Current News

Vermont Business MagazineThe Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties (VNA) announces that the Janet SMunt VNA Family Room will transition from being a program of the VNA to a newly created freestanding non-profit organization in July 2017. The VNA Family Room, established in 1988, is one of 15 state-designated parent-child centers in Vermont providing a wide range of programming and support for parents and children from birth through age six in Burlington’s Old North End.

Aly RichardsHealthy children. Happy parents. A positive work culture. Engaged, productive and loyal employees who feel valued and supported to do their very best work. These are just a few of the many reasons the Permanent Fund for Vermont’s Children chooses to offer paid family leave. We believe offering paid family leave is not only good for young children and their families—it’s good for Vermont overall.

Research documents that paid family and medical leave has health benefits for children and parents and also benefits employers via increased worker productivity and employee retention. But before getting into statistics, let’s consider how paid family leave impacted the life of one Vermonter—our Director of Innovation, Molly.

by Mike SmithPresident Donald Trump and GovernorPhil Scott are both Republicans, but that’s where the similarities end. Nothing illustrates the differences between these two politicians more than their opposing positions on immigration.

President Trump issued an executive order that attempted to temporarily halt immigration from seven, mostly Muslim, countries. In the case of Syria, it’s an indefinite ban. The president said he wanted time to review the vetting process of refugees coming from these countries to ensure Americans are safe from terrorism. In contrast, Governor Scott has aligned himself with Vermont’s Democratic attorney general as well as the Democratic legislative leadership to denounce the ban and supports legislation to circumvent the order.

Leonine Public AffairsThis week the Statehouse was relatively slow moving in terms of House and Senate floor action. The House did settle on the rules for the recount of the Orange-1 House race and there was a vote to elect new UVM trustees, but beyond that, action was light. Things should start to pick up as bills move out of committee in advance of the Town Meeting week recess in two weeks, which also marks the midway point of the 2017 legislative session.

by Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe Just over 50 years ago, in response to a national poverty rate of almost 20 percent, President Johnson introduced legislation known as the “War on Poverty.” His goal was “not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it." A central piece was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), which emphasized equal access to educational opportunity and accountability for meeting equity goals. The Act mandated funds to support those goals. As President Johnson stated when he signed the bill into law: “…with your courage and with your compassion and your desire, we will build a Great Society. It is a Society where no child will go unfed, and no youngster will go unschooled.”

Vermont Business Magazine Saint Michael’s alumnus and National Public Radio (NPR) Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman ’77 will be presenting on campus on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. in the McCarthy Arts Center at Saint Michael’s College. His talk, titled “Reporting on war and conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq,” will highlight Bowman’s many trips to the war-torn region and being embedded with US troops. Bowman was nearly killed last year when his convoy was ambushed, killing his colleague, NPR photographer David Gilkey, and their Afghani translator.

Bowman will speak alongside a veteran (or possibly more) of both wars who will describe his/ their life/lives in Vermont since returning. This event is free and open to the public.

His bio from NPR website:

Vermont Business MagazineAn abundance of snow and chilly temperatures could not keep Wounded Warrior Project(WWP) veterans away from the slopes of Pico Mountain recently. Participants skied, rode snowboards, and enjoyed the benefits of getting out of the house and connecting with fellow service members. Warriors and guests arrived at the mountain early, eager to obtain their equipment and conquer the snowy peaks. Many participants were beginners, so the bunny slope was busy throughout the day. Only an afternoon trip to the Slopeside Grill for lunch interrupted the action.

Vermont Business Magazine Girls on the Run Vermont (GOTRVT) is excited to welcome its 18th season by announcing that program registration for Central VT is open! From now until February 22, parents/guardians can register their girl for the Central VT spring program at their participating site or rec center via the GOTRVT website.

Vermont Business MagazineGovernor Phil Scott and members of his senior staff and cabinet traveled to Québec City this week for the first official meetings with their Québec counterparts, as well as meeting with businesses and industry groups in the Province.Scott and Premier Couillard discussed opportunities to expand the Vermont-Quebec partnership through continued collaboration, promoting trade integration, improving the Vermont-Quebec multi-sectorial cooperation agreement and exploring increased education exchange opportunities.

“Our partnership with Québec plays an important role in our work to grow Vermont’s economy, retain and attract businesses to Vermont, and help workers and businesses thrive,” Scott said. “This trip served to strengthen our longstanding relationship with the Province, and we will continue to work together to grow economic opportunity that benefits both regions.”

Vermont Business Magazine Special Olympics athletes, Program leaders, Unified Partners, and family members from 39 states and the District of Columbia converged on Capitol Hill on February 15 for Special Olympics’ 15th annual “Capitol Hill Day.”Special Olympics athletes from across the nation held more than 250 face-to-face meetings with Members of Congress in both the House and Senate, challenging and inviting their elected officials to partner with them to achieve the goals of expanding Special Olympics Unified Sports and Unified Champion Schools programming throughout the US, and to end health care disparities and discrimination against persons with intellectual disabilities.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) joined with Governor Phil Scott and partners including Green Mountain Power, Efficiency Vermont, Vermont Electric Coop and Washington Electric Coop today to launch the Climate Economy Model Communities Program. VCRD will join with the utilities and other partners to facilitate a process in two communities annually to help them build and implement locally developed plans modeling state-of-the-art rural development in an age of climate change. The ultimate goal is to create more economically sustainable and “climate smart” communities throughout Vermont. This coordinated rapid approach will include implementing comprehensive efficiencies efforts, transportation system improvements, energy generation, entrepreneurship and business incubation to spur economic progress.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont PBS announced today that it accepted a bid of $56 million for one of its four broadcast licenses, WVTA, in the Federal Communications Commission’s spectrum auction. Vermonters will not see any reduction in over the air coverage. Vermont PBS will reengineer its network and upgrade its remaining signals to replicate coverage transmitted from Mt Ascutney.

“We will continue free over the air broadcast service,” said Vermont PBS President Holly Groschner. “Vermont viewers who currently receive our signal with rabbit ears and other kinds of TV antennas will still be able to do so and of course, our online, cable, and satellite services will remain as they are.”

According to Vermont Business Magazine, Vermont PBS' revenues have been between $5.7 million and $6.8 million per year over the last 10 years.