Current News

Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Julia Birnn Fields had a dilemma. A long-time employee, who’d given 20 years to Birnn Chocolates in South Burlington, kept being passed over for promotion. This had nothing to do with his work ethic. He showed up on time everyday and worked hard every day. But he could not read or write English, nor speak it very well.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that he has appointed Tom Huebner, the former chief executive officer of the Rutland Regional Medical Center (RRMC), to evaluate, monitor and assist Springfield Hospital as it confronts serious financial challenges. Huebner, 65, spent 27 years at RRMC, including seven years at vice president of services and 20 years as CEO. Additionally, he has served on the board of directors for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems and the American Hospital Association.

At the direction of Governor Scott, Huebner will represent the Governor’s Office and is charged with assessing the situation and working with the board and administration of Springfield Hospital to ensure there is a plan in place to restore the hospital’s fiscal stability.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) announced that their bipartisan Second Chance Reauthorization Act passed the Senate as part of the First Step Act, bipartisan legislation to reform America’s criminal justice system. The reform package passed the Senate late Tuesday night in a strong bipartisan vote of 87 to 12. The House is expected to pass it by the end of this week, and President Trump is expected to sign it.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Agency of Digital Services (ADS) today announced the hiring of Nicholas Andersen as the Agency’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Andersen brings 12 years of cybersecurity experience to this position. Since 2017, he served as a vice president at Invictus International Consulting, LLC and co-founder of Pueo Business Solutions, LLC. In those roles, he assisted with information assurance and cybersecurity in partnership with the Defense Intelligence Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, US Department of Homeland Security, US Army, Coast Guard, and Navy, and the US Marine Corps Forces Cyber Command.

In 2018, Andersen received the U.S. Government Information Security Leadership Award for his work in penetration testing, incident response, and risk and vulnerability assessment services across the federal government.

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont announced Tuesday evening that it has received a $15 million gift from Rich and Deb Tarrant, Vermont philanthropists with strong ties to the university. The gift, one of the largest ever made to UVM and the largest capital gift in its history, will help bring the highly-anticipated Multi-Purpose Center project to fruition. The Tarrants were recognized with an on-court presentation prior to the start of the men’s home basketball game versus St Bonaventure.

by Ed McCollin, Green Mountain Council, Scout Executive/CEO You may have seen the recent Wall Street Journal article stating that National BSA has hired a bankruptcy attorney for consultation considering the costs of defending sexual abuse lawsuits. I anticipate learning additional information in the days and weeks ahead, and of course will share anything I learn with you.

In a communication released December 13, National BSA reaffirmed its focus on keeping children safe and delivering our nation’s foremost program of character development and values-based leadership training.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Bank NA announces a donation of $2,500 to support Everybody Wins! Vermont — a literacy, mentoring organization, that supports programs throughout the state. This donation will fund mentoring programs in Northfield, Barre, Waterbury, Rutland and St. Johnsbury. Last year alone, the program boasted more than 570 adults reading to children in 23 sites across the state.

Everybody Wins! Vermont seeks to increase a child’s success by focusing on three research-based pillars: children reading weekly with an adult, children establishing a one-on-one caring relationship with a safe adult, and community members connecting with and supporting their local school.

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.