Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Investments in Vermont’s 529 college savings plan have reached another milestone, topping $350 million in assets, the Vermont Student Assistance Corp announced today. Vermont’s plan, the Vermont Higher Education Investment Plan, or VHEIP, turns 18 this year, the same age as students heading off to college or other educational opportunities after high school graduation.

With more than 20,000 accounts, VHEIP has paid out over $143 million to help more than 5,800 students over the years to continue their education.

Vermont Business Magazine Walmart and the Walmart Foundation recently presented a $25,000 grant to Age Well in support of its efforts to deliver more than 250,000 meals over the next year to homebound seniors and support infrastructure that will ensure greater quality and efficiencies in meal preparation and delivery for the largest Meals on Wheels provider in the state of Vermont. The grant will also provide funding to support Age Well’s new meal delivery technology, ServTracker which enables online management of delivery routes, dietary needs, volunteer schedules and much more. The grant was made available through the Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Council.

Vermont Department of Public Safety On November 28, 2017, first responders were called to Wake Robin, a retirement community located in Shelburne, to investigate a report of a possible Ricin exposure. During their initial investigation, a substance field tested positive for the toxic poison Ricin. Confirmatory testing at the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory completed early this morning was also positive for Ricin toxin.

At this time no one from the public is in danger. Symptoms of Ricin poisoning develop rapidly after exposure. No individuals have been identified as being exposed, nor are expected, based on the last possible date of exposure on Sunday, November 26. All areas potentially exposed by this substance have been evacuated and secured by law enforcement.

This incident is considered to be isolated and is currently being investigated by the FBI. No further information regarding the ongoing investigation is available at this time.

Vermont Business Magazine On the Senate floor Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) challenged Republicans to tell him he is “wrong” – that they will not cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid if the tax bill passes and creates a $1.4 trillion deficit. Sanders predicted that in order to pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, Republicans will move swiftly to cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs that working families desperately need.

The Republican budget calls for cutting nearly $500 billion from Medicare and cutting $1 trillion in Medicaid. Efforts to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicare have been a feature of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s budgets, Sanders said.

Vermont Business Magazine Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) Wednesday announced a grant of more than $1.3 million for the Vermont State Police (VSP) to continue its aggressive work fighting the opioid epidemic in Vermont. This was the second-largest of only eight grants awarded nationwide through the highly competitive COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force (AHTF) grant program that Leahy created in the fiscal year 2015 Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) appropriations bill.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the TD Charitable Foundation awarded Housing Vermont a $100,000 grant to create home ownership opportunities while improving neighborhoods through the rehabilitation of dilapidated or vacant homes. In presenting the check, TD Bank Market President Phil Daniels congratulated Housing Vermont for its successful application to the highly competitive TD Charitable Foundation Major Grant program.

Phil Daniels TD Bank presents check to Nancy Owens Housing Vermont. Courtesy photo.

Vermont Business MagazineAttorney General TJ Donovan today joined a coalition of 19 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief opposing the Trump Administration’s decision to roll back a requirement under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for employers to include birth control coverage in their health insurance plans.Theamicus brief, filed today with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, supports the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s lawsuit seeking to stop the federal government from enforcing a new regulatory rule. This rule would authorize any employer with a religious or moral objection to contraception to block their employees, and their employees’ dependents, from receiving health insurance coverage for contraceptive care and services.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), along with five cosponsors in the Senate, introduced a comprehensive plan Tuesday to address the immediate humanitarian needs in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and ensure that the islands not only recover, but are able to rebuild in a way that empowers them to thrive. The Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act is cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif) Ed Markey (D-Mass) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass). Reps. Stacy Plaskett (D-VI), Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and Darren Soto (D-Fla) will introduce a companion bill in the House.

The bill is endorsed by 75 organizations.

Vermont Business Magazine TheLake Champlain Community Sailing Center (CSC) has received a $150,000 grant from the James M Cox Foundation in support of its Love Your Lake capital campaign. The CSC’s Love Your Lake capital campaign is supporting the construction of its 22,180-square-foot new home on the Burlington waterfront: the Pomerleau Community Waterfront Campus and Raymond P Sullivan Sailing Education Center. Through this grant, the CSC will be closer to closing out the campaign. Cox Automotive is the parent company of Burlington's Dealer.com.

University of VermontToo little rain, or too much, is often a driver of poverty and hunger, leading to poor nutrition and food insecurity among vulnerable populations. According to a new University of Vermont study, rainfall patterns also provide clues on how to most effectively alleviate food insecurity. The study, just published inScientific Reports, is the first to analyze on a large scale the relationship between food insecurity among smallholder farms in Africa and Asia, rainfall patterns and a range of interventions - from agricultural inputs to agricultural practices to financial supports - designed to address the issue.

Vermont Business MagazineRegentis Biomaterialshas announced the start of its Phase III pivotal clinical trial of GelrinC for the treatment of focal knee cartilage defects with successful surgery on three patients, including one in Vermont.These procedures are part of a Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) approved Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) clinical study to compare GelrinC to microfracture, the current standard of care treatment. The clinical study will be used to support a Pre-market Approval Application (PMA) which will allow Regentis to market GelrinC in the US.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) will hold a workshop for those thinking about starting their own business. This workshop, titled ‘Starting Your Own Business,’ is aimed at helping future entrepreneurs turn their passions into a full-fledged business venture.The workshop will be held Thursday, December 7 at Springfield Regional Development Corporation office on Clinton Street in Springfield from 9 am to 1 pm.