departments, as well as local businesses and community organizations can “adopt” a person who is low income, has special needs, is at risk of becoming homeless or resides in a long-term care facility, with minimal or no family support.

Vermont Business Magazine Erin Fernandez, executive director of Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports, recently named Norm Staunton as the new director of technical operations and advancement, and Felicia Fowler as a program coordinator, based out of Sugarbush Resort. “The quality of our programming has made Vermont Adaptive a nationally recognized organization that empowers people of all abilities,” Fernandez said. “Bringing Felicia and Norm to join our team full-time furthers our ability to bring the best programming to our athletes.”

Vermont Business Magazine Following a comprehensive review, Howard Center has received a Centers of Excellence (COE) accreditation through Vermont Care Partners (VCP). The COE accreditation is based on numerous quality and performance measures, including world class customer service, comprehensive care, easy access, excellent value, and excellent outcomes. The achievement identifies Howard Center as a provider of high quality care, and enhances the organization’s ability to provide much needed services for vulnerable Vermonters.

Modeled after the National Council for Behavioral Health’s Centers of Excellence, the VCP’s COE accreditation process promotes quality improvement and high quality services through agency review by expert peers from VCP member agencies and the University of Vermont Medical Center Jeffords Institute for Quality.

Winooski Mayor Seth Leonard Following the January 28th, 2019 City Council meeting, I will resign as the Mayor of Winooski. In making both civic and professional decisions, I always ask “where can I do the most good and have the most meaningful impact?” In answering that question, I have accepted the position of Managing Director of Community Development at the Vermont Housing Finance Agency.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine The personal income tax rebounded from a sluggish October and increased nearly 10 percent. The PI is the most important General Fund revenue source and is well ahead of projections for the month and for the year-to-date.

Vermont Business Magazine Seven Days newspaper won 18 awards Thursday at the Vermont Press Association’s annual meeting in Montpelier. Those included six first-place prizes and the prestigious Mavis Doyle Award, which went to staff writer Alicia Freese