Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced he’s appointed 98 Vermonters to State boards and commissions from March through July. Boards and commissions serve an important role in state government, giving Vermonters numerous opportunities to serve their state and communities. The Governor’s Office is currently soliciting applications to fill vacancies and upcoming term expirations.

Vermont Business Magazine Rutland City’s Center Street Marketplace Park will officially open to the public on Tuesday, August 7th, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the new park's completion. The Ceremony will be attended by US Senator Patrick Leahy, Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development Deputy Secretary Ted Brady, Rutland City Mayor David Allaire, Recreation and Parks Director Kim Peters, as well a state and local stakeholders and residents. The construction of the City Park, located in the heart of Downtown Rutland, was recently completed and following the ceremony the site will be open for public use and enjoyment.

Senator Patrick Leahy Today, I urge the Senate to agree to a vote on my amendment to secure our elections. The Senate must act as a coequal branch of government in defending against a threat to our democracy. The threat is very real. Our intelligence community unanimously agrees that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections, and that there is an imminent threat to the 2018 elections. Just last week, we learned that Russian hackers targeted the office of a sitting United States Senator. We cannot ignore a threat that has reached this very chamber, and we must take immediate action.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Telecom is the first Internet Service Provider in New England to be awarded the Fiber Broadband Association’s (FBA) All-Fiber Certification for its commitment to ensuring their customers get the fastest, most reliable broadband available. The All-Fiber Certification is available to FBA members who demonstrate a high-level strategic commitment to fiber deployment by ensuring 90-percent or more of their networks rely on fiber optic infrastructure. Burlington Telecom’s infrastructure is 100-percent fiber optic.

“We couldn’t be prouder to be recognized by the Fiber Broadband Association as one of the first All-Fiber Certified service providers,” said Stephen Barraclough, General Manager. “Every day, we work to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers, and this one-of-its-kind certification further demonstrates our commitment to building a better, more connected broadband future.”

Vermont Business Magazine Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ: CNSL), a leading broadband and business communications provider, today announced it has expanded its MPLS offering to the company’s Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine service area, providing more connectivity options for businesses with multiple sites while cost-effectively enhancing network performance.

Vermont Business Magazine The Rock Point and Arms Forest Coalition have announced the goal of permanently protecting critical shoreline forests and improving public access to a 163-acre forest block in the heart of Burlington to be protected and forever open to the public. This urban wilderness stretches from Lake Champlain to North Avenue and provides the scenic backdrop for the Burlington Waterfront’s spectacular sunsets and provides a welcoming sanctuary for reflection and recreation in the heart of Burlington.

The Coalition is $50,000 short of their goal to raise $818,000. The Episcopal Church in Vermont is also making an investment of over $1.9 million in upgrading its facilities and trails, purchasing a 35-tracker solar array, and providing for future stewardship though its separate Partnership Campaign for Rock Point.

Vermont Business Magazine The prevalence of Lyme disease is increasing in the United States, spiking significantly between 2016 and 2017, and has spread to all 50 United States and the District of Columbia, according to a new study released today by Quest Diagnostics (NYSE: DGX). Based on more than six million de-identified laboratory test results conducted over the past seven years, the Quest Diagnostics study also found that outside of the northeastern U.S. which is historically associated with Lyme disease, California and Florida saw the largest absolute increases in positive test results. California found 483 infected patients in 2017, a 194.5 percent increase over 2015 levels. Floridafound 501 infected patients in 2017, a 77 percent increase over 2015 levels.

Vermont Business Magazine With food insecurity a pressing problem for many people in Windsor county, Rachel’s Kitchen free breakfast program at the United Methodist Church in Windsor provided an important source of nutritious breakfast for local people until a lack of funding and volunteers forced it to close its doors in late May 2018. Recognizing the importance of the program to health and wellness for those it serves, Mt Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC) has joined with a group of committed local organizations to quickly re-establish this vital community resource. While the Kitchen re-opened on June 18 following a two-week shutdown, the group is working to keep it open on a sustainable basis.

Vermont Business Magazine What's up with downhill mountain biking? In just the last few weeks ski resorts around the state have been making news. On July 21, Suicide Six opened its new Elemental bike park, jumping into the downhill mountain bike scene and joining Mount Snow, Killington, Okemo, Sugarbush and Burke in offering lift-served mountain biking. On July 28-29, the Vermont Mountain Biking Festival returned to the trails at Ascutney. Then, on August 1, Killington plays host to one of the biggest mountain bike events in the country: the Fox US Open, attracting an estimated crowd of 5,000 to watch mountain bikers ride down the same slopes that Mikaela Shiffrin and other FIS ski racers competed on at the World Cup last November.

Meanwhile, around the state mountain bike clubs are working together to connect their networks and there's a plan afoot to create a new Velomont Trail that would run from Killington all the way to Stowe.

by John McClaughry “Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much for Health Care” is a fast-paced 435-page trip through the underbelly of the health care industry, the policies that shape it, and their often undesirable and overly costly results. Its basic point is that “The health care sector will become more efficient and pro-consumer when and only when it is subjected to the same competitive forces that apply to the rest of the economy…To make American health care better and cheaper, customers should use their own money to purchase medical treatments directly, the same way they buy everything else.”

This may not strike readers as obvious, but law professors Charles Silver (Texas) and David A. Hyman (Georgetown) have accumulated a ton of evidence in support of that proposition.

​Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro community and its local businesses will mark World Breastfeeding Week from August 1 to 7, with activities and awareness events around town that celebrate “Breastfeeding: The Foundation of Life.”

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Vermont University Sophomore Madison Knoop has been selected to participate in the inaugural Giffords Courage Fellowship. Madison will join 27 other students from across the country in the year long program. Following the mass shooting in Parkland, youth across the nation led a renewed push for gun safety laws. To help empower the continued efforts of young advocates, Giffords launched the inaugural Courage Fellowship. Over the course of the program students will receive resources and opportunities to help them continue their efforts to improve gun safety laws where they live.

Giffords is a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives from gun violence. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Navy combat veteran and retired NASA Astronaut Captain Mark Kelly, Giffords inspires the courage of people from all walks of life to make America safer.