Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Eight Vermont startups will compete in the LaunchVT Final Pitch Competition on Thursday, May 17 from 5 to 8 pm at the Film House at Main Street Landing. Come see the 2018 cohort compete for $100,000 in cash and in-kind services! Watch all eight teams pitch their businesses to a panel of expert judges, network with dozens of investors and community partners, and see who takes home the top prizes. Back by popular demand this year is the Crowd Pitch Off. We'll select entrepreneurs from the crowd to pitch their ideas and the winner will take home cash "crowd funded" from the audience. There will be a DJ, food, a cash bar, and plenty of entertainment from our legendary Emcee, Alan Newman!

The event is FREE and the public is invited to attend and asked to register in advance at www.launchvt.com.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Bank NA recently presented King Street Center in Burlington with a $5,000 donation to support the organization’s summer teen programming. The funds will help cover the cost of daily meals, tutoring and various adventures. King Street Center’s Teen Futures program provides middle and high school youth with the opportunity to develop their interests and learn new skills. The program includes several core components that focus on academic success, healthy lifestyle choices and job readiness training. These activities are balanced with daily opportunities for sports, games, field trips and more.

Vermont Business Magazine Age Well (formerly the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging), Vermont’s largest Meals on Wheels provider, has entered into a partnership with Lindley Food Service to support the growing demand and changing environment of Meals on Wheels. Under the current model, Age Well oversees fourteen different food vendors across Northwestern Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott released a letter to legislative leadership Tuesday evening indicating that he will call a Special Session of the Legislature to begin next Wednesday, May 23. The governor is declining to sign the $5.8 billion budget and related education spending bill because of what he views as a tax hike to cover education expenses. Because this is a Special Session and not a Veto Session, any piece of legislation can be brought to the floor. Scott hopes to wrap up the session on Friday, May 25.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center’s Community Health Investment Fund has committed a third year of funding to "Who’s Your Person… What’s Your Plan?" an initiative designed to increase the use of advance medical directives among Vermonters living in Chittenden and Grand Isle counties.

The "Who’s Your Person…What’s Your Plan?" initiative is a collaborative effort involving nine Vermont health care organizations, ranging from home-health providers, to affordable housing agencies, to organizations serving seniors. Goals are to encourage everyone 18 and older to consider their health care values and preferences, and to plan for future medical decisions at a time when they may be unable to speak for themselves, due to serious illness or catastrophic injury.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power President and CEO Mary Powell accepted a 2018 Rachel Carson Award Medal from the Audubon Society for her environmental conservation work. The national award honors women who have greatly advanced conservation locally and globally. Audubon honored Powell’s ambitious energy vision to provide low-carbon, low-cost, highly reliable power to Vermonters.

GMP CEO Mary Powell

Vermont Business Magazine Southern Vermont College (SVC) recognized 84 degree candidates and 2 certificate recipients at its 91st Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 12, on the Greystone Lawn of the Everett Mansion. An Honorary Degree of Humane Letters was awarded to Nicholas T Pinchuk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Snap-on Incorporated. Pinchuk addressed the graduates as Commencement speaker.

Vermont Business Magazine In his Commencement remarks to Saint Michael’s College 2018 graduates on Sunday, May 13, Mitch Landrieu, the recent mayor of New Orleans, essentially invited their promising generation to join in knocking racism off pedestals whenever politicians or change-fearing society try to elevate it. “Those monuments had to come down because in New Orleans, we know that our diversity is our strength."

by Meredith Angwin Rolling blackouts are probably coming to New England sooner than expected. When there's not enough supply of electricity to meet demand, an electric grid operator cuts power to one section of the grid to keep the rest of the grid from failing. After a while, the operator restores the power to the blacked-out area and moves the blackout on to another section. The New England grid operator (ISO-NE) recently completed a major study of various scenarios for the near-term future (2024-2025) of the grid, including the possibilities of rolling blackouts.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Women’s Fund, a component fund of the Vermont Community Foundation, awarded $102,900 through its competitive grant program to 12 organizations that work to improve the economic security of women and girls in Vermont. “As the first and largest women-focused philanthropic resource in Vermont, we are committed to catalyzing greater change,” says Meg Smith, director of the Vermont Women’s Fund. “The nonprofits receiving these grants provide services to address proven barriers to low-income women and girls and offer programs that act as pathways to improved career opportunities.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Accreditation Committee of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) has awarded accreditation to the Laboratory at Copley Hospital based on results of a recent on-site inspection as part of the CAP’s Accreditation Programs. Pathologist Armando Ciampa, MD, Medical Director of the Laboratory, was advised of this national recognition and he and Copley’s Laboratory Team was congratulated for the excellence of services being provided. Copley Hospital is one of more than 8,000 CAP-accredited facilities worldwide.

“CAP Accreditation validates Copley’s effort to provide exceptional care and superior service,” said Dr. Ciampa. “We advocate, anticipate, and strive to provide accurate, prompt, and dependable service, providing the highest standard of care for our patients.”

Vermont Business Magazine Community Health Centers of the Rutland Region has joined the tobacco-free movement, fulfilling a promise to provide a healthy and safe environment for everyone including employees, volunteers, patients, visitors and contractors. Beginning July 4, all CHCRR facilities will be free of tobacco, and tobacco use of any kind will not be permitted anywhere on CHCRR properties including sidewalks, parking lots and in parked vehicles on the premises.