Current News

by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org Eight full-time faculty at Vermont Technical College in Randolph received layoff notices Monday. The action is part of a large-scale financial reorganization that could have major implications for the school’s course offerings. Senior professors are being offered cash incentives to retire early, and up to 27 adjunct instructors may not be hired back in the fall. The deeper the cutbacks, the fewer courses will be offered and the larger class sizes will likely to be.

Departments are required to increase the number of cross-listed course offerings to cover more academic ground with a smaller faculty. Students will be asked to take some core classes at sister institutions in the Vermont State College system: Castleton, Johnson and Lyndon state colleges and the Community College of Vermont.

The Department of Housing and Community Development has announced over $475,000 in Municipal Planning Grants (MPG) to 44 municipalities across Vermont to help dedicated local leaders overcome their challenges, identify their goals and create action plans to grow and prosper.

“Making the places we call home better takes hard work and this program has kicked off hundreds of community-based initiatives that helped communities and entire regions to thrive,” said Noelle Mackay, Commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development. “For example, few people outside of St. Albans know that its remarkable $30 million downtown transformation began with a $15,000 Municipal Planning Grant to develop a new vision for the downtown.”

This year, St Albans City together with St Albans Town received a Municipal Planning Grant to develop regulations concerning stormwater management.

Starting December 3, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce's five-member lobbying team will tour Vermont to hold Legislative Preview Forums for businesses in partnership with more than 10 local and regional chambers of commerce. The Forums are designed to educate business owners on the key issues expected to arise in the 2015 legislative session, including tax proposals, tourism funding, health care, education funding and economic development.

The Vermont Chamber will also present its Economic Growth Agenda, which offers a plan to legislators that will ignite economic growth, create greater affordability, and generate more jobs for Vermonters. At the Forums, businesses will have an opportunity to provide feedback and comments to Vermont Chamber staff and attending legislators.

Weighted largely by taxation and local government regulation, Texas and South Dakota have tied for the highest level of economic freedom among all US states, according to a new report released today by the Fraser Institute, an independent Canadian public policy think-tank. Vermont finished just above Maine, which was last in the ranking.

"In Texas and South Dakota, high levels of economic freedom help create prosperity and economic growth for working families," said Dean Stansel, economics professor at Florida Gulf Coast University and co-author of this year's Economic Freedom of North America report.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org The Shumlin administration can’t continue to shore up the budget of the Vermont Veterans’ Home in Bennington through General Fund dollars, according to a report released last week. Jeb Spaulding, the secretary of the Agency of Administration, recommends that the home cut staff, and he may propose alternative sources of revenue for the facility in fiscal year 2016. For the past several years, the state has helped the home meet budget targets with money from the General Fund. In fiscal year 2014, the state gave the home $1.3 million. That number grew to $2.7 million in fiscal year 2015, and the administration may seek more General Fund money for the facility in this year’s budget adjustment, according to the report.

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ:GMCR), based in Waterbury, Vermont, a leader in specialty coffee, coffee makers, teas and other beverages with its innovative brewing technology, and Community Coffee Company, the largest family owned and operated retail coffee brand in America, announced on Monday a multi-year licensing, manufacturing, and distribution agreement to bring Community coffee to Keurig portion pack formats for consumer and commercial Keurig hot brewing systems. Financial terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

In many ways, Amanda Shadowens is a typical teenager: hanging out with friends, attending school dances, playing her trumpet. But Amanda also suffers from chondrodysplasia punctata: a rare form of dwarfism that impacts the curvature of Amanda's spine and can cause a dangerous compression of her spinal cord. Amanda was forced to wear a collar to keep her neck straight, to prevent that compression. But a revolutionary surgery at Dartmouth-Hitchcock promises to change Amanda's life, allowing her to be an even more normal teenager.

BioTek is excited to introduce the new Cytation 5 Cell Imaging Multi-Mode Reader. This second generation imaging reader includes added functionality to both the automated digital microscopy and conventional multi-mode microplate detection modes, enhancing phenotypic cellular information and well-based quantitative data. Cytation 5’s microscopy module provides cellular visualization up to 60x magnification in fluorescence, brightfield, H&E and phase contrast modes. Equipped with BioTek’s patented Hybrid Technology™, the multi-mode module includes variable bandwidth quad monochromators, high sensitivity filter-based detection and laser-based Alpha detection for unmatched versatility and performance. Cytation 5 also includes temperature control to 65 °C, CO2/O2 control, shaking and Gen5™ software, specifically designed to make sample detection, image capture and analysis quick and effortless.

FamilyWize Community Service Partnership and United Way of Windham County are dedicated to building strong communities through better health. FamilyWize has been selected to help distribute 1,000 free flu shot vouchers provided by Walgreens. The vouchers are for families and individuals who are uninsured or underinsured, and otherwise unable to afford a flu shot without the voucher.

The flu can have significant impact on the lives of many individuals, especially those with lower income and/or who are either underinsured or not insured. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports parents spend between $300 to $4,000 in medical expenses and miss an estimated 11 to 73 hours of work when their children get the flu.

The economic burden of diabetes in America continues to climb, exceeding more than $322 billion in excess medical costs and lost productivity in 2012, or more than $1,000 for every American, according to a study being published in the December issue of Diabetes Care that also includes a state-by-state breakdown of the prevalence and costs associated with diabetes. Additionally, increased costs associated with prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes highlight the growing importance of prevention and early intervention. Vermont has one of the lowest rates of diabetes.

Vermont Business Magazine Joined by Tax Commissioner Mary Peterson and Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe, as well as leadership from the Vermont School Boards Association and Vermont Superintendents Association, Governor Peter Shumlin today addressed the issue of property taxes and released his administration’s annual projections for school spending and statewide property tax rates for next fiscal year, FY 2016. According to Commissioner Peterson’s statutorily required annual report to the Legislature, school spending is projected to increase by 3.09 percent for FY 16, requiring a $0.02 increase in both the residential and non-residential statewide property tax rates. That’s compared to rate increases of $0.04 in residential and $0.075 in non-residential for FY 15 rates.

Vermont Business Magazine Coming on the heels of several dropped 911 calls last week, the Department of Public Service announced Monday that it has filed a petition with the Public Service Board requesting that the Board open an investigation into the adequacy of FairPoint’s Service Quality. Over the past several months the Department had twice advised FairPoint by letter that if the complaints regarding service quality did not decrease significantly by the end of November, a request for an investigation would be requested. The PSD advocates on behalf of the public before the Public Service Board, which is the regulator. FairPoint has been mired in a strike involving about 1,700 unionized workers in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine since October 17, with no end in sight.