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Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Youth Conservation Corps (VYCC)’s Health Care Share (HCS) was among four national Youth Corps projects honored by The Corps Network at the end of 2017. The HCS is a community-based public health project that connects Vermont families unable to afford or access nutritious food with a weekly share of farm fresh produce. The program is managed by VYCC staff and supported largely through AmeriCorps service members.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) is one of only four hospitals in Vermont to receive the prestigious 5-star rating for Overall Hospital Quality from the federal government in 2017. Of the 4,579 hospitals nationwide eligible to receive a Star Rating, only 260 hospitals, or 5.68 percent, in the US earned the top mark.

AccuWeather AccuWeather reports the harshest wave of cold so far this season will take hold of the northeastern United States by the first weekend of January. High temperatures in Vermont are expected not to get above zero on Saturday. In part of the mid-Atlantic coast and New England, the cold will follow a powerful snowstorm with blizzard conditions on Thursday and Thursday night.

Temperatures will be less harsh, relative to recent days, on Wednesday, generally around 10 degrees Fahrenheit below normal as opposed to 20 or more degrees below normal.

"After a brief moderation from the cold at midweek, more bitter cold and downright harsh air will return," AccuWeather Meteorologist Kyle Elliott said.

This air mass will be about 5-10 degrees lower than the one that froze the Northeast during the final few days of December and start of January, according to Elliott.

Vermont Business Magazine Motorists will be digging a bit deeper for the second straight year as the yearly national average will rise 19 cents versus last year to $2.57 per gallon, the highest since 2014, according to the 2018 Fuel Price Outlook released today by GasBuddy, the only smartphone app connecting 70 million drivers with their Perfect Pit Stop.

Some highlights from GasBuddy’s 2018 Fuel Price Outlook include:

Vermont Business Magazine EPA has tips for New England homeowners who are heating their homes with wood burning stoves, fireplaces or boilers. Wood smoke is made up of a mixture of fine particles and toxic gases that can harm your health. Fine particle pollution isn’t healthy to breathe indoors or out, especially for children, older adults and those with heart disease, lung diseases, including asthma. Exposure to fine particles has been linked to heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, heart failure and stroke in people with heart disease, and may also increase susceptibility to respiratory infections.

Regardless of the type of wood heater you use, you should not smell smoke inside your home or see smoke coming out of your chimney except during start up.

Here are some wood-burning tips to follow:

Vermont Fish & Wildlife The recent arrival of cold temperature has formed early-season ice on Vermont ponds, lakes and rivers. The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department reminds winter enthusiasts that ice should never be considered safe and ice conditions vary. F&W officers also made several arrests, mainly for deer poaching, in Chittenden County last fall. And William Pinney, 65, of Warren, is the lucky winner of the 2017 Vermont Lifetime Hunting and Fishing License Lottery.

Vermont Business Magazine New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) recently donated $10,000 to the Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB). On hand at the Riverside Health Center to receive the symbolic “big check” from NEFCU Senior Marketing Executive Cindy Morgan for CHCB was Kim Anderson, Director of Development and Communications. CHCB plans to use the contribution toward their mission of health care for the whole community.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger released the following statement Wednesday in response to news of the upcoming closure of Macy’s department store expected in March 2018. Macy's is expected to announce Thursday that the Burlington location is part of the iconic department store chain's closure of 100 stores nationwide. It also owns Bloomingdale's. The Macy's location is not technically part of the $225 million redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center mall off Church Street, as it has a different property owner. It is the only Macy's in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Thomas J Donovan, Jr and Department of Financial Regulation Commissioner Michael S Pieciak announced today that they have reached a $45 million settlement with New Jersey-based mortgage lender and servicer PHH Mortgage Corporation, along with 49 other state Attorneys General and 46 other state financial regulators. Under the settlement, approximately 200 Vermonters may be eligible to receive a payment from a $30.4 million settlement fund, and the State of Vermont will receive an administrative penalty payment of approximately $160,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney Peter D Van Oot is leaving the law firm where he has practiced for more than 30 years to join a new venture with Dr Robert Simpson, the former chief executive officer of the Brattleboro Retreat. The new business, called The Difference Leadership Group, counsels for-profit and non-profit leaders in governance and leadership. DRM environmental law attorney Trey Martin will work with Van Oot’s environmental law clients going forward.

Vermont Business Magazine North Hartland Tool Corporation (NHTC), manufacturer of precision gages and fixtures, is pleased to announce the expansion of their manufacturing facility located in North Hartland, Vermont. The building expansion will allow for new equipment and software incorporating the latest “lights out” technology. With these updates, the company will increase its hours of manufacturing and workforce to meet the growing demands in the design and manufacturing of precision instruments and aerospace tooling.

“We are excited by our company’s expansion which will streamline our processes from tooling design to completed manufacturing and allow us to meet the increasing demands in the aerospace industry and continue our upward revenue growth,” said John Mullen, CEO.

Vermont Business Magazine The most employable data analysts and statisticians in 21st century jobs will need more than just the technical and math training that equips them to meet squarely a tsunami of high-tech information flooding fields as diverse as public health, government or community policing, say curriculum leaders at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. The best analysts also will possess the creativity afforded by broad liberal arts education to make something substantial and useful from so much data.