Current News

by Mike Del Trecco, CEO, VAHHS Happy Summer. It’s been a while since I wrote a column, but now feels like the right time for an update and restatement of how Vermont’s system of hospitals is approaching the challenges we face in health care in our rural state. I’ll cut right to it and share that the work is difficult, necessary and ripe with opportunity to better serve all of you and is why we are optimistic about the work ahead. Vermont’s hospitals are navigating one of the most challenging and transformational periods in modern health care – certainly in my career. One powerful example of this is Copley Hospital’s decision to close its birthing center after careful analysis. That announcement was met with deep emotion—disappointment, frustration, even anger—in the community. 

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont Health Network continues to make progress in recruiting dedicated health care professionals committed to delivering high-quality care across the region. Over the last several months, the health system has welcomed 18 new providers across a range of specialties to provide care as close to home as possible. At a time when the demand for health care providers continues to outpace supply nationally, especially in rural communities, UVM Health Network has made notable progress hiring physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs). APPs, health care professionals who have completed advanced training allowing them to provide a wide range of medical services, play a critical role in expanding access to quality care throughout the health care system.

Vermont Business Magazine Be it peanuts, bee stings, shellfish, or other triggers, many families live with the day-to-day risk that their child might experience a sudden and scary allergic reaction. In fact, pediatric emergency department visits in the United States to treat acute allergic reactions more than tripled from 2008 to 2016. But once they arrive at the hospital, many children are staying much longer than necessary, according to a study involving more than 5,000 children conducted at 31 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada. Findings were published June 10, 2025, in Lancet: Child and Adolescent Health.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED) issued a peak alert for tomorrow, Tuesday, June 24, as part of its Defeat the Peak program launched during summer 2017, encouraging members of the Burlington community to reduce their energy usage from 5:00pm to 8:00pm tomorrow. The purpose of the Defeat the Peak program is to reduce our energy costs by reducing usage during a peak event. Burlingtonians can lend a hand by taking the following steps on what is projected to be an unusually hot summer day.

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that on June 20, 2025, Barry Perez of Lebanon, New Hampshire, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Christina Reiss to a term of 78 months’ imprisonment to be followed by a 5-year term of supervised release. The Court also ordered Perez to pay restitution in the amount of $44,626 and recommended that the Bureau of Prisons not give Perez credit for time Perez has been detained pending the sentencing date. Perez previously pleaded guilty to kidnapping an interstate trucker on January 13, 2023. 

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont) joined Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) in writing a letter to Interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) Jay Clayton requesting personnel records relevant to Emil Bove III, President Trump’s nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Senators are all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. From 2012 to 2021, Mr. Bove served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. During his tenure at SDNY, Mr. Bove was promoted to Acting Deputy Chief for the Narcotics Unit in 2019 and, later, Co-Chief of the Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit from 2019 to 2021. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont has hired Alicia Estey as Vice President for Finance and Administration following a national search. Estey brings two decades of leadership experience in higher education, most recently at Boise State University, where she served as chief financial and operating officer and vice president for finance and operations since February 2023. Boise State is nearly twice the size of UVM. At Boise State, Estey oversaw the university’s all-funds budget and led a team of professionals across finance, legal, compliance, facilities, capital projects, IT, and public health and safety. She has broad experience in governance, stakeholder engagement, and the alignment of financial stewardship with academic and public service missions. 

Vermont Business Magazine ISO New England announced today that President and CEO Gordon van Welie will retire from the company effective Jan. 1, 2026.  The ISO’s Board of Directors has selected Dr. Vamsi Chadalavada, currently serving as the ISO’s chief operating officer, as van Welie’s successor. Joining ISO New England in 2000, van Welie served as chief operating officer before being promoted to CEO in 2001. In his tenure, van Welie led strategic initiatives to keep grid system reliability intact and the wholesale electricity markets competitive during significant shifts in the region’s policies, generation sources, and technologies.  

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery has announced the first-ever “Liquordation” Sale, offering consumers a chance to try new-to-them spirits and favorite brands at discounted prices while helping local stores free up valuable shelf space for exciting new offerings. This special sale runs Monday, June 23 through Friday, June 27 from 9am to 5pm and features products that have been removed from the 802Spirits active product list, as well as a selection of special-order items. Delisting is a routine part of product lifecycle management and allows for a refreshed and responsive selection that reflects consumer demand. Now, for the first time, these delisted products will be available to the public at reduced prices.

Vermont Business Magazine The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) announced today the appointment of Emily Brown as its new Executive Director, effective August 18, 2025. Emily most recently served as Vermont’s Deputy Commissioner of Insurance at the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR), where she managed the Insurance Division and over 30 staff, oversaw commercial market regulation, and led several major statewide initiatives to improve access, affordability, and accountability in Vermont’s insurance system. A licensed attorney with deep policy and regulatory expertise, Emily has served in a variety of leadership roles at the DFR over the past decade, including Director of Insurance Regulation and Assistant General Counsel.

Vermont Business Magazine Fidium, New Hampshire’s best internet provider according to CNET, has completed expansion of its multi-gig, symmetrical speed internet service in the Upper Valley-area. Expansion to Croydon, Grantham and Newport, N.H. and to White River Junction and Hartford, Vt. marks a milestone in Fidium’s effort to upgrade connectivity in the region. More than 26,000 Upper Valley homes and businesses will have access by year’s end, with Fidium set to begin construction in Lebanon this July.   

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.13/g, up 9.5 cents per gallon from last week's $3.04/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.75/g while the highest was $3.30/g, a difference of 55.0 cents per gallon. The national average price of gasoline has risen 9.7 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.18/g today. The national average is unchanged from a month ago and stands 23.3 cents per gallon lower than a year ago.