Current News

​Vermont Business Magazine This month Gifford’s Kingwood Health Center became the first Orange County distribution site for free naloxone, also known by brand name Narcan, the medication that, when taken properly, saves lives by rapidly reversing opioid overdoses. Opioids, which include heroin as well as pain relievers like oxycodone and morphine, are highly addictive drugs that can cause death by overdose. Last year, “there were 101 accidental and undetermined opioid-related fatalities among Vermont residents,” reported the Vermont Department of Health, “up from 96 in 2016 and 74 in 2015.”

Vermont Business Magazine For decades, firefighters had been using a certain type of foam to fight fires. While this foam helped save lives, state regulators recently discovered per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in Type B Aqueous Film Forming Foam, known as AFFF. PFAS is a toxic chemical that impacts human health and the environment. To protect firefighters, communities, and drinking water supplies, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Division of Fire Safety are working alongside fire departments to safely dispose of this foam and transition to a new foam.

Any Fire Department with less than 220 pounds of foam (approximately five 5-gallon pails) can make an appointment to drop these containers off at any of the following locations:

Vermont Business Magazine Raising Expectations, a report released Monday by the National Partnership for Women & Families, gives Vermont a grade of “B” for providing basic workplace protections that go beyond federal law to allow working people to meet their personal or family caregiving responsibilities. The new report analyzes state laws and regulations governing paid and unpaid leave in the United States and assigns grades to 50 states and the District of Columbia. Half the states got a "D" or "F." The study determined that those states are doing little or nothing beyond what federal law requires.

Vermont Business Magazine After parting ways with Procter & Gamble on July 1, Paul and Barbi Schulick, founders of the P&G subsidiary New Chapter, have announced their next venture, byOM life, LLC in Dummerston. Thirty-five years ago, Paul Schulick's vitamin and herbal formulations initiated a paradigm shift in the natural products industry towards fermentation and whole food supplementation. Now, Schulick plans to use the brand byOM to radically innovate botanical skin care while simultaneously preparing for a return to the nutraceuticals market in the summer of 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine Kinney Pike Insurance has acquired Parker Insurance Agency located in White River Junction. As part of the merger, Parker Insurance Agency will relocate to Kinney Pike’s White River Junction office at 1011 North Main Street. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Vermont Business Magazine More than half of Vermonters own something worth tens of thousands of dollars buried in their backyard, yet most never lay eyes on it. These unseen treasures lurking just below the surface are wastewater treatment systems, commonly known as septic systems. Acknowledging that it is easy to flush it and forget it, the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is kicking off Septic Smart Week September 17-23, 2018. The entire week is dedicated to uncovering the valuable role these systems play, not only for individual homeowners and business owners, but for local community swimming holes, drinking water wells, and statewide water quality.

Vermont Business Magazine All 10 Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, including Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), on Monday urged Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to postpone Thursday’s vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination, to allow the FBI to investigate Christine Blasey Ford's allegations and follow up on what they describe as Kavanaugh’s false and misleading committee testimony. Ford has accused Kavanaugh of physical and sexual assault, an accusation he vehemently denies.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Police barracks across Vermont will begin accepting “bump-fire stocks” from the public effective immediately following passage of new firearms-related laws earlier this year. Act 94 amends Vermont state law to prohibit the possession of bump-fire stocks. Under the new law, possession of a bump-fire stock is punishable by up to one year in prison and $1,000 in fines.

State statute defines the devices as “a butt stock designed to be attached to a semiautomatic firearm and intended to increase the rate of fire achievable with the firearm to that of a fully automatic firearm by using the energy from the recoil of the firearm to generate a reciprocating action that facilitates the repeated activation of the trigger.”

The law directs the Department of Public Safety to collect bump-fire stocks from persons who want to voluntarily and anonymously relinquish bump-fire stocks.

Champlain Valley Down Syndrome Group The 9th Annual Champlain Valley Buddy Walk will take place at Burlington's Battery Park on Sunday, October 7, with on-site registration opening at noon and the walk commencing at 1 PM. More than 200 people are expected to attend the event, which is one of 250 Walks across the country this fall to raise awareness and funds for programs that benefit people with Down syndrome and their families.

Three innovative projects spanning the fields of regenerative medicine, electrophysiology, and infectious diseases were selected to receive SPARK-VT research funding following a June 22 proposal presentation meeting at which University of Vermont faculty applicants pitched ideas to a panel of consultants from the biomedical and biotech arena. The awardees include Professors Daniel Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., Jason Botten, Ph.D., and Peter Spector, M.D.

Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) released a summary compiled by the Senate Appropriations Committee Minority staff of the conference agreement for the Defense, Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies “minibus” appropriations package.

Leahy said: “This agreement invests in the American people and ensures that the government remains open into December. Just as importantly, Congress, Republicans and Democrats, rejected President Trump’s draconian budget cuts, which would have slashed programs in the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies bill by $10.7 billion.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont Medical Center President Eileen Whalen stated in a press release Thursday that it has offered a "last, best and final offer" to the nurses union after negotiations broke down. The union has been working without a contract since early July and went on a two-day strike in mid-July. Whalen said the hospital still would negotiate with the union as required by law but will not change its offer. The union is continuing with its "Vote of No Confidence" campaign and could still go back on strike, though it has not indicated yet it would do so.

“We have negotiated in good faith with the Vermont Federation of Nursing and Health Professionals for nearly six months," Whalen said in a statement. "Throughout the process, we have put forward proposals to increase wages and address concerns about staffing and continuing education.