Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Less than a month before Congress votes on whether to reauthorize a controversial program mandating healthier school lunches, a new study confirms the suspicions of school officials - many students are putting the fruits and vegetables they're now required to take straight into the trash, consuming fewer than they did before the law took effect. The new study, published online in Public Health Reports on August 25, is the first to use digital imaging to capture students' lunch trays before and after they exited the lunch line.

by Mike Feher vtdigger.org State officials have launched a criminal probe of the Brattleboro Retreat in the wake of Medicaid fraud allegations raised repeatedly by a former employee. The investigation, first reported by The Associated Press, was confirmed by Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell on Tuesday. And documents show that at least some of the state’s concerns arose from the complaints made by whistleblower Thomas Joseph, a controversial figure who has alleged millions of dollars of malfeasance at the Brattleboro psychiatric hospital.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department for Children and Families' Child Development Division (CDD) is updating the state regulations for family child care homes and center-based child care and preschool programs in Vermont. There are currently 1,347 home and center-based programs in Vermont with the licensed capacity to serve up to 25,636 children. Since the regulations were last updated, there have been many changes affecting child care and preschool programs.

Changes include:

Vermont Business Magazine Incoming Superintendent of the Burlington School District Yaw Obeng has been granted an H-1B Visa and is expected to begin work in the District in the next few weeks. Burlington School Board Chair Mark Porter announced that the sought-after clearance was obtained when a faculty position at the University of Vermont became available that matched Obeng’s credentials. “We have been working with the US Citizenship and Immigration Service ever since the board selected Yaw to be our next superintendent,” said Porter. “This is great news for the District and for our students.”

Yaw Obeng

Vermont Business Magazine Responding to rapidly growing demand for their aged goat cheese, Vermont Creamery completed a significant expansion to their aged cheese facility in Websterville, Vermont adding 14,000 square feet and more than quadrupling cheesemaking capacity. The $4 million expansion is the largest investment made by the Creamery in more than 30 years of business and will allow them to meet projected demand for their signature aged goat cheeses—Bonne Bouche, Cremont, Coupole, and Bijou—into the next decade.

Vermont Creamery Bijou

Vermont Business Magazine State Treasurer Beth Pearce this week was named a recipient of the President’s Award from the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers, or NASACT, at their annual conference held this year in Chicago. The President’s Award is given each year to one state auditor, one state comptroller and one state treasurer to recognize exceptional efforts in government financial management and accountability. Pearce was honored with the award to recognize her national leadership in the area of state government transparency. Under her leadership, Vermont was the first state to develop a state disclosure web site adhering to NASACT’s Ten Best Practices for State Governments in Voluntary Financial Reporting.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain College President Paul J Fonteyn announced at a meeting of faculty and staff yesterday that he will step down as president of the Poultney school at the end of the 2015-16 academic year. “The accomplishments I have achieved during my tenure as president have only been possible because of the vibrant, creative, and dedicated faculty and staff composing the Green Mountain community," Fonteyn said. "It has been an honor to serve as president for the past seven years. I will miss a lot of things, but especially the students.”

The seventh president in GMC history, Fonteyn was appointed in June 2008.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced today that all 11 community health centers in Vermont received funding totaling $493,860, in recognition of their achievements providing high quality health care. The awards are Vermont’s share of $63.3 million in nationwide grants for 1,153 health centers and will be used to expand access to high quality primary care. Today’s announcement included awards for health centers with the highest clinical outcomes and clinical improvement. The federal funds were made possible by a Sanders-authored provision in the Affordable Care Act that included $11 billion for community health centers.

Community health centers across the country provide primary medical, dental, and mental health care services and access to low-cost prescription drugs to nearly 23 million Americans. This year, community health centers in Vermont will serve one-in-four Vermonters at more than 50 sites across the state.

by Olga Peters/The Commons, Brattleboro Vermont’s health care system is in flux. The state’s path to reform the system — to increase access, prevent disease, and contain costs — has come with as many potholes as advances. The state announced increases in premium costs for Blue Cross Blue Shield (5.9 percent) and MVP (2.4 percent) insurance plans August 14. And right next to this announcement, state officials highlighted forward movement on a backlog with its online health insurance exchange, Vermont Health Connect (VHC).

The dance of stepping forward and back has led to frustration for some users, leading to the question: Is the two-step a natural part of change or a system broken beyond repair?

The ultimate goal of shifting Vermont’s health-care system has remained “to improve health and save money,” said Karen Hein, M.D. during a phone interview from her home in Halifax.

Vermont Business Magazine Standing at the intersection of State Drive and Main Street, Governor Peter Shumlin Tuesday morning congratulated the community of Waterbury on the opening of South Main Apartments and beginning construction of the Hunger Mountain Children’s Center. At the conclusion of the event, he handed keys to a family moving into one of the new affordable homes. The projects each were supported by $1 million grants of Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.

“As we approach the fourth anniversary of Tropical Storm Irene, it’s important to mark our progress,” Shumlin said. “These long term recovery projects are the result of years of hard work and are restoring much needed affordable housing and services for children and families.”

Vermont Business Magazine Joan Goldstein, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Economic Development, announced today that Gene Fullam has joined the department as director of the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center. Before moving to Vermont from New York City nearly two years ago, Fullam worked for several notable investment banking houses, both domestic and international, including Salomon Brothers (Citigroup), Hongkong Shanghai Bank, Lehman Brothers and Standard & Poor’s Corp. In these roles, Fullam gained extensive corporate finance experience through providing advisory assistance to institutional issuers and investors for mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings and private placements, recapitalizations and strategic development as a bond analyst, strategist and investment banker.

More recently, Fullam has served as a consultant for both non-profit and for-profit organizations. He grduated from Boston College in 1979.

by CB Hall vtdigger.org An Al Jazeera America report about a Montpelier mother who was denied parental rights has spurred debate about how Vermont parents with disabilities are treated by the Department for Children and Families. For the past five years, Alice Goltz has worked as a crossing guard for Union Elementary School in Montpelier, interacting each school day with dozens of children ranging in age from 5 to 12. But she has no right to visit her own 8-year-old daughter, who was adopted by a Chittenden County couple.