Current News

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.

Vermont Business Magazine Snow guns are firing and mother nature is delivering. A healthy 3-5 inches fell overnight and it's still coming down. This is exactly what Burke Mountain needed to get back on track with a new target opening date of Friday, December 2nd for passholders and Saturday, December 3rd for everyone. The plan will be to continue to make snow straight through Wednesday and then fire up again over the weekend, unless of course temperatures take a turn for the better and we are able make snow during the evening hours of Thanksgiving and Black Friday. As expected, the warmer temperatures last week took a toll on snowmaking efforts, but the extended forecast indicates continued cold and snow.

Watch it all live from the Mid Burke webcam. 

Operational plan will be as follows:

Vermont Business Magazine Secretary of State Jim Condos announced today that Vermont’s Elections Division will be conducting a random audit of the 2016 General Election results. The audit will include six towns randomly selected by the Secretary of State.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin on Monday highlighted the success of an energy loan program that helps Vermonters retrofit their homes, reduce fossil fuel consumption, and save money. The Governor pointed to the program as an example of what is to come under a new law set to go into effect in January that will expand such energy and cost saving efforts. The Heat Saver Loan program was launched in 2014 to help homeowners make energy efficiency upgrades to their homes and pay for them with the resulting energy and cost savings, allowing homeowners to avoid up-front costs while achieving long-term energy and monetary savings.   

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Treasurer Beth Pearce today announced that Vermonters who experience a disability will soon be able to save money in a federally tax-advantaged VT-ABLE savings plan, making Vermont one of only a handful of states to offer a plan since President Obama signed the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act into law in December 2014. The plan is expected to get under way early in 2017.

Vermont Business Magazine On Wednesday, November 9, Cindy Morgan, Senior Marketing Executive with New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) presented a symbolic “big check” for $20,000 to representatives from Burlington’s Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS). According to COTS Executive Director Rita Markley, “We are deeply grateful to New England Federal Credit Union for their wonderful generosity and longtime support of COTS. This incredible gift will enable COTS to serve families and individuals facing the crisis of homelessness this winter through shelter, services, housing, and homelessness prevention. We are honored to have their help.”

L to r, Cindy Morgan, NEFCU Senior Marketing Executive; COTS Executive Director Rita Markley; NEFCU Mortgage Sales Manager Pat Weaver; and NEFCU Mortgage Manager Greg Hahr.

Vermont Business Magazine Shacksbury Cider an Addison County Economic Development Corporation (ACEDC) member, was recently awarded a $25,000 Building Communities Grant from the VT Regional Economic Development program. This grant is administered by the VT Department of Buildings and General Services. The purpose of the grant is to support their expansion and relocation. Successful Building Community Grant projects involve capital costs associated with major maintenance, renovations or planning related to the development of facilities expected to create job opportunities in Vermont communities.

Shacksbury Co-Founder Colin Davis stated “A lot of people talk about economic development, but ACEDC is where the rubber meets the road. They did all the heavy lifting on this grant that, we're happy to say, will allow us to hire another full-time position and bring an important part of our process in-house.”

by Mike Smith Republican Phil Scott will be Vermont’s next governor. Scott won his bid to be Vermont’s 82nd governor by handily defeating his Democratic rival, Sue Minter. What made Scott’s victory especially impressive is that he won in a presidential election year when voter turnout in Vermont was supposed to favor Democrats. Scott was elected because he is well liked and trusted by Vermonters. He recognized early on that Vermonters were concerned about the economy, especially the cost of living in this state as well as the importance of attracting higher paying jobs, and he made these issues the centerpiece of his campaign.