Current News

Vermont Business Magazine New Hospital Safety Scores, which assign A, B, C, D and F letter grades to hospitals nationwide and provide the most complete picture of patient safety in the U.S. health care system, were announced today by The Leapfrog Group, a national patient safety watchdog. Brattleboro Memorial Hospital was one of 798 hospitals to receive an A, ranking among the safest hospitals in the United States.

Vermont Business Magazine Formal groundbreaking will take place Wednesday, June 22, as construction begins on the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care, an advanced clinical facility to provide integrated, patient- and family-centered care for patients with life-limiting illness and complex medical needs and to strengthen palliative and hospice care region-wide. In March, Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) Trustees approved construction of the Jack Byrne Center, pending successful fundraising efforts to cover much of the construction costs. Site preparation has been underway since May, and fundraising for both construction of the Center and accompanying programming has gained strong momentum and continues. Plans call for the Center to open in late 2017.

by John McClaughry The mere existence on our planet of the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch drives Sen. Bernie Sanders to torrents of outrage. They, according to Sanders’ imagination, are the secret owners of the Republican Party, the Tea Party (is that still around?), and a long list of organizations opposed to the Sanders agenda, such as the political action group Americans for Prosperity. This is amusing, inasmuch as the Koch brothers, being libertarians, couldn’t possible own the Republican Party that seems to have selected the eminent crony capitalist Donald Trump as its presidential nominee.

Vermont Business Magazine Known to everyone in town as "Deac," the City of Winooski announced today that City Manager Katherine Decarreau will be resigning effective August 1, 2016. Decarreau has accepted a position as Executive Director of Finance and Operations at the Chittenden Central Supervisory Union.

Vermont Business Magazine In Vermont, agriculture adds by far the most phosphorus to Lake Champlain and the EPA wants to cut farm-based sources by more than half under the plan it released on Friday. The EPA wants to cut total phosphorus pollution by about a third. The Otter Creek segment was the chief culprit, closely followed by the Missisquoi Bay segment. The EPA will begin judging Vermont's effort to set up a plan of action to reduce lake pollutants starting as early as the end of this year and issue a final report card by early 2018. The VNRC, for one, does not believe that the state's current rules governing Required Agricultural Practices are strict enough to achieve the EPA's goals.

by Public Assets Institute In May the Vermont labor force increased for the fifth straight month, the best stretch of growth in seven years. The labor force, which includes people work­ing and those actively looking for work, climbed to 345,821, the highest level in 15 months. Employment also rose in May, while unem­ployment dropped.

Vermont Business Magazine The Board of Finance voted unanimously (4-0) last Monday, June 13, to recommend approval of a development agreement for the Burlington Harbor Marina project to City Council for its consideration on June 27. Burlington is the largest city on Lake Champlain but has the ninth largest marina.  The City has had long waiting lists for slips for many years, and the lack of transient mooring options causes the City to turn away many would-be visitors every year.  Expanding the number of boat slips is an important strategy for creating economic opportunity and increasing the use of our waterfront.

by Mike Smith Alcoholism is a terrible disease. Like any disease of this seriousness, it affects not only the alcoholic; it has devastating impacts on family and friends. The lasting impact of the disease, however, is that it steals away so many memories of who that person actually was — or might have been — absent this disease. My father was an alcoholic, and he died at the age of 44. He essentially drank himself to death. It is easy to focus on his disease; after all, the impact on our family was catastrophic. I could talk about the impacts of my father’s alcoholism — how our family’s downward spiral resulted in financial ruin, or how we were torn apart. Many could, and probably have, viewed his life as a failure because he was not able to overcome or control his addiction. And one cannot argue that his full potential was never reached.

Vermont Business Magazine The Public Service Department today announced the next meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel will be held on Thursday, June 23, 2016, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the cafeteria at the Vernon Elementary School, 318 Gov. Hunt Road, Vernon, VT. At the meeting the Panel will receive decommissioning updates from the State of Vermont and Entergy, as well as an update on federal issues from staff representing Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Peter Welch.

The Panel will also hear a presentation from the State of the Vermont on the environmental and health regulations that impact Vermont Yankee. 

The complete agenda and material for the June 23, 2016 meeting can be viewed at http://publicservice.vermont.gov/electric/ndcap .

210 Athletes and Coaches Representing U.S. at 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games Including Athletes from Vermont

Vermont Business Magazine On June 13, Special Olympics USA announced Killington, Vermont as the site of its one and only team training camp, prior to when it will send a 210 member delegation to represent the United States at the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games, being held March 18-25, 2017 in Austria. Included in the US delegation will be 3 athletes and coaches from Vermont: Laura Buchanan from White River Junction competing in alpine skiing, Ethan Boragine from Fairlee competing in snowboarding, and Mike White from Dorset, assistant coach in cross country skiing.

Vermont Business Magazine For over 20 years Merchants Bank has been teaming up with the Vermont Lake Monsters; a partnership of deep investment in our community and history. Every year Merchants Bank looks forward to the opening season, so if you're looking for a new tradition and memorable Father's Day head to the Lake Monsters 23^rd home season beginning Sunday, June 19th.

Lavallee Brensinger Architects and Engelberth Construction complete linear accelerator renovation/replacement in less than 2 weeks at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.  Courtesy photo.

Vermont Business Magazine Nine months of planning to replace a massive cancer treatment machine was required to compress a nine-week construction schedule into 11 days. The team of Engelberth Construction of Cochester and Lavallee Brensinger Architects of Portland, ME, was hired by Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) to renovate the patient treatment area and replace its linear accelerator.