Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The sale of Magic Mountain Ski Area in Londonderry, Vermont to SKI MAGIC LLC officially closed Monday night, marking a critical turning point in the future sustainability and prosperity of Magic which was originally founded in 1960. The ski area, under the unified ownership and operating company of locally-based SKI MAGIC LLC, will be executing a series of capital improvement projects over the next several years designed to improve the quality, efficiency and consistency of Magic’s product and operating profile. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.

“Magic has been one of Vermont’s best kept secrets,” said the President of SKI MAGIC LLC Geoff Hatheway, “but it’s time to let a few more people know about this alternative, some say ‘counter-cultural’, ski experience here which hearkens back to an era when Vermont skiing originally began to take off.”

Vermont Business Magazine Today the State of Vermont settled all claims with two companies and an individual who were bilking consumers who donated to charities through online obituaries. Vermont will receive over $15,000 in penalties for violations of Vermont’s laws on charitable solicitations and consumer protection.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) leaders and staff gathered Tuesday, November 1 at the Mount Anthony Country Club to honor employees for their service to the organization’s mission. One award every year is presented for each of the organization’s five core values: quality, empathy, safety, teamwork, and stewardship. The employees who received the awards are noted standard bearers and role models within the organization.

Vermont Business Magazine Thanksgiving food, family and fun may start with a hundred items on your to-do list, but there are only four things you need to remember to guarantee a food safe holiday – CLEAN, SEPARATE, COOK, CHILL. “Every year millions of people in the US become ill, sometimes seriously, from foodborne illness,” said Elisabeth Wirsing, food and lodging chief at the Vermont Department of Health. Foodborne illness or “food poisoning” ranges from slight discomfort to serious infections that require hospitalization. Infants and young children, pregnant women and older adults are at greatest risk for serious complications or death.

“Raw poultry can contaminate everything it touches, and bacteria thrives in the “Danger Zone” between 40˚ and 140˚ Fahrenheit, when cooking temperatures are too low or food is left at room temperature for too long,” said Wirsing. “We can be thankful that it is easy to avoid the risk of illness.”

Vermont Business Magazine Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Cheshire Medical Center are playing key coordinating roles in the implementation of a new five-year, $150 million statewide initiative to integrate and improve behavioral and physical health care. The effort will tie together mental health and substance use disorder treatment, physical health, social needs, housing, transportation, and the criminal justice system into a coordinated effort that provides care for New Hampshire’s most vulnerable residents.

Vermont Business Magazine In August, 2015 it was announced that Rutland City was one of 27 municipalities nationwide to receive a $50,000 award from the Small Business Administration. For the last year the City’s various departments have been working with Web designer Collaboration 133 to rewrite, streamline, and automate their various permits and licenses in an effort to make Rutland City the most business friendly destination in Vermont. Rutland has now completed work on its new business Web portal (http://rutlandvt.business) and the site will launch officially on November, 22, 2016.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont legislators gearing up for a new session in the State House have tapped University of Vermont researchers for their expertise on the healthcare issues that they will likely grapple with next year. UVM recently hosted its fourth annual Legislative Summit. Forty-two legislators attended this year’s event, titled Healthcare: Issues and Opportunities for Policy Makers.

UVM Legislative Policy Summit. Copyright ©Sally McCay, UVM Photo

Vermont Business Magazine For the seventh consecutive year, the Northeast Delta Dental Foundation awarded a grant to the Vermont Head Start / Early Head Start programs to support the Vermont Head Start Tooth Tutor program.  The grant award for FY2017 is $50,000. The grant period will operate from October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017.  For several years, the Tooth Tutor program had been funded by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, but this funding concluded in September 2009.  The Vermont Head Start Association, which represents the seven Head Start programs in the state, was grateful when the Foundation provided the funding to keep this critically important oral health program operating since 2010.

Vermont Business Magazine Department of Vermont Health Access officials reported that Vermont Health Connect Open Enrollment has been progressing smoothly. They expect the state to maintain one of the lowest uninsured rates in the country in 2017. Open Enrollment is a time for new customers to sign up for health and dental plans for the coming year. It is also a time for current customers to compare their existing health plan to other options. Vermont Health Connect offers a free 2017 Plan Comparison Tool, which can help customers decide whether another plan would be a better fit for their family’s needs and budget. The online tool allows customers to compare plans not just by monthly premiums and deductible amounts, but also by estimated total annual costs. Vermonters can try it out by clicking on “Decision Tools” at http://VermontHealthConnect.gov.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont College of Medicine will offer a new online Certificate of Graduate Study in Health Care Management and Policy starting in January. The 18-credit program introduces students to healthcare policy, finance, and management issues directly relevant to today’s evolving healthcare environment. UVM’s new program is designed for health care and public health professionals, medical students, nurses, and recent bachelor’s degree graduates with interest in a non-clinical graduate degree in health care policy.

by John McClaughry It now seems increasingly likely that most of President Obama’s signature achievement, ObamaCare, will end up on the scrap heap by the end of 2017, if not sooner. Obama and his Democratic Congress rammed the Affordable Care Act through in 2010, without recognizing the likely consequences. In the ensuing five years, Obama has made numerous unilateral changes to the act to keep it from falling apart. Now President Trump can insist that the act be implemented exactly as written by the Democratic Congress and signed with great fanfare by Obama. That will be a death sentence.

In 2010 the for-profit health insurance industry agreed to support ObamaCare if Obama would abandon the progressive component, a government-owned “public option” company that would be able to undercut the premium rates of its (Federally regulated) competitors.

Vermont Business Magazine The National Organic Standards Board voted unanimously on Friday to update US organic standards to exclude ingredients derived from next generation genetic engineering and gene editing. This recommendation to the US Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program will ensure that ingredients derived from new genetic engineering techniques, including synthetic biology, will not be allowed in the production or final product of foods and beverages that are certified organic. Synthetic biology is a new set of genetic engineering techniques that include using synthetic DNA to re-engineer organisms to produce substances they would not normally produce or to edit DNA so as to silence the expression of certain traits.