Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) has approved the implementation of a new electronic health record system (EHR) across four hospital affiliates of the University of Vermont Health Network, which it says is a significant step that will enhance the delivery of high quality care with instant access to a patient’s most updated medical information. The new system will replace a patchwork of programs that do not communicate across hospital boundaries, often a barrier to providing the highest quality and coordinated care when patients receive treatment in multiple care settings. The project will use products from Epic Systems Corporation and cost $151.7 million over a six-year implementation period. UVM Health Network officials estimate replacing and maintaining the outdated systems currently in use would be significantly more expensive than installing the Epic system.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger Sunday attended the Democratic Nominating Caucus at Burlington High School and delivered his 2018 re-election campaign kick-off speech. In his remarks, the mayor set forth three main themes and related goals of the city’s work ahead. The full text of the speech is below.

Vermont Business Magazine Carina Driscoll, Independent Candidate for Mayor of Burlington, issued the following statement following Mayor Weinberger's speech on Sunday: "What couldn’t be further from the truth is the Mayor’s statement that 'we aren’t selling Burlington.' The Mayor requested proposals, as recently as last month, essentially putting Memorial Auditorium on the market; inked a deal to sell a city lot to a developer for a hotel; made plans for a private marina on our public waterfront; and ensured Burlington Telecom will no longer have any meaningful local control. The Mayor’s highest bidder approach offloads our city’s assets and will not serve Burlington well in the long run. It can’t continue. It’s time for our city to have a Mayor who will return power to the people of Burlington, not concentrate it in City Hall."

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s ski and snowboard resorts are once again participating in the nationwide initiative set forth by the National Ski Areas Association to keep visitors safe on the slopes, National Safety Awareness Month. Once a week-long initiative, National Safety Awareness was extended to encompass the entire month of January to help educate skiers and snowboarders about the importance of being safe and in control while on the mountain.

Vermont Business Magazine The School for International Training is cutting nearly 30 employees at its Brattleboro campus, the Brattleboro Reformer reported Sunday. The Reformer quoted Trustee Jenny Backus as saying that SIT is committed to Brattleboro and is expanding its global educational opportunities. SIT (part of World Learning also based at the same Brattleboro campus) trains US college and graduate students for overseas studies, as well as bringing foreign students to the US. Backus is the daughter of former state Senator Jan Backus and granddaughter of SIT founder Jack Wallace.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department says preliminary numbers show 15,949 deer were taken during Vermont’s 2017 deer hunting seasons. Reports from big game check stations indicate hunters had successful deer seasons in 2017, taking 3,585 deer in archery season, 1,461 in youth season, 7,272 in rifle season, and 3,631 in muzzleloader season. The 15,949 deer brought home by hunters yielded more than 3 million meals of local nutritious venison.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) issued the following statement Saturday after President Donald Trump, amid budget negotiations, demanded $18 billion to construct more than 700 miles of barriers along the border with Mexico. The president said any deal concerning Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Dreamers) must include funding for the border wall, one of his top campaign promises.

Vermont Business Magazine Heidenberg Properties Group has opened a 15,000 square-foot Planet Fitness at the Berlin Mall. One of the largest and fastest growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States, Planet Fitness will serve as junior anchor of the 250,000-square-foot mall located on Berlin Mall Road.

by Robyn Freedner-Maguire If we want to make Vermont the top choice of young workers looking for the best place to work and raise their families, increasing access to high-quality, affordable child care is the smartest, most strategic investment we can make. In his 2018 State of the State address, Governor Phil Scott announced a new campaign to persuade young people and families to move to Vermont with the goal of growing the state’s dwindling working-age population.

Vermont Business Magazine Ceres Natural Remedies opened for business in mid-December at 190 College Street in Burlington. The shop is located across the street from Sweetwaters American Bistro and The Archives and carries the largest selection of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products in New England. The new Ceres Natural Remedies location replaces the smaller space it occupied in the Wing Building on Burlington’s waterfront from 2016-2017.

Vermont Business Magazine The Kmart at the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland Town will close sometime in April, according to a statement today by the parent company of Kmart and Sears. It appears to be the only Kmart or Sears store scheduled to be closed in the latest round of store closings by the struggling retailer. It will close a total of 103 stores by this spring.

Leonine Public Affairs The 2018 legislative session started on Wednesday, January 3 and legislators wasted no time getting to work. The House Judiciary Committee voted to move the marijuana legalization bill to the House floor in the morning of the first day of the session. The bill was debated at length and several amendments were offered over the course of the morning. All this occurred before Governor Phil Scott delivered the State of the State address at 2 pm on Thursday.