Current News

Vermont Business MagazineGifford Health Care and Vermont Blueprint for Health are offering a free, six-week Healthier Living Workshop for people who have been living with chronic pain for more than 3 to 6 months. The program offers support and education, including techniques to deal with common problems (frustration, fatigue, isolation, or poor sleep); exercises to improve your strength, flexibility, and endurance; and tips for talking with your family, friends, and health-care professionals about pain.

Chronic pain conditions include: musculoskeletal pain (neck, shoulder, back pain, etc.), fibromyalgia, postsurgical pain that lasts beyond 6 months, neuropathic pain, and post stroke pain. This workshop can also benefit people with persistent headache, Crohn’s disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, or those who experience severe muscular pain from conditions such as multiple sclerosis.

by John McClaughry

Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution in Washington. He is himself a bona fide liberal, or at least, what passed for a thinking liberal a decade ago. He is a sharp commentator on American politics, and has given us a brilliant and timely essay in the July-August issue ofThe Atlanticentitled “How American Politics Went Insane”.

Young Americans may not think politics has become insane, because they have never known what it used to be like. The leading political science text of fifty years ago (originally published in 1942, 5thedition in 1964) was Harvard Prof. V.O. Key Jr.’s authoritativePolitics, Parties and Pressure Groups.

by Kirk J Woodring, LICSW, Brattleboro Retreat “SUICIDE.” I intentionally write it in capital letters, and place it in quotes, because so many of us find the word extremely difficult to see and to say. And yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified suicide as an epidemic in the US, with rates having reached a 30-year peak since they began to climb in 1999.

Why are we so afraid to talk about suicide? It’s not as if the media avoids it. Just do a Google search of “suicide as a current epidemic” and you’ll find more than 500,000 results. Articles in almost every major news outlet in the nation address the concern. The recent Netflix series “Thirteen Reasons Why” addresses the subject and is one of the company’s most viewed series.

Vermont Business MagazineOnJune 19, continuing a tradition that began 35 years ago, the Woodstock Country Club hosted the annual MAH Classic golf tournament. More than 80 golfers participated in a day filled with challenges and fun to raise funds for MtAscutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC) in Windsor and the Ottauquechee Health Center (OHC) in Woodstock.“The MAH Classic brings people together for a great cause and a good time,” said Charles Clement, Director of Development for the Hospital. “Golfers enjoy playing at one of New England’s premier golf resorts while raising funds to support quality health care in our communities.

Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement:

“Sixteen years ago today, our nation experienced terrible and senseless terror attacks in New York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania that were felt around the country and the world.

“On this day each year, we remember and mourn those who were lost in the attacks and the many heroes who saved lives and helped with recovery in the days and months that followed.

“Despite the terrorists’ attempts to divide us with hate and fear, we came together during one of our country’s darkest hours. As we mark this day, let’s remember those who were lost, but also how strong our country is when we join together, united by the values we share as Americans. In times of tragedy, we put our differences aside and work towards a common goal – a spirit of unity that we should strive to embody each and every day in addressing our challenges, both large and small.”

Vermont Business MagazineNearly 200 young professionals from across the state and members of the Vermont business community convened in Rutland on Saturday for the third annual Young Professionals Summit of Vermont. The summit is a one-day event held to share ideas and confront issues faced by the state’s young workforce.

“We were absolutely thrilled to have such strong attendance from young professionals across Vermont at this year’s summit”, said Amanda Dagg O’Brien – who organized the event along with Laura Pierce. “Laura and I both returned home to Vermont after starting our careers elsewhere and we hope events like todays will help more young Vermonters return home to help build their careers and our economy.”

Vermont Business Magazine Today more than ever, technology is interwoven into our daily lives, and, recently, is becoming a key player on Vermont dairy farms. In April of this year, Dan Barnes of Barnes Black and White Farm in Birdport, Vermont took a leap of faith and turned to robotic milking technology as the next way to milk some of his dairy cows. Robotic milking systems not only take care of the milking chores nearly 24 hours a day – they also regularly screen every individual cow’s health, monitor the quality of her milk, and ultimately position the dairy to be more sustainable into the future.

Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont Community Foundation is proud to honor Sister Janice Ryan with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Community Service. The award will be presented at theCommunity Foundation's Annual Meetingon September 13, 2017 and is given to a person who has demonstrated a long-term and significant commitment toward creating healthy and vital Vermont communities.

Vermont Business MagazineUniversity of Vermont President Tom Sullivan is among more than 600 presidents of public and private colleges and universities across the country who have signed a statement in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The statement urges the nation’s leaders to uphold, continue and expand the program as a matter of “moral imperative” and “national necessity.”

Vermont Business Magazine Five hundred creative entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders gathered at the University of Vermont for a three-day innovation summit hosted by the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) to focus on the opportunities presented by the Climate Economy this week. The Climate Economy Initiative is built on the premise that confronting climate change through innovative economic development can be a competitive strategy, one that will build national reputation, create jobs, and attract youth and entrepreneurism.

The summit, cc:econ, kicked off Wednesday evening with a keynote speech delivered by environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist and author Paul Hawken, followed by a Kat Wright concert.

Vermont Business Magazine Mad River Distillers of Vermont is proud to announce the distillery’s new Burnt Rock Bourbon will be released in extremely limited quantities on Tuesday, September 19 at select Vermont and Massachusetts retailers and bars. “We were looking for a different bourbon experience, something spicier with a bit of smoke to it,” said Mimi Buttenheim, Mad River Distillers’ president. “The maple wood smoke allowed us to showcase our Vermont roots.”

Entirely different from the distillery’s flagship four-grain, wheated bourbon (corn, wheat, oats, and barley), Burnt Rock Bourbon is a 12- to 18-month old corn, rye, and maple wood-smoked barley named after a popular hiking trail up Burnt Rock Mountain in Mad River Valley, Vermont.

Vermont Business MagazineFood business incubator Mad River Food Hub has opened theMad River Taste Placein Waitsfield, a distinct venue showcasing Vermont food and drink businesses.Located in a contemporary building that once housed a bank, Mad River Taste Place offers a curated retail experience where residents and visitors can taste, learn and provision from the food and beverage makers of the Mad River Valley and other areas of Vermont.