Current News

Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals This open letter to the community explains the position of the bargaining committee of the Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, the union elected to represent the 1,800+ nurses working at the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC). Recently, 94% of voting nurses approved a strike, if needed, to secure the contract necessary to provide the quality care the community deserves. We have not called for a strike yet, and we remain committed to working with the management team to find solutions to UVMMC’s safety, staffing, recruitment, and retention issues, but we may be forced to exercise this option as a last resort if the management team continues to ignore the very real concerns and problems we face.

by Rob Roper If I held up a cookie and said, I’ll give you five bucks to eat this, what would your initial reaction be? More than likely, either “what’s wrong with it,” or “what’s the catch?” If it were a perfectly good cookie, why would I have to pay you to eat it? If it were really good, you should be eager to pay me. This is a fundamental flaw in the Remote Worker Grant Program that offers to pay people $10,000 to move to Vermont and telecommute to jobs out of state. It actually devalues Vermont’s brand.

What’s more, the $500,000 budgeted for this over three years would, if entirely successful, only add fifty people to the workforce over that period. According to Governor Scott, we need to add one thousand new workers every year to replace the 16,000 workers we’ve lost since 2009. So, what do you say to the 15,950 workers who don’t get a check? And, more importantly, what do you think they’ll say back?

Vermont Business Magazine The Executive Board for New Leaders Council Vermont (NLC VT) has announced that Ben Cohen, Co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade and local progressive advocate, will be the keynote speaker for the organization’s official launch party Leaders & Libations.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Supreme Court Friday issued an opinion in Carpenter v. U.S., holding that the Fourth Amendment generally requires the government to obtain a warrant to obtain geolocation information through cell-site location information. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a leading member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the lead sponsor of the bipartisan Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) Modernization Act (S.1657), released the following comment:

by Maia Segura Vermont Business Magazine Let’s face it. Most economic development conferences tend to be a bit of a snooze. The same players regurgitate the same content. Everyone goes away a little better networked, but not very inspired. Not so for the 2nd Annual Southern Vermont Economic Development Summit at Mount Snow’s Grand Lodge on May 30, where attendees were surprised by optimism.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor announced changes to the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program starting July 1, 2018 that will ultimately reduce the cost of UI taxes for employers for the second year in a row.

by Bruce Edwards Vermont Business Magazine Revision Military is bullish on its future and its Vermont operation. The maker of ballistic helmets and eyewear for the military and law enforcement recently announced it was expanding its operations, opening its US headquarters in Portsmouth, NH. Greg Maguire, senior director, government and legal affairs, said expanding to the Pease International Tradeport is part of the company’s overall growth strategy.

by Lisa M Ventriss, MPA, President Vermont Business Roundtable While disappointing, the recent announcement that Revision Military had decided to move its official US headquarters to Portsmouth, New Hampshire was not shocking. As a worldwide leader in the manufacture of protective military and law enforcement gear, Revision’s demand for its products means it needs access to a larger talent pool. So proximity to Boston and Pease AFB’s cluster of military tech businesses made great business sense. And there are other examples of companies that have found they cannot expand in Vermont for lack of human capital, and are considering expanding into other regional markets.

Vermont Business Magazine TruexCullins Architecture + Interior Design is celebrating its 50^th anniversary, which was recognized with a reception and design exhibit honoring the firm’s achievements of the past 50 years. The exhibit chronicles the firm’s work from 1968 until the present and is open to the public during business hours at the firm’s design studio at 209 Battery Street in Burlington.

The reception was attended by principal emeriti Bill Truex and Tom Cullins, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, past and present employees, clients, and friends of the firm. “TruexCullins was built on a foundation of creativity and a commitment to design excellence,” said Managing Principal David Epstein, “and we are honored to continue that tradition with the talented and dedicated team we work with today.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently awarded VT Human Resource Association its prestigious EXCEL Platinum Award for the Chapter’s accomplishments in 2017. The award aligns individual chapters’ and state councils’ activities with SHRM’s aspirations for the HR profession. The award recognizes accomplishments and strategic activities and initiatives that enhance the human resource profession.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public Radio has won two 2018 national Edward R. Murrow Awards for a Brave Little State podcast exploring the history of Vermont’s whiteness and a VPR News story about immigrants seeking asylum in Canada. The Murrow Awards are presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Congressman Peter Welch (D-Vt.) Thursday applauded the FDA decision to review comments in response to its proposed guidance that would require maple syrup, honey and other single-ingredient natural products to carry an ‘added sugar’ label. Welch, joined by Leahy, Sanders, and 18 of their colleagues sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Gottlieb earlier this month asking the FDA to extend the comment period on the proposed labeling and noting that “The simplest, most commonsense solution to this issue would be to exempt single ingredient maple and honey products from the added sugars disclosure requirement because they do not, in fact, contain any added sugars.”