Current News

Vermont Business Magazine OneCare Vermont is one of six organizations nationwide chosen to participate in Transforming Complex Care, a multi-site demonstration aimed at refining and spreading effective care models that address the complex medical and social needs of high-need, high-cost patients. This national initiative, made possible with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS), will work with six organizations to enhance existing complex care programs within a diverse range of delivery system, payment, and geographic environments.

Vermont Business Magazine - A growing number of people in Vermont are becoming ill with diseases spread by ticks, such as Lyme disease and anaplasmosis. The good news is these illnesses are preventable. To help you be tick smart, the Vermont Department of Health’s Brattleboro District Office is holding a series of presentations about the simple actions you can take to avoid tickborne diseases.

Vermont Business Magazine Mt Ascutney Hospital and Health Center has been named one of America’s “Most Wired” hospitals by the American Hospital Association (AHA) in recognition of its successful adoption of information technology (IT) to enhance clinical performance. The 18^th annual Most Wired list appears in the July 2016 issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, an AHA publication. All hospitals on the list have demonstrated a strong commitment to using IT resources to improve their operational, financial, and clinical services.

Vermont Business Magazine Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) and Community College of Vermont (CCV) are joining forces in response to challenges in filling positions within the local healthcare workforce by launching an accelerated program to prepare qualified candidates for jobs as Certified Medical Assistants. Enrollment in the 14-week program will be limited to twenty participants. Classes will be held on the CCV Brattleboro campus, and all clinical aspects of the course work will be completed at BMH.

An informational presentation about the new program will be held in the Brew Barry Conference Room #2 on July 14th from 1 – 2:30 PM, and the public is invited to attend to learn about program details, the application process, and the eight scholarship opportunities available. Staff from BMH and CCV, as well as current BMH Medical Assistants will be on hand to answer questions and provide technical assistance with the application process.

Vermont Business Magazine - The Hands-On Educational System gets children excited about learning. The Homespun Group, LLC today announced the release of the Hands-On Educational System.  Homespun and Hands-On offers a wide variety of hands-on projects, hands-on games, supplemental materials, and miscellaneous goods. The Hands-On Educational System makes it easy to guide children as they explore, discover, and learn about any given concept in the general subject areas including art, science, literature, history, geography, sociology, life skills, and product development.

Homespun and Hands-On is a unique, fun, and simple-to-use learning platform for parents, grandparents, teachers, educational groups, schools, and after-school programs seeking to inspire children to learn and reach their learning potential.

Vermont Business Magazine Lake Sunapee Bank Group (NASDAQ: LSBG) has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of fourteen cents ($0.14) per common share payable July 29, 2016, to stockholders of record as of July 22, 2016. Lake Sunapee Bank Group is the holding company of Lake Sunapee Bank, fsb, a federally chartered savings bank that provides a wide range of life-cycle banking and financial services.

by Bruce Lisman There they go again. The Democratic candidates for Governor are promising to resuscitate the discredited idea of single payer. After four excruciating years of dancing around the issue of cost, Peter Shumlin finally abandoned single payer when he was forced to admit that Vermont couldn’t afford it. Now, just 12 months after Governor Shumlin announced he would not stand for reelection – his political capital squandered on a series of bungled attempts at health care reform – Matt Dunne proclaimed in a press conference that he intends to pick up where Shumlin left off, and force Vermont into a single payer system.

Vermont Business Magazine Sue Minter for Vermont has announced support from 38 Vermont environmentalists from across the state. These endorsements follow the release of two comprehensive environmental policy proposals relating to energy, climate change and clean water. Minter has also called for growing Vermont’s recreational economy, noting that our high environmental standards ensure that the state will continue to attract outdoor industries, as well as visitors and potential employers who enjoy Vermont’s skiing, hiking, mountain biking and other recreational activities.

Vermont Business Magazine An initiative of the Rutland Redevelopment Authority (RRA) and the City of Rutland took a big step forward recently with the City and a local private developer agreeing to a lease option, which could lead to the eventual development of a first class hotel / conference center and pedestrian mall, along the Evelyn Street corridor. The redevelopment plan for the Evelyn Street corridor has been discussed publicly on numerous occasions over the last few years and has generated significant public support. The lease option, on the approximately half acre of City owned land currently known as Depot Park, was approved by the City’s Board of Aldermen on June 6th. This commitment from the City provides site control needed by the prospective hotel developer to proceed forward with investment plans.

Vermont Business Magazine William and Robin Hanfield, who own and operate a dairy farm in Brandon, Vermont, have been ordered to take corrective actions at the farm’s manure pit and pay $24,750 for violations of Vermont’s water pollution laws and agricultural practice regulations. “Vermonters want our rivers, streams and lakes to be clean,” said Attorney General William H. Sorrell. “We know that most farmers want the same and work hard to follow sound agricultural practices. But if a farm fails to follow Vermont’s water quality laws, it will be held accountable. The improper release of farm waste to waters of the State of Vermont will not be tolerated.”

Vermont Business Magazine Mascoma Savings Bank, with branches in Vermont and New Hampshire, has announced that Clay Adams will succeed current President and CEO Stephen F Christy upon Christy’s previously announced year-end retirement following nearly 27 years in the leadership role. Adams has been the CEO at Simon Pearce in Quechee since 2012. He also has been a member of the Mascoma Savings Bank Board of Directors since 2011, and presently chairs the Bank’s Strategic Planning Committee, as well as its wealth management subsidiary, Mascoma Wealth Management, LLC, and the Mascoma Savings Bank Foundation. The Board announced the selection in late June.

Clayton Adams

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Foundation, in partnership with some of its fundholders, awarded a total of $54,473 in Small and Inspiring grants to 29 organizations for local projects in communities across the state during the first half of 2016. One of a number of competitive grant rounds at the Community Foundation, the Small and Inspiring grants program funds work that helps connect people to their neighbors, their land, and their history in ways that strengthen community. $32,740 of the total was made possible by Giving Together, a program at the Community Foundation that shares grant proposals with fundholders and donors, giving them the opportunity to co-fund projects.