Current News

Vermont Business Magazine VNAHSR provides training for those interested in becoming hospice volunteers. Training will be held on Friday, January 19 from 8am – 4pm in the Casella Conference Room at the Rutland office, located at 7 Albert Cree Drive. Training is free and open to individuals 16 years of age and older. Volunteers need to pass a background check. No previous hospice and health care experience is required. Pre-registration and proof of COVID-19 vaccination are required. At the VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region (VNAHSR), volunteers play a critical role in enhancing the end-of-life experiences of people facing serious illness and their families.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Optometric Association (VOA) is dedicated to advancing the field of optometry in the state, working to promote excellence in vision care by advocating for policies that benefit patients, continuing education for practitioners as industry procedures advance and creating opportunities for Vermonters to have greater access to vision care. Recommendations laid out in a 2023 report from the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) would enable the VOA to continue moving forward with that mission by expanding Vermont optometrists’ scope of practice to include in-office optometric procedures.

Vermont Business Magazine The UVM Medical Center Board of Trustees recently appointed five new trustees, adding individuals with experience in finance and business, elder care and advocacy, health consulting, nursing, pediatric nephrology and women’s health to the 18-member board. As part of the group’s annual reorganization, Trustee Jesse Bridges, MPA, chief executive officer of United Way of Northwest Vermont, was appointed Board chair, and Trustee Alyson “Aly” Richards was appointed Board vice chair. Trustee Thomas Little, Esq., who served as Board chair in 2023, will continue to serve as a member of the group.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Secretary of State’s long-time Director of Elections, Will Senning, has announced he will be leaving that position next month for a new job with the federal government.  Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas shared the news today along with plans to conduct a nationwide search for Senning’s replacement. Senning has been with the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office for more than 12 years, 10 of those as Director. Senning now will become the Region 1 Election Security Advisor for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a division of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agency is responsible for cybersecurity and infrastructure protection at all levels of government, and this includes the protection of elections.  

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) is urging customers to plan ahead for damaging back-to-back regional storms that forecasters say will bring high winds, heavy wet snow, and rain across Vermont starting Tuesday. The National Weather Service issued a High Wind Watch for much of Vermont Tuesday evening through Wednesday with possible gusts above 65 MPH. This first storm is forecasted to be followed by a similar severe storm Friday evening through Saturday. In addition to internal GMP crews, GMP has more than doubled its field force with external crews.

Vermont Business Magazine At its December meeting, the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) invested in farm, natural land, and affordable housing projects that increase economic vitality and build strong communities throughout Vermont. Funding was approved to support the creation of 88 units of permanently affordable apartment housing in three Vermont communities through a total investment of $4.76 million, and an additional $1 million investment in funds to support housing developments statewide. The Board also voted to invest $3.2 million in the conservation of 409 acres in ten communities, and $300,000 to advance flood resilience efforts. Among the conservation projects funded was Vermont Outright’s initiative to purchase a summer camp on Lake Sunset, fulfilling its long-held vision to create a permanent gathering space dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth in Vermont and beyond.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) today sent letters to the CEOs of four pharmaceutical companies launching a major investigation into the extremely high prices these companies charge for inhalers that 25 million Americans with asthma and 16 million Americans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rely on to breathe. The letters were sent to the four biggest manufacturers of inhalers sold in the United States – AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and Teva – which outrageously charge between $200 and $600 each for inhaler products that are typically purchased monthly.

Vermont Business Magazine In a landmark move to address Vermont’s urgent housing and homelessness challenges, the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition and the Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness, two advocacy organizations with deep-rooted histories in Vermont, have merged to form a single organization: the Housing & Homelessness Alliance of Vermont (HHAV). As a merged organization, HHAV will help to unite voices from the housing and homelessness fields and leverage the expertise of its board and 60+ member organizations to meet the needs of vulnerable Vermonters and advocate for effective policies to ensure that all people living in Vermont have safe, stable, affordable homes and if homelessness occurs, it is brief, rare, and non-recurring. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Racial Justice Program Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts – and a Saint Michael’s College Professor Emerita – will deliver the keynote address during the College’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration and Convocation this month.  Lawyer, journalist, academic and advocate Traci Griffith, J.D. will speak at Saint Michael’s on Jan. 15, 2024, looking at the promises made in the U.S. Constitution and highlighting the ways in which society has fallen short in meeting those obligations. Griffith will bring both her legal expertise and personal experience to bear during her talk, titled “Promised on Paper, Pathetic in Practice: Race and the U.S. Constitution Through the Eyes of Dr. King.”  

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that James Craft, 26, of Fair Haven, Vermont, was arraigned today on five felony counts and one misdemeanor count of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The charges brought against the defendant are the result of a criminal investigation, including the execution of a residential search warrant, conducted by the Vermont Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), including personnel from the Attorney General’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, Manchester Police Department, and Fair Haven Police Department.

Vermont Business Magazine The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that on January 3, 2024, Carl Butterfield, 54, of Whitingham, Vermont, was sentenced in United States District Court in Rutland, Vermont, to serve 135 months in prison after his guilty plea to one count of possession of child pornography (also known as child sexual abuse material, or CSAM). Chief U.S. District Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford also ordered Butterfield to serve a 15-year term of supervised release.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are $3.23/g, down 4.2 cents per gallon from last week's $3.27/g. The lowest price in the state yesterday was $2.89/g while the highest was $3.99/g, a difference of $1.10/g. The national average price of gasoline has fallen 3.8 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.03/g today. The national average is down 12.2 cents per gallon from a month ago and stands 22.0 cents per gallon lower than a year ago, according to GasBuddy.