Current News
by katie
Vermont Business Magazine - In a vote of 68 to 30, the Senate Thursday afternoon approved an emergency appropriation to combat the ongoing Zika crisis. The bipartisan compromise, co-authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., broke a legislative stalemate that has delayed Senate action on the Zika threat for three and a half months.
Most of the $1.1 billion in emergency funding in the Senate bill would be used to counter Zika in the United States. A portion, $258 million, will be used to combat Zika at its source, in Latin America and the Caribbean. This portion of the funding will also help support the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization in their anti-Zika efforts, and it will provide medical support for U.S. citizens and U.S. government employees stationed overseas.
by katie
Vermont Business Magazine - Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) and Community College of Vermont (CCV) are joining forces in response to challenges 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 20 participants. Classes will be held on the CCV Brattleboro campus.
“This is a great career program for anyone with an interest in healthcare – a field with many job opportunities and options for advancement,” says Bonnie McKellar, BMH’s Vice President of Physician Services and Business Development. “BMH is always looking for new talent to join our team, and this partnership with CCV gives us access to highly motivated candidates with the education and skills needed to provide exceptional healthcare to our patients.”
by katie
Vermont Business Magazine - At a local action summit in Contois Auditorium Wednesday morning, Mayor Miro Weinberger joined community leaders working with Burlington teens in announcing the City of Burlington’s acceptance of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Challenge. My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) is a White House cradle to career initiative President Obama launched in 2014 to address opportunity gaps facing American youth, particularly boys and young men of color. Since its launch, nearly 250 cities and towns across the country have accepted the President’s call to action.
by katie
Vermont Business Magazine - The Vermont Historical Society returns to the Tunbridge World’s Fairgrounds with the Vermont History Expo on June 18 and 19, 2016. A unique country history fair, the Expo will feature barns full of heritage breed cattle, pigs, and poultry. Farming techniques such as raising poultry will also be demonstrated.
Amanda Gustin, Vermont Historical Society’s Expo coordinator, explains, “Knowledgeable 4-H members will commandeer the judging arena and Expo attendees can actually see the characteristics and learn about each breed. Heritage breeds are traditional livestock, some of which may be in danger of extinction. Heritage breeders are helping to maintain these animals, some of which will be important to agriculture’s future. Our Morgan Horse demonstrations and pageantry are extraordinary, too.”
by tim
by Mike Faher/The Commons Brattleboro When it’s time to remove spent nuclear fuel from Vermont Yankee, it appears likely that will happen via rail — not trucks. That was the takeaway last week for local officials and for plant administrators after meeting with a visiting team from the Department of Energy. That team was in town to begin planning for the eventual transport of 3,880 radioactive fuel assemblies stored at the Vernon plant.
There still is no national, permanent storage site for that material, meaning federal officials can’t offer a firm schedule for a fuel move. But those who sat down with Department of Energy representatives say they now know more about what to expect when it happens.
“They said rail is the way to go for us,” said Joe Lynch, Entergy Vermont Yankee government affairs manager.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s annual fish stocking work is underway and the Department plans to stock over 750,000 fish into Vermont waters in the coming weeks. Exactly 768,500 trout and salmon will be stocked, including nearly 300,000 that will be catchable-sized fish, as well as almost 20,000 trophy trout.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Vermont continues to lead the nation when it comes to clean energy jobs, according to the 2016 Clean Energy Industry Report announced today by Governor Peter Shumlin and the Department of Public Service. In the past year, there has been an increase of over 1,400 clean energy jobs, bringing the total number of Vermonters employed in this industry to 17,715. With one in every 17 workers - or about 6 percent of the State's workforce - now part of the clean energy economy, Vermont has the highest number of per capita clean energy jobs of any US state.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA-VT) has recently released a collection of resources for farmers and communities about land use issues for rural enterprises. Rural enterprises are businesses, often on farms, that are suited to a rural area because they are supportive of agriculture or forestry activities and provide employment opportunities.
“Understanding land use issues and how they pertain to farm businesses can be very complex,” said Erin Buckwalter, NOFA-VT’s Market Development Director. “These documents provide an overview of many of the issues farms and communities may encounter, as well as resources for more in-depth information.”
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University is hosting the Institute for Sustainable Communities’ inaugural Resilient Vermont Conference Friday and Saturday, May 20-21. This interactive event will bring together community leaders, municipal officials, organizations and agencies working to strengthen Vermont’s resilience to climate change and other challenges. Participants will gain the skills, ideas, inspiration, connections and resources for on-the-ground action to make the community stronger, more vibrant, and better prepared.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The Public Service Department today announced the next meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel will be held on Thursday, May 26, 2016, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room at Brattleboro Area Middle School, 109 Sunny Acres Road, Brattleboro. At the meeting the Panel will receive decommissioning updates from the State of Vermont and Entergy. The Panel will hear a presentation from the State of the Vermont on the comments the state filed in response to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking for decommissioning of power reactors. The Panel will also discuss the federal taxation of nuclear decommissioning trust funds and consider an amendment to the panel Charter regarding public access to panel meetings.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Renewable Energy Vermont would like to announce at this time, that due to popular demand and conflicts arising due to the deadline's proximity to the end of the Vermont Legislative session we have EXTENDED the deadline from Friday, May 13th until Friday, May 27th at 5 pm. In a statement, organizers said, "Thank you so much to all who submitted prior to original May 13 deadline, if you would like to make use of this extension time to tweak or edit your existing submissions we will gladly accept updated proposals.
by katie
Vermont Business Magazine - On Thursday, April 28th, employees at Sugarbush Resort collected 70 bags of trash and 36 bags of recycling in honor of Green Up Day. A total of 100 resort employees collectively spent 224.5 hours greening up on resort property, as well as along German Flats Road, Sugarbush Access Road, Inferno Road, and Golf Course Road.