Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Foodbank has released The State of Senior Hunger in America in 2015, a study about food insecurity among seniors in the US produced by Feeding America and released in partnership with the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger (NFESH). The report shows that nationally, 5.4 million seniors age 60 or older (8.1 percent) were food insecure in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available. In Vermont, 7.5 percent of seniors were food insecure. Food insecurity refers to the lack of access to enough nutritious food.

Vermont Business MagaineThe FDA is right – when it comes to disease culprits, cigarette smoking tops the list. While recognized as the number-one cause of preventable disease and death, it’s an incredibly tough habit to break due to the addictiveness of nicotine. New research from the University of Vermont (UVM) and colleagues suggests that reducing nicotine content in cigarettes may decrease their addiction potential in especially vulnerable populations and suggests how regulatory policies could shift preferences to less-harmful tobacco products.

The study appears inJAMA Psychiatry.

by John McClaughry Among the most notable martyrs to the Clean Water Act are names that few recall: Ocie and Corey Mills, John Pozsgai, John Rapanos, and most recently, John Duarte. All of them were dragged into years-long battles with the Federal government – notably the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency – over making their own land more productive.

Congress passed the Clean Water Act of 1972 to regulate actions that affect the “navigable waters of the United States”. The Connecticut River and Lake Champlain are clearly navigable waterways. Environmentalists would argue that Kirby Brook, which runs from Kirby Pond into the Moose River, then into the Passumpsic River, then into the Connecticut River, is by extension a part of the “navigable waters of the United States”.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Health Centers in Vermont were recently recognized with Quality Awards from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) based upon high levels of performance in one or more of the following categories: Improving Quality of Care, Increasing Access to Care, Enhancing Delivery of High Value Health Care, Addressing Health Disparities, and Achieving Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition. The median award among the 10 Federally Qualified Health Centers receiving awards was $45,000.

“The Health Centers invest in their ongoing commitment to delivering integrated primary medical, oral and mental health care in their local communities. As designated Patient Centered Medical Homes, the Health Centers meet the most rigorous standards of care,” said Tess Stack Kuenning, CNS, MS, RN, President and CEO of Bi-State Primary Care Association. “We are proud of their well-deserved recognition.”

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation (GMEDC) was awarded a Rural Business Development Grant from USDA to create a Revolving Loan Fund for businesses affected by disasters. GMEDC closed its first loan of $15,000 on August 25^th in Hartford, VT to DJ Enterprises/AC Lawn Mowing following extensive storm damage July 1. Water, mud, stone ballast and debris from the railroad embankment above their property on Old River Road in White River Junction crushed their main building, forcing cancellation of their business operations and vacated several tenants. The well-known local owners, Chuck and Alicia Gordon, were visited by Governor Scott and Commissioner of Labor Lindsay Kurrle the next day to view the devastation first hand. They assured the Gordons that Commissioner Kurrle would remain in contact afterward to work with federal, state and local agencies and help get them back on their feet.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement: “Six years ago, Vermont faced one of its most impactful natural disasters when Tropical Storm Irene caused major flooding across the state.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources announced today that Ruby Construction, Inc, former owner of the hilltop property containing the Mammoth Quarry in the Town of Wells, and the company’s lessee Royal Harrison, were jointly held responsible for a massive discharge of water and sediment into Lake St Catherine. They have been fined a minimum of $9,000 and are required to appropriately remove the deposited sediment from the lake.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in April 2014, neighboring homeowners on West Lake Road, a residential road along Lake St Catherine and downhill from the Mammoth Quarry, were outside enjoying the weather when an enormous discharge event occurred. The homeowners described witnessing a wall of water that rumbled down the forested hill, quickly overwhelmed an intermittent streambed, blocked a culvert and overtopped West Lake Road.

Vermont Business Magazine With inventories of potential rare, threatened or endangered plant species completed, the 'all clear' has been given by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, and the entire northern section of the project is being prepped for a scheduled September 12 paving date! Please use caution when approaching the intersections with North Avenue Extension, Starr Farm Road and Staniford Road as there will be continuous hauling of gravel subbase through these sections in the next several weeks. In the southernmost section of the active construction zones, all grading has been completed and now fully vegetated side slopes and sturdy subbase gravel await the insertion of the asphalt bike lane and gravel shoulders that will complete the bike path!

Vermont Business Magazine At the corner of I-89 and I-91 in White River Junction is a modern looking structure that looks something like what NASA might build. In fact it's a pool; a very big pool with 11 lanes and a need to grow. The Upper Valley Aquatic Center recently completed its $4 million, nine-month long project of adding 10,000 square feet to the Center, along with renovations to the existing structure to provide a better fitness-minded membership.

After starting the build in September 2016, UVAC will not just offer a facility predominately geared to aquatic fitness, but will contain much more fitness diversity the community was working for.

This expansion and renovation that not only enhances the Center’s strength and cardio offering, but also includes new space for yoga, Pilates, physical therapy, expanded offices and childcare, and a large family locker room with private changing suites.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University School of Architecture + Art has received $10,000 from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation to fund the upcoming 2017-2018 free lecture series. For more than 12 years the Byrne Foundation has partnered with Norwich University to support the School of Architecture + Art’s Lecture Series. Through these lectures—which are free to students and the local community—the School of Architecture + Art brings well-known architects, designers, artists and writers to campus from around the country.

The Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation is a philanthropic organization that supports cancer research, education and volunteerism, among many charitable endeavors.

Vermont Business Magazine For customers, time is money. Walmart announced Thursday that Vermont customers can now use Express Money Services, the first of two Express services rolling out this year to help busy customers save even more time in-store. A similar express experience for Pharmacy customers is expected to launch later this year. Express Money Services is a new feature in the Walmart app that is combined with in-store Express Lanes* to help expedite customers’ Money Services transactions.To celebrate its launch, Walmart is waiving fees on Walmart2Walmart domestic money transfers initiated using the Walmart App in all stores through September 30, 2017 – saving customers $4 to $16 per transaction and time spent in line at the store.