Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Yoga classes, weight reduction competitions, smoking cessation incentives, farm market produce, a campus vegetable garden, a wellness committee and a monthly newsletter filled with recipes and healthy living ideas are all part of the workplace incentives offered to those who are keeping others healthy in central Vermont’s largest community health network. Community Health Centers of the Rutland Region (CHCRR) went tobacco free in July, but that is only one of the reasons why Vermont’s Department of Health has recognized CHCRR as a Bronze Level employer for promoting health and reducing the risk of chronic disease in the workplace.

by John McClaughry A year ago Governor Scott created a Climate Action Commission in response to clamor generated by the state’s environmental organizations determined to make Vermonters take bold action to defeat the Menace of Climate Change which they insist “is a fundamental threat to Vermont.” The governor tasked the Commission with delivering “an action plan aimed at reaching the State's renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals while driving economic growth, setting Vermonters on a path to affordability, and ensuring effective energy transition options exist for all Vermonters.”

Vermont Business Magazine With services now set for US Senator John McCain, Governor Phil Scott has ordered flags to half-staff beginning at sunrise on Wednesday, August 29, the day of Senator McCain’s first service. Flags will remain at half-staff until sunset on Sunday, September 2, following Senator McCain’s interment at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. As noted, Senator McCain’s memorial services begin with services in Arizona on Wednesday. Senator McCain will then lie in state in Washington, DC, with additional services to follow Saturday and Sunday.

by Stephanie Yu, Public Assets Institute Vermonters have spoken. A recent poll commissioned by Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS showed a majority of Vermonters favor going to a $15 minimum wage and over 80 percent support raising it above the current level. In all the chaos of the special session and getting a budget in place before July 1, the governor’s 13 vetoes at the end of the regular legislative session didn't get much attention. Nevertheless it’s clear that his veto of the Legislature’s bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2024 is out of step with most Vermonters.

The minimum wage has not kept up with rising costs, and buys less housing, less child care, and less health care than it used to. It falls short of the Vermont livable wage determined by the Joint Fiscal Office, and it’s not getting any closer.

Vermont Business Magazine Forecasters and energy experts predict heat and humidity will drive up power demand on the New England grid Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and Green Mountain Power is pushing to save customers even more money by partnering with them for "a laser-like focus on crushing the peak" between 4 and 7 pm on both days – without comprising safety or comfort. This partnership, GMP said in a statement Monday, can also radically reduce carbon output, an objective important to Vermonters, and the globe.

ISO-New England, the grid operator uses the annual peak hour of energy to calculate what each utility in the region pays for the coming year, so strategically reducing demand during that key time can create big savings for customers. The regional peak so far this year was set Aug. 6, and GMP used stored energy to save customers $600,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University and Community College of Vermont (CCV) have signed a US Air Force Crosstown Agreement allowing CCV students to participate in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at Norwich. The ROTC program allows students pursuing a bachelor’s degree the opportunity to commission into the Air Force as Second Lieutenants after graduation. There are also scholarship opportunities for ROTC students who meet certain qualifications.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) is encouraging members to conserve energy tomorrow, Tuesday, August 28, and Wednesday, August 29 between the hours of 4 pm and 8 pm each day. This is when demand for electricity is expected to spike as a result of high temperatures throughout New England.

Vermont Business Magazine Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs today released the results from their recent Vermont small business economic outlook survey. The survey revealed that while business owners’ attitudes about the Vermont economy have become more neutral, with less negative sentiment, there is less optimism in the US economy than there was just six months ago, but this is still greater than in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Foundation announced that it has entered into a Cornerstone Partnership with Vermont Afterschool, a statewide nonprofit working to ensure that all Vermont youth have access to high quality out-of-school learning opportunities. As part of that partnership, the Community Foundation is awarding Vermont Afterschool a three-year $180,000 grant to strengthen afterschool and out-of-school time programming for older youth in Vermont.

The Community Foundation’s Cornerstone Partnerships are designed to help launch growth-phase statewide organizations whose work is critical to closing the opportunity gap to their next stage of development. The partnerships include multi-year grant funding and an invitation to inform the Foundation’s local grantmaking and community investment strategies.

Vermont Business Magazine People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, N.A., today announced that it awarded $113,000 to Vermont non-profits during its second grant cycle of 2018. Funding was allocated to 23 non-profit organizations in support of activities that ranged from basic needs services and affordable housing initiatives, to education and workforce development programs.

Vermont Business Magazine The Working Lands Enterprise Board announces the 2019 Service Provider request for application release dates. Types of technical assistance provided for Service Providers may include: Market development, marketing plans, and sales; Business and financial planning; Succession planning; Access to capital; Manufacturing efficiencies or process flow; research and development; and/or pilot programs.

• Request for Applications Released: September 4, 2018
• Letters of Intent Due: September 27, 2018
• Applicant Notification of Acceptance/Denial (Letter of Intent): October 19, 2018
• Invited Applications Due: January 3, 2018
• Applicant Notification: End of January 2019
• Estimated Project Start Date: February-March 2019

FY 2019 Program Year

Vermont Business Magazine Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on the death of Senator John McCain (R-AZ): Marcelle and I are saddened by this loss, and we send our love and our respects to Cindy and their entire family. I think of the last time we met and said goodbye. We both were hopeful that it would not be the last time.

He loved his country, and we also both respected and were willing to defend the Senate’s special and independent role in American government.

In the Navy and in his public service, his goal was not to bide time, but to make a difference. I know that he felt, as I do, that the Senate can rise to the occasion in difficult moments to become the nation’s conscience. We must never allow an erosion of the Senate’s ability to do that.