Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Dartmouth Addiction Research Center is enrolling volunteers in a new research study of a medication that may help problem drinkers overcome alcohol use disorders. The study is seeking 40 participants over the next two years and is intended for heavy alcohol drinkers over the age of 21 who want to reduce or quit drinking. Alcohol use disorder affects nearly 16.6 million people in the United States and results in an estimated $223.5 billion economic loss each year.

“There is a need for more interventions to treat people with alcohol use disorders,” said Dr. Alan I. Green, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Principal Investigator of the Dartmouth site of this study. “More treatment options could help minimize the negative consequences felt by people with alcohol problems, as well as the negative impact alcohol use disorder has on their families, their workplaces, and society.”

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General William Sorrell joined with 38 other states and the District of Columbia in filing a settlement with Education Management Corporation today. The agreement requires the for-profit college company to forgive $102.8 million in outstanding loan debt held by more than 80,000 former students, including $60,000 in loan forgiveness to 67 Vermonters. EDMC, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, operates 110 schools in 32 states and Canada through four education systems, including Argosy University, The Art Institutes, Brown Mackie College and South University.

Vermont Business Magazine Seldon Technologies of Windsor, global developer and manufacturer of EPA Compliant Nano Filtration Equipment for Clean Water, Fuel, and Oil Applications, is set to be auctioned on December 3, 2015. Seldon has retained the Thomas Hirchak Company, of Morrisville, to sell the intellectual and personal property of the company, in one lot, via sealed bid. Prior to closing operations, Seldon Technologies, which was founded in 2002, designed and manufactured multiple purification filtration systems for a variety of applications including emergency and disaster relief, humanitarian efforts, military and government, business and industry, remote location, and private use. The company employed approximately 32 people at its Windsor location.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power announced today that it has created a new solar map, which can be found below, so Vermonters can see where solar is powering our state. The map allows Vermonters to see where solar energy is being generated and how it ties into the grid. This effort comes at a time when GMP is proposing a strategic limited extension of net metering so more Vermonters can put solar on their homes or businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine US and Vermont flags are lowered to half-staff, per presidential proclamation, as a mark of respect for the victims of the acts of senseless violence that took place on November 13, 2015 in Paris, France. Flags will be returned to full staff at sunset on November 19. Governor Peter Shumlin issued the following statement on the attack in Paris. “In the wake of this incredible tragedy, Vermont and the nation stand in solidarity with France. Our hearts go out to the families of victims, survivors, and the people of Paris.”

Vermont Business Magazine Between 1997 and 2008, Vermont’s prison inmate population grew by 86 percent. After years of work to create a more rational criminal justice system that locks up fewer Vermonters that trend has been reversed, and today Vermont’s inmate population is at its lowest point since the early 2000s, Governor Peter Shumlin announced Monday. “Creating a more rational criminal justice system is not only the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do,” Gov. Shumlin said. “Policies to keep Vermonters out of jail and to reduce recidivism rates allow us to save money and invest in things like early childhood education, which we know can reduce incarceration rates over the long term. Locking people up is incredibly expensive. We should do everything we can to avoid it when possible and invest in programs that help individuals become productive members of our communities.”

Vermont Business Magazine In a major break with the current payment system for health care, The University of Vermont Medical Center’s CEO, John R Brumsted, MD, has announced an ambitious goal to have 80 percent of the care provided by the Medical Center to be paid for based on quality of care, instead of the traditional method of being paid for the amount of care provided, by 2018. Speaking to leaders of some of the highest-rated hospitals in the nation, who gathered recently in Baltimore at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges, Brumsted argued that this aggressive approach is the best way to increase quality, collaboration and cost effectiveness, and it will create a powerful incentive to shift the focus of providers to prevention and wellness.

Highlights

by Mike Smith The Vermont State Employees Association — the union that represents thousands of state employees — is in turmoil. Members have expressed a lack of confidence in their executive director, Steve Howard. This is the second time in the last few years that there has been turmoil between the membership and, now, two different executive directors. One has to ask: Is it the executive directors, is it the membership or have ideological differences between union activists and more mainstream state employees made the organization unmanageable?

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin on Friday awarded medals to four Vermont veterans for their service to Vermont and the nation. The Vermont Distinguished Service Medal, recognizing an honorable discharge and service in a combat theater, and the Vermont Veterans Medal, recognizing an honorable discharge, were both presented in the Senate Chambers at the State House.

Mr. Stephen Spencer, WW II Veteran with the United States Navy received both the Vermont Distinguished Service Medal and the Vermont Veterans Medal.

Mr. David Bean, a Gulf War Veteran with the United States Navy received both the Vermont Distinguished Service Medal and the Vermont Veterans Medal.

Mr. Patrick C. Johnson-Hedges served with the United States Navy and received the Vermont Veterans Medal.

Mr. Theodore A. Tighe served with the United States Army and received the Vermont Veterans Medal.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Cannabis Collaborative (VTCC) will release its anticipated legislative report to the Vermont public and state legislature on Wednesday, November 18 at 10 am in the Great Room at Main Street Landing (3rd floor) – 60 Lake Street, Burlington, Vermont 05401. The report is entitled WHAT CANNABIS CAN DO FOR VERMONT: How to grow a thriving, community-based, legal cannabis economy in the Green Mountain State.

“This report is the result of a years' worth of collaboration and conversation about how legal, regulated cannabis can ignite economic growth and create jobs in Vermont,” explains Bill Lofy, the report’s chief author. “We see Vermont as the national center of cannabis excellence, with a market open to any Vermonter who wants to participate, and where craft growers and entrepreneurs create an economy that reflects Vermont values,” notes VTCC steering committee Judy MacIsaac Robertson.

Vermont Business Magazine Sugarbush Resort continues to make strides on the environmental front with several new initiatives this year. The resort is currently involved in two solar initiatives it plans to implement this winter season. The first project would appoint Sugarbush as the offtaker on six separate solar projects throughout Vermont. Green Lantern Capital out of Waterbury will develop, finance, build and maintain the solar projects. Net-metering credits associated with the projects will be transferred to Sugarbush Resort, even though the projects are located throughout the state. Under Vermont’s net-metering regulations, an electric customer can receive utility bill credits from various renewable energy projects without needing to be near the actual array. This allows Sugarbush’s electricity to be supportive of green-energy projects.

Vermont Business Magazine Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, as well as members of the American Council for Life Insurers and others, will speak to the Vermont Public Retirement Study Committee about issues concerning retirement security in the private sector. Townsend is the founder of the Center for Retirement Initiatives at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, where she is the Faculty Director. The initial focus of the center is to help states plan and implement policies and programs that would make it easier for people who do not have easy access to a pension plan to save for their senior years in an efficient and cost-effective manner -- utilizing pooled, professional asset management. The center both studies and facilitates efforts to expand retirement options. Townsend also has served as the State of Maryland’s first woman Lt. Governor and as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States.