Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Urban Search and Rescue team Task Force 1 was recognized as Outstanding Team at the Vermont Public Service Recognition Awards. Among other accomplishments, USAR TF1 team members deployed to Texas to assist with rescues following Hurricane Harvey. The highly trained 90-person team is comprised of responders from agencies and departments around the state. The team provides unique and specialized emergency response services, including swiftwater rescue, structural collapse searches, confined space rescue, and trench rescue.

The team performs often-hazardous missions around Vermont, braving floodwaters and fast moving rivers to rescue those in danger, taking part in searches for lost people in the wilderness, and locating and rescuing those trapped under debris.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Philip B. Scott declared May Physical Fitness and Sports Month in Vermont, encouraging Vermonters to be active this spring. He will sign the proclamation on May 10, 9:30 a.m.

Vermont Business Magazine For forty years, the Burlington Business Association (BBA) has found ways to give back to the community it works in support of. For this year’s BBA Annual Dinner and Awards, held Thursday, April 5th, 2018, the BBA partnered with Perrywinkle’s Fine Jewelry, who generously donated a Rolex Oyster Perpetual watch and winder package valued at $8,150 to be raffled off at the annual event. A portion of the proceeds from this raffle are being donated to the Howard Center Street Outreach team. The Street Outreach Team is made up of four individuals, including team leader, Tammy Boudah, Hannah Toof, Casey Lee, and Eric Goldmann.

Vermont Business Magazine Helicopters and lift towers were flying over Killington Resort Tuesday as the first phase of construction kicked off ahead of the 2018/19 winter season. The highly anticipated return of lift service in the South Ridge area is officially in progress as lift towers were relocated from Snowdon to South Ridge. A new 6-person high-speed bubble chairlift will be installed to replace the Snowdon Quad ahead of next season. The new lift, manufactured by Leitner-Poma, features a bubble shield that will protect skiers and riders from wind and weather as they ascend 1,100 vertical feet to the Snowdon Mountain peak

Vermont Business Magazine After an exhaustive and competitive national search, Sterling College has appointed Peter Merrill, of Morrisville, co-founder and owner of Elmore Mountain Farm, LLC to be its first Vice President/Chief Operating Officer. This is a new role for the College and comes at a time of enrollment and philanthropic success over the past six years that has set the stage for a new leadership structure.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Bankers Association is among a coalition of 43 state community banking associations affiliated with the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) that today called on the US House of Representatives to take up and pass the bipartisan Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act (S2155) as quickly as possible. The coalition letter expresses strong support for the common-sense regulatory relief bill, which the Senate passed in March on a bipartisan 67-31 vote following years of activity in the House.

“S. 2155 bears the unmistakable stamp of numerous community bank regulatory relief bills that have advanced in the House in the 115th Congress and in prior Congresses,” the coalition wrote. “Years of hearings, debate, and deliberation in the House prompted the Senate to craft, debate, and ultimately pass S. 2155 as a bipartisan bill.”

by Jack Hoffman Public Assets Institute Pssst. Did you hear about the $60 million deficit in the Education Fund? Guess what. It’s not true. Given the headlines and news stories in recent weeks, Vermonters may be surprised to hear there is no deficit in the Education Fund. That’s because funding for schools—like funding for municipalities—doesn’t work like the state budget, and never has. Citizens vote directly on their school and municipal budgets. Their elected representatives vote on the state budget. That makes a big difference.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR) and Jeffrey Carr, President, Economic & Policy Resources (EPR), announced the Q2 of 2018 outlook results of their joint initiative, the VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey and Index. While manufacturers seem to be relatively optimistic about the future of the economy, there is great concern over finding labor and with the health care sector. Overall, Vermont businesses generally have a more cautious view of the economy than the rest of the nation.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University has been awarded $100,000 from Vermont Mutual Insurance Group Giving Fund to be paid over the next five years in support of “Forging the Future,” Norwich’s $100 million, five-year fundraising campaign scheduled to conclude in 2019, Norwich’s bicentennial. The Forging the Future campaign is committed to propelling the university into an era where technology, collaboration and interdisciplinary studies attract and retain the brightest students. The largest fundraising effort in the university’s history, the focus of the campaign is on creating a state-of-the-art learning environment, strengthening academic programing and growing scholarship endowments.

Vermont Business Magazine Linda Schadler, currently the vice provost and dean of undergraduate education and the Russell Sage Professor in Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has been appointed as dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Imagine, after so many things have gone wrong all day, slipping into bed, smelling fresh clean sheets and resting your head on a soft pillow. Imagine feeling safe and warm after fighting with the deep winter cold all day. Can you imagine this and factor in that you are homeless? Helping to provide clean sheets and a safe space for the homeless in Chittenden County is just one piece of the work that UVM Medical Center (UVMMC) does for our community.

On Thursday, May 17, the UVMMC will be presented the Northern New England Community Action Community Service Award at their annual conference at Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine. Eileen Whalen, President of UVM Medical Center will accept the award on behalf of the Medical Center.

Vermont Business Magazine On Tuesday May 8, Champlain College Online unveiled two interactive kiosks in both terminals of the Burlington International Airport as part of its campaign to increase access to higher education in Vermont and across the country. In April, Champlain College Online announced a 50 percent reduction in tuition for its undergraduate online degree programs for adult learners, starting this fall. To support this change, the College has launched a campaign to help empower adults to “Accomplish Anything.” The initiative includes an interactive digital experience inviting the approximately 1.4 million people who pass through the airport each year to visualize and discover ways to achieve their career and personal aspirations.