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Vermont Business MagazineVermont Attorney General TJ Donovan reached a settlement today regarding two security breaches involving the credit card numbers of potentially thousands of Vermonters. The agreement settles allegations that Hilton lacked reasonable data security and took too long to notify consumers and the Attorney General of the breaches. It includes a $300,000 penalty and requirements that Hilton change its security practices. The Attorney General worked with New York’s Attorney General to resolve the investigation which resulted in a total penalty of $700,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) announced today that David Adams, Chief of Program Operations, will be retiring from the agency onNovember 17, 2017. Concurrently, Maura Collins will be promoted to the position of Deputy Director. “Dave has expertly led our programs through the turbulent economic and mortgage industry changes of the past two decades,” VHFA Executive Director Sarah Carpenter explained. “His dedication to VHFA’s mission and unmatched mortgage banking experience have led to many ground-breaking improvements in how our programs operate.”

by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) The United States faces a major crisis in primary health care, and unless Congress acts immediately it is likely to become much worse. Millions of Americans are at risk of losing their access to health care because Congress did not renew funding for the community health center program at the end of the fiscal year, September 30. Unless we renew funding immediately, 70 percent of funding will be cut, the doors of 2,800 community health centers will close, and 9 million patients will lose access to quality health care. That is unacceptable.

Vermont Business Magazine After working through the night, Green Mountain Power crews made great progress restoring power to 92,000 homes and businesses. As daylight comes on the second day since Sunday night and Monday morning’s massive windstorm, outages have now dropped to 23,000 homes and businesses. GMP crews will not stop working until all have power back on. This storm impacted 115,000 homes and businesses making it one of the biggest storms in recent history, with near hurricane force winds that toppled trees, branches and snapped poles. Crews have county level restoration times now, and expect to provide the public with town estimated restoration times tonight, though repairs could take through the end of the week.

Vermont Business MagazineVermonters are looking to move out of state more than any other place in the nation. But Vermont is also a relatively popular state to move into.LendingTree, the nation's leading online loan marketplace, has released the findings of its study on where residents in each state are looking to move, which discovered a southern tilt in preferences of out-of-state home buyers.

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) in Berlin is offering in-person assistance to community members enrolling in Vermont Health Connect, the state’s health insurance marketplace. The enrollment period, Nov1 to Dec15, is shorter than in years past, highlighting the importance of planning ahead and acting quickly. Enrolling members will have a coverage start date of Jan1, 2018.

Residents can start the enrollment process by completing the 2018 Plan Comparison Tool at www.vt.checkbookhealth.org. The tool reviews which medical plan is best for individuals and families, estimates costs and identifies financial assistance available.

by Alexandra Clauss,Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer PC You’ve likely heard the appalling reports of sexual harassment against the now-disgraced Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein. Sadly, the film industry is not alone; high-profile executives in the news, hospitality, and tech industries have also been faced with similar accounts of workplace harassment.

So, what should you do if an employee complains of sexual harassment?

First, what is sexual harassment? Sexual harassment is unlawful discrimination based on sex. It is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when one of the following is also true:

Vermont Business Magazine The Green Mountain Care Board is charged with reducing the rate of health care cost growth in Vermont while ensuring that the State of Vermont maintains a high quality, accessible health care system. The Legislature assigned the GMCB three main responsibilities: regulation, innovation, and evaluation. The GMCB regulates not only health insurance rates, but also hospital budgets, Accountable Care Organizations, and major capital expenditures. The Board also innovates, testing new ways to pay for and deliver health care as part of its role in building a new system.

Thursday, November 2^nd: GMCB Meeting (12:00)

Vermont Business Magazine SVHC has installed its third StoryWalk^, an innovative way for children to enjoy reading and the outdoors at the same time at Molly Stark Elementary. The StoryWalk concept was originally created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT, with the help of Rachel Senechal of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in 2007. SVHC’s StoryWalk began this past summer when AmeriCorps 2016 – 2017 VISTA Volunteer Rachel Newton initiated a project to install the area’s first StoryWalk at Willow Park in Bennington with support from Stewart’s Shops. This fall, the program continued at Bennington and Pownal Elementary Schools under direction from Americorps 2017 – 2018 VISTA Volunteer Adriana Hazelton.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Cooperative crews have been restoring power to many of its members during the day, but there is plenty of hard work ahead some of which may take several days to complete. At the height of the outage early this morning, approximately 40 percent of VEC’s 38,000 members did not have power. VEC has restored power to 3,130 members, leaving about 12,000 members still without power as of5pm Monday.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont's congressional delegation has issued the following statements in response to the charges filed against three former Trump campaign officials, including campaign chairman and chief strategist Paul Manafort, in the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Vermont Business MagazineOn November 7, more than 150 business and nonprofit leaders will ascend on Killington Grand Hotel for “Creating Irresistible Companies.” The half-day conference, put on by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibly (VBSR), will run from 12:30 to 5:00 PM and is designed to help leaders recruit and retain employees by focusing on company culture, vision, and purpose.