Current News

by Jon Reidel As America continues to adopt more children internationally than any other country, hundreds of thousands of children in the US – most of whom are children of color – sit in foster care awaiting adoption. Though some Americans express a desire to adopt non-white children, even they have limitations when it comes to adopting children of certain races, especially African Americans, according to a new University of Vermont study.

Vermont Business Magazine Thanks to a grant from the Fanny Holt Ames & Edna Louise Holt Fund, Grace Cottage Family Health in Townshend has nearly doubled the capacity of its Community Health Team (CHT.) The three-year grant allows for additional staffing for the team of skilled healthcare professionals who work with patients to address chronic health concerns and help individuals reach attainable goals for physical and mental health and wellness. Their services are free of charge, no insurance necessary.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today applauded the Senate Health and Welfare Committee’s passage of S243, legislation aimed at limiting the prescription of opiates in Vermont. The governor called for the legislation in his State of the State Address in January. In that speech, Shumlin placed the blame for America’s opiate crisis at the feet of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and pharmaceutical industry, which together have enabled pain management practices that in 2010 and 2012 resulted in the issuing of enough opiate prescriptions to keep every adult in America high for an entire month and to give every American their own bottle of pills, respectively.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly, in a vote of 94 to 1, approved major legislation backed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) that addresses the opioid/heroin crisis that has gripped Vermont and states across the nation. Leahy on Thursday praised the Senate’s passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), a bill which aims to tackle opioid and heroin addiction through the same kind of community-based approach that has made significant improvements in Vermont.  “Vermont’s experience and Vermont’s solutions have informed the writing of this bill,” Leahy said.  As Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Leahy helped shepherd the legislation through the Judiciary Committee and through the Senate.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders today announced the Department of Health and Human Services awarded $1,240,794 to four community health centers in Vermont. The health centers will use this new federal funding to expand access to substance abuse treatment. The Vermont awards are part of $94 million to improve and expand the delivery of substance abuse services announced today by HHS for 271 community health centers in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The funds were authorized by a Sanders provision in the Affordable Care Act that provided $11 billion in funding for community health centers across the country.

Vermont Business Magazine Republican Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott landed two high profile endorsements today in his campaign for governor. Former Republican Governor Jim Douglas and Democratic state Senator Dick Mazza (Colchester) sent a letter to supporters through Scott's campaign email listserve. The letter is penned by Douglas with both signing. Scott leads in early polling to win the election. A recent VPR poll has him ahead in the GOP nomination against businessman Bruce Lisman and in the general election against either of the two leading Democrats, former Transportation Secretary Sue Minter and former state senator and Google executive Matt Dunne. The letter also asks people to donate to the campaign and includes pictures of Douglas and his wife Dorothy and one of Mazza.

Vermont Business Magazine During the first official visit by a sitting Canadian Prime Minister in nearly two decades, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday endorsed the US-Canada preclearance agreement to expedite travel and strengthen trade and national security between the two countries. The endorsement signals support of US implementing legislation introduced last week by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), joined by chief Republican cosponsor Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).  Prime Minister Trudeau’s endorsement also includes his intention to support bringing ratification legislation before the Canadian Parliament for approval.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Andrew M Cuomo of New York, Governor Peter Shumlin of Vermont, and Governor Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire officially requested in a letter dated Thursday that the US Environmental Protection Agency conduct a review of the best available science regarding perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in order to assess and ensure the safety of drinking water exposed to the contaminant. Additionally, the Governors called for full federal funding of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Clean Water Revolving Fund, which are critical tools for supporting state efforts to upgrade drinking water infrastructure.

Vermont Business Magazine Rymes Heating Oils, Inc, a New Hampshire company, has agreed to pay $31,949 to 387 Vermont consumers and $15,000 in civil penalties to the State of Vermont to settle claims that the company violated Vermont consumer protection laws. The Attorney General found that Rymes was not disclosing all fees in aFee Disclosure Form as required by Vermont law and had collected higher finance charges than allowed under Vermont law.

“Vermont law protects propane customers from hidden fees or unfair charges. This should be a warning to all propane companies: disclose your fees in the required forms and be sure your propane service agreements comply with Vermont law,” said Attorney General Bill Sorrell.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont is listed among the top 40 institutions in the U.S. for its pass rate on the Certified Public Accountants (CPA) exam in the latest rankings from the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. The university's 75 percent pass rate, based on the scores of 37 graduates of UVM's Master of Accountancy (MAcc) program in the Grossman School of Business, is among the top 4.9 percent nationwide and well above the U.S. and international pass rate of 49.8 percent. UVM's overall pass rate of was better than all but 39 of more than 1,000 institutions with 10 or more candidates included in the rankings. 

Vermont Business Magazine Lyndon State's Electronic Journalism Arts Program has been ranked by industry professionals and alums as one of the top 25 journalism education programs in the United States. This is the third year in a row Lyndon has received this distinction, with top ten rankings in the past two years. The 2015 survey by the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and Crain's TVNewsPro magazine puts Lyndon’s program in the same caliber as Kent State, Penn State, and Boston University. Lyndon State remains the smallest and one of the most affordable schools on the list. The 107-year old program at the University of Missouri at Columbia, the first journalism school in America, once again leads the list while the graduate schools at Northwestern and Columbia follow in the second and third slots.

Non-profit tech association CompTIA released its Cyberstates 2016 report Thursday, which provides a state-by-state analysis of the US technology job market, and found that Vermont’s tech industry employment ranked 46th in the country and employed 13,863 workers in 2015. These workers had an annual average salary of $78,878, which was 86% more than the average private sector wage in the entire state. 

So, why is the tech industry so important to Vermont? It means:

•304 net jobs added between 2014 and 2015 – a number that’s expected to continue to rise in 2016
•A tech payroll of $1.1 billion in 2015, ranked 34th nationwide, accounting for 5.4% of all private sector payroll in Vermont
•6.5% of the state economy is from the tech industry