Current News

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.

Vermont Business Magazine Unless otherwise noted, all Green Mountain Care Board meetings are held in the Pavilion Auditorium at 109 State Street, Montpelier, VT.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Climate Action report was presented to Governor Phil Scott on Tuesday, July 31. It sets forth many goals on how to both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and deal with the consequences of climate change. It also contains discouraging news about the rise of GHG emissions in Vermont, which will make achieving ambitious goals even more challenging and perhaps unlikely.

Vermont Business Magazine Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions estimates in Vermont continued to rise for calendar year 2015, increasing from 9.45 million metric tons CO2 equivalent (MMTCO2e) in 2014 to 9.99 MMTCO2e in 2015. This increase puts Vermont approximately 16% above the 1990 baseline value of 8.59 MMTCO2e and adds to the difficulty of reaching the statewide goal of 50% below 1990 emissions levels by 2028.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that President Donald Trump has signed a major disaster declaration for Chittenden, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange and Orleans counties. Those counties suffered substantial damage during severe storms on May 4 & 5 of this year. A Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) identified almost $1.3 million in public infrastructure damage statewide from the May 4-5 storms, exceeding the $1 million minimum Vermont must show to be considered for a disaster declaration.

Chittenden, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange and Orleans counties each exceeded the $3.68 per capita threshold needed to qualify communities and public utilities in those counties for assistance. A preponderance of the damage involved washouts, debris removal and power restoration.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Auditor Doug Hoffer today released a new audit report regarding the Choices for Care (CFC) program managed by the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living DAIL. The auditor found several cases of possible improper payments or even possible fraud within the program. Nationally and in Vermont, the use of home-based care has given rise to compliance and fraud issues. For example, Vermont’s Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit (MFRAU) has obtained fraud convictions of attendants and/or their employers.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s 2018 Clean Water Week, which kicked off Sunday and runs through August 4, celebrates Vermont’s lakes, rivers and wetlands, as well as the efforts of businesses, farms, communities and organizations to protect and restore clean water. Clean water is essential to Vermont’s health, quality of life and strong economy. It supports diverse recreational opportunities, serves as a major drinking water source and provides critical fish and wildlife habitat.

Vermont Business Magazine Forbes named Vermont Federal Credit Union as the best credit union in Vermont in their first-ever “America’s Best-In-State Credit Unions” list. Vermont Federal Credit Union was one of 145 credit unions to be recognized by Forbes in their inaugural Best In State Credit Unions list, and the only credit union in Vermont to be named. This honor places the Credit Union amongst only 2.4% of financial institutions nationwide to earn the recognition. The Credit Union was selected based on a survey of more than 25,000 bank and credit union customers in the U.S., including our market area. The survey focused on participant’s opinions of their current and former banking relationships.

Forbes article stated, “The banks and credit unions were rated on overall recommendations and satisfaction, as well as five subdimensions (trust, terms and conditions, branch services, digital services and financial advice).”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health will be providing for blood tests for some people who may have been affected by PFOA contamination of drinking water in Bennington and North Bennington, but who have not been previously tested for PFOA levels in their blood. The Vermont Legislature has made funding available for this effort. In 2016, private drinking water wells in the area around the former Chemfab/Saint-Gobain facility had detections of PFOA ranging from non-detect to nearly 3,000 parts per trillion, well above Vermont’s health advisory of 20 parts per trillion.

A blood test can measure the level of PFOA in an individual's blood, and this can be compared to levels measured by CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for adults and older children in the U.S. Most adults have low levels of PFOA in their blood.