Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies and Hotel Vermont announced today the InnovateHER VT Challenge, a new business pitch event in Burlington.The competition is at 5:30 pm October 19 at the Hotel Vermont, 41 Cherry Street. Vermont EPSCoR and VCET have underwritten a $10,000 cash prize to the event winner as well as a nomination to participate in the national Small Business Administration event, which has $70,000 in prizes in spring 2016. Organizers intend this competition to increase access to capital and feedback for local entrepreneurs, to highlight the importance of women led companies, and ventures that are specifically designed to improve the lives of women and families.

InnovateHER VT is a part of a national pitch competition through the SBA celebrating and promoting women entrepreneurs and ventures that impact and empower the lives of women and families.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell is warning consumers who have filed or may soon file for bankruptcy of an emerging scam by impostors claiming to be the consumer’s attorney, the attorney’s partner or a member of their staff. The perpetrators of this scam use software to “spoof” the Caller ID system so that the call appears to be originating from the phone line of the consumer’s bankruptcy attorney. Consumers are then instructed to immediately wire money to satisfy a debt that is supposedly outside of the bankruptcy proceeding.

The perpetrators may be using information from public filings to identify consumers to target and the names of their attorneys. The calls come late in the evening or during non-business hours to minimize consumers’ ability to verify the call by contacting their attorney. Consumers who receive such a call should not wire funds and should contact their attorney as soon as possible.

Vermont Business Magazine Although an estimated 40 percent of Vermont households drink water from private sources, only five percent of those private wells have been tested for contaminants. The Vermont Department of Health was awarded five years of federal funding in the amount of $670,010 to close this gap and promote safe drinking water for Vermonters. Vermont is one of 14 state and five local health departments to receive funding from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce contaminant exposures from private drinking water sources. Grant funds will be used to support water testing for vulnerable populations that are at greatest risk, especially children and pregnant women.

The CDC funding will also allow the Health Department to compile and analyze private well testing data to identify geographic areas where drinking water supplies may put vulnerable populations at increased risk of adverse health effects.

Vermont Business Magazine Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) announced today that it will close its Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, MA, no later than June 1, 2019, because of poor market conditions, reduced revenues and increased operational costs. Entergy closed its Vermont Yankee nuclear plant for financial reasons in December 2014. Entergy notified the independent system operator of the electric grid, the ISO New England Inc. (ISO-NE), that as of that date, Pilgrim would not participate as a capacity resource in the market. The exact timing of the shutdown depends on several factors, including further discussion with ISO-NE, and will be decided in the first half of 2016.

Vermont Business Magazine A new nationwide survey suggests as many as an estimated 24.5 million Americans* would like to try growing marijuana for personal use -- if growing it was legal. The survey conducted earlier this year, also finds 70-percent of Americans sure of their response are in favor of seeing marijuana laws liberalized -- and 63 percent agree with the statement that "medical use of marijuana should be legalized." The survey findings are a benchmark, according to Bruce Butterfield, Research Director for the National Gardening Association, based in Burlington.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Health Network has announced the appointment of Adam Buckley, MD, to the position of chief information officer. The UVM Health Network is a four-hospital system serving the residents of Vermont and northern New York with hospital locations in Burlington and Berlin in Vermont, and in Plattsburgh and Elizabethtown in New York.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center has received the “Get With The Guidelines Resuscitation Gold Award” for sustained use of quality improvement measures in the treatment of in-hospital cardiac arrests, which occurs in the US 200,000 times per year. The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation Program is designed to save lives by providing hospitals with current research-based protocols for treatment, and by tracking their use. To earn the Gold Award, the Code Team at The University of Vermont Medical Center had to achieve a high level of compliance with the guidelines for two consecutive years.

Vermont Business Magazine Katie Nee, Resource Coordinator for Howard Center’s Comprehensive Care Program, says, “You don't have to be married, rich, or own a home to be a perfect foster or adoptive parent. You will be supported every step of the way by our team.” In addition to providing a variety of mental health support services to children and families in the community, her program helps find foster homes and respite foster care for children ages 4-18. Her team provides information and guidance for families who are considering becoming foster parents.

Nee’s program will sponsor an informational open house for adults interested in learning more about Comprehensive Care’s Foster Parent program:

Wednesday, October 14
5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
1138 Pine Street, Burlington, VT

by Robert Keren/Middlebury College Middlebury opened a new chapter in its 215-year history today, October 11, 2015, with the inauguration and celebration of its 17th president, Laurie L Patton, on a splendid fall morning punctuated by gusty winds and sunny skies Sunday. More than 1,000 people gathered in the quadrangle on the west side of Old Chapel to bear witness to history and absorb the words of the new president and several others as autumnal colors emanated from the maples, beeches, and hickory trees surrounding the pastoral scene.

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington Electric Department (BED) has announced that a 124 kW rooftop solar array at its Pine Street headquarters facility is now online. This is the latest project in the City’s ongoing commitment to add more community solar to its portfolio and brings Burlington’s total installed solar photovoltaic to 88 projects, generating 1.93 megawatts of power for the City. During the anticipated 25-year life of the new solar project, BED expects to save as much as $900,000 in power and related costs, an average of approximately $35,000 annually.

by Governor Peter Shumlin When I came to office in 2011, I made expanding broadband internet access to every last mile a priority. No one thought achieving that goal would be easy, especially since previous governors had set similar goals only to fall short in the end. The same features that make Vermont an ideal place to live – rural communities separated by rolling hills and deep valleys – make expanding broadband incredibly difficult. Despite the challenges, four and a half years later we have achieved the goal we set to get internet access to all Vermonters. Now our work must turn to increasing internet speeds so Vermonters and businesses can keep up with the ever-increasing demands of business, commerce, and everyday life.

Vermont Business Magazine Chroma Technology Corp (www.chroma.com), based in Bellows Fall, has announced Hisashi Okugawa has been named General Manager of Chroma Technology Japan. This creates Chroma’s third sales and technical support office outside the US. The first two are in Germany and China. Together they reinforce Chroma’s commitment to providing the best customer service and precision imaging solutions to the life sciences community worldwide. Okugawa brings over 30 years of industry knowledge and experience from his career with Nikon in their sales strategy, development, engineering and microscope divisions.