Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-Va.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, alongside 32 colleagues in the Senate, 142 in the House of Representatives, and with the support of 85 organizations from across the country, today introduced the Raise the Wage Act. This bicameral legislation will ensure American workers make a living wage, drive economic growth, and reduce income inequality by raising the minimum wage to $17 for all workers and gradually eliminating subminimum wages for tipped workers, workers with disabilities, and youth workers.

Vermont Business Magazine VermontBiz is proud to announce the 2025 Best of Business Awards (BOB Awards) winners. This awards program celebrates the best Vermont companies in more than 100 business-to-business categories. VermontBiz readers chose the winners! After over 66,000 votes we compiled the go-to list in the state for everything from Best Landscaping Company and Best Digital Media Agency to Best Vermont Made Product. Some of the questions and answers were based on a regional perspective while most of the categories were looking for statewide winners. For the first time in 10 years, we have a tie in one category: Favorite General Contractor, with DEW Construction and ReArch Company. We also have our first write-in winner since the first year of voting, with Open Approach receiving enough write-in votes to win the best IT Service company.

Vermont Business Magazine As a veteran nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at University of Vermont Medical Center, Melinda Pariser-Schmidt, MSN, RNC-NIC, IBCLC, understands the importance of safe sleep for infants, especially those facing serious medical conditions. So when she learned about an opportunity to trial a new innovation for infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) in the NICU at UVM Children’s Hospital, Pariser-Schmidt jumped at the chance. Her goal: determine whether responsive bassinets – baby beds with built-in technology and sensors designed to help babies relax and sleep longer – could help support opioid-exposed infants and the nurses who care for them.

Vermont Business Magazine This week, the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) released new figures on marketplace Open Enrollment for 2025. Vermont’s Open Enrollment period ended on January 15, 2025, and saw a substantial increase in the number of Vermonters enrolling in plans through Vermont’s health insurance marketplace, known as Vermont Health Connect. Most Vermonters enrolled in Qualified Health Plans through the marketplace will benefit from increased subsidies and better coverage in 2025 than in previous years. During Vermont’s 2025 Open Enrollment period, over 32,000 Vermonters signed up for their health and dental plans through Vermont Health Connect. This is an approximately 11% increase in newly enrolled members and represents historically high enrollment for the marketplace.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported last week that the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations remains low, at under 5 after a spike in January. Likewise, wastewater testing indicates that virus levels fell steeply also after a spike, especially in Montpelier, but also at most test sites. They have now leveled off at low levels, as have many other indicators. The Vermont pandemic death total stands at 1,285 as of March 29, 2025, with 2 reported deaths from the previous week (the most recent data available from the CDC). The VDH is no longer reporting COVID fatalities and cases in Vermont. 

Vermont Business Magazine Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE) announced today that it will permanently close its St. Johnsbury, Vermont health center on June 3rd, 2025. Over the past five years, PPNNE has faced numerous operational challenges in providing reproductive and sexual health care services in St. Johnsbury. In addition, devastating flooding, as well as inadequate reimbursement rates for services provided have made it increasingly difficult to sustain essential care for the community. 

Vermont Business Magazine Eastern Union, one of the country’s largest commercial mortgage brokerages, has arranged $9,424,405 in construction-to-permanent refinancing for the first stage of a multi-phase renovation project at 100 River Street in Springfield, VT. This portion of the initiative will create a 43,000-square-foot self-storage facility and 55,000 square feet of retail space.

Vermont Business Magazine Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s (Blue Cross VT) Customer Service Call Center was recently awarded 2024 Call Center of the Year among small and mid-sized organizations by Service Quality Measurement Group (SQM). Blue Cross VT’s Customer Service Call Center was chosen among 500 North American call centers for the first-place award. In addition to the Call Center of the Year Award, three Blue Cross VT call center employees were included in the SQM awards. Lindsay Segale, who has worked for Blue Cross VT for 10 years and is from Montpelier, was named as a finalist for Supervisor of the Year. Michelle Leduc of Williston and Terry Lyn Bicknell of Barre were named as finalists for Customer Service Representative of the Year. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (VTAEYC) is proud to announce that Governor Phil Scott has officially declared April 5-11, 2025, as the Week of the Young Child (WOYC) in Vermont. This proclamation recognizes the importance of early childhood education in Vermont. In honor of WOYC, VTAEYC has awarded mini grants to five child care programs across the state to support their activities through the week. This year’s grant recipients are VTAEYC members Danielle Longtin (Sunrise Family Resource Center, Bennington), Samantha Fried (Sensations in Learning, Williston), Olivia Smith (Myers Prouty Children's Campuses Inc., Bennington), Emily Stewart (ONE Arts Community Schools, Burlington), and Katie Hopps (Early Care and Education Association, Hartford). 

Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, VAHHS Welcome to Mud Season! This time in the legislature can feel just like driving down a back road—some bills stay right in the tracks and some are veering every which way. The House Health Care Committee advanced S.18, the independent birth center licensure bill. In addition to provisions around licensure and exemption from the Certificate of Need process, the bill includes specifics around the transfer process for rule-making. The committee declined to consider increased Medicaid reimbursement rates to help make birthing services more sustainable for all providers.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Care Network (CCN) is pleased to announce that Jillian Earle, Direct Support Professional with CCN’s Project SEARCH program, has been named Vermont’s Direct Support Professional of the Year by ANCOR, the nation’s leading advocacy organization for community-based providers supporting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Earle, who has served Community Care Network, its clients and community partners in this role since 2021, was one of 54 individuals selected from across the United States for recognition from a record-breaking pool of 500 nominations received by ANCOR for its annual Direct Support Professionals awards.

Vermont Business Magazine Last Friday, April 4th, in response to a time-sensitive directive received from the U.S. Department of Education the Vermont Agency of Education issued a superintendents' update alerting the field to the directive and providing an initial legal review. The directive requires the State of Vermont and Vermont school districts to reaffirm their compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which is the existing law prohibiting race-based discrimination in schools that Vermont schools have followed for decades.