Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education announced results from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Program on Wednesday. These relatively new scores are replacing the "No Child Left Behind" assessments. The new results, while generally indicating progress, do not offer much perspective. There is not a national comparison in the results (see tables below), nor were local school scores yet released. This is also the first year under the new system that 9th graders were assessed.

What the results do show, however, is that in English, especially, scores have improved. They were also relatively better than the Math results, where only 3rd graders reached at least 50 percent proficiency. In English, every grade reached that level.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for Vermont’s new electric school and transit bus pilot program. The RFP is the next step in launching the pilot program. Results from the program will allow the state to determine whether this technology can be applied more broadly across Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Van Dora Williams, an associate professor and program director of Broadcast Media Production, Filmmaking and Sonic Arts in the Division of Communication and Creative Media at Champlain College, has been selected to participate in the Television Academy Foundation’s 2018 Faculty Seminar Program. Members of the Television Academy selected 25 professors from colleges and universities nationwide to participate in the prestigious program.

The faculty fellows will gain the latest information on the television and content development industries from top entertainment professionals during a weeklong Southern California seminar from Nov. 5-9, 2018.

Champlain photo of Van Dora Williams

Vermont Business Magazine Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are lands that have been protected as wildlife habitat and are open hunting, fishing and trapping. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department's 93 WMAs offer free access to Vermont's wilderness during your favorite hunting season. Since 1919, the department has protected more than 140,000 acres now designated as WMAs.

Vermont Business Magazine The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has confirmed that insects collected from ash trees in South Hero, VT are larvae of the emerald ash borer (EAB). This location is about fifty miles from the closest confirmed EAB infestation in Vermont. This invasive insect was first discovered in Vermont in February, and has also been confirmed in Orange, Washington, Caledonia, and Bennington counties.

State and federal agencies are planning a delineation survey based on tree symptoms to determine the extent of the newly detected EAB infestation. Landowners and other residents of South Hero and surrounding towns are urged to look for signs and symptoms of the insect and report suspicious findings on vtinvasives.org. Detailed information about the pest and what to look for may be found at the same website.

Vermont Business Magazine Two Vermont organizations have received $1.2 million in federal funds from the US Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. The award was announced Tuesday by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont). The CDFI Fund awarded $184 million in grants and loans to 264 community credit unions and loan funds across the country that provide affordable financial products and services in economically distressed areas.

Two Vermont programs received funds through these awards:

· NeighborWorks of Western Vermont received $500,000
· Vermont Community Loan Fund Inc. in Montpelier received $700,000

Vermont Business Magazine Chittenden County housing leaders, joined by Congressman Peter Welch, Vermont Speaker Mitzi Johnson and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, announced today that one of two housing production goals was being met for the county, indicating mixed results for the second year in a row. The Building Homes Together campaign, supported by over 100 local and state leaders, stayed on pace to create 3,500 new homes over five years but is falling short of a target of 700 new permanently affordable homes by the end of 2020.

“Every Vermonter should have the peace of mind that comes with a safe and affordable home. The Building Homes Together campaign has brought us a few steps closer to that goal. Today, we celebrate its success and recommit to the work ahead of us,” Congressman Peter Welch told the assembled crowd.

Vermont Business Magazine This afternoon, President Trump signed into law legislation co-authored by Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) that eliminates so-called “gag rules” imposed on pharmacists that prevent them from steering their customers to the lowest cost option when filling a prescription. Currently, contractual requirements imposed on pharmacists by pharmacy benefit managers forbid them from informing customers that their cost would be lower if they paid out of pocket rather than using their insurance plan. Pharmacists violating these rules have been subjected to significant penalties.

“In a time of skyrocketing prescription drug prices, it defies common sense that pharmacists are prohibited from helping customers save money on their medications,” said Welch. “This new law empowers pharmacists to steer customers to the lowest cost option when filling a prescription.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency pass-through funds for Water Quality Management Planning. Funding will allow TRORC and other Regional Planning Commissions to conduct data collection of river corridor or stormwater master plans; conduct outreach and work with municipalities on possible support for reclassification of surface waters, wetlands, and Outstanding Resource Waters; and support water quality monitoring activities.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) announced Wednesday that Congress passed legislation that opens the door for Vermont to receive federal funds to repair three aging flood control dams. The America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 includes an amendment authored by Sanders in the Senate and Welch in the House that authorizes safety improvements at certain state-owned flood control dams constructed by the federal government before 1940. In Vermont, three dams – the Waterbury, East Barre and Wrightsville dams – are eligible to receive funding under this provision.

Waterbury Reservoir. VBM photo.

Company Expands Leadership Team with Rick Gibbs as it Brings Valuable Safety and Security Insights to the Education Industry

Vermont Business Magazine Social Sentinel of Burlington on Monday announced that Rick Gibbs has joined the company as president, effective October 1. Gibbs, the former CEO and co-founder of Dealer.com, has been an active adviser for, and an investor in, Social Sentinel since 2016, and member of the Board of Directors since late 2017. He brings to the executive team considerable expertise and success in software development and scaling companies at a time when Social Sentinel is poised for significant growth and expansion.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced Wednesday the selection of Leo O’Brien Jr and Daniel J O’Brien, founders of O’Brien Brothers, as the 2018 Citizens of the Year. Leo and Daniel will be celebrated at an awards dinner on Thursday, December 6 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel (formerly known as the Sheraton) in South Burlington.