Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The first phase of renovations that will create upstairs apartments and first-floor commercial space – including a new community arts space – is underway at 560 Railroad Street. The Northern Forest Center is redeveloping the historic, 15,000-square-foot property as part of its community revitalization work in St. Johnsbury. The project will create nine apartments with a mix of studio-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units and two commercial spaces. Rentals will be priced to serve median-income earners in the St. Johnsbury area. J.E. Bertrand built the building in 1909 to serve as the armory for Company D of the Vermont National Guard. The building was initially called Bertrand’s Hall and the wide-open first floor was used for Guard training as well as dances and events; the building was later converted into a hotel. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine COVID-19 cases rose last week, but despite a steady rise in hospitalizations since late summer, related fatalities have not spiked. There were 5 deaths reported by the Vermont Department of Health last week and 3 the week before, for a pandemic total now of 1,088 as of December 30, 2023 (the most recent available). The VDH reported January 3, 2024, that COVID-19 hospitalizations were up 5 last week to a statewide total of 56, which is the highest total in about a year. COVID-19 activity remains in the "Low" range, according to the VDH. Reported cases last week were 417, up 48 for the week. Of the total deaths to date, 875 have been of Vermonters 70 or older. There have been 3 deaths of Vermonters under 30 since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Congressional Delegation held a rally with members of the Montpelier community and the Montpelier Commission for Recovery and Resilience on the effort to restore the state capital’s post office. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont), and a representative for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) spoke at the rally. Since the catastrophic flood damage this summer, more than five months ago, the Montpelier Post Office has operated out of a series of temporary locations, including trucks that failed to provide safe working conditions for employees or reliable service to the community. 

The Vermont State Police has completed its investigation into the July drowning death of 3-year-old Tate Holtzman at Smugglers’ Notch Resort in Cambridge. Detectives determined that Tate was enrolled in a licensed daycare program through the resort and was walking with adult supervision near the outdoor splash pad when he stepped on an unsecured cover to an underground cistern. The cover gave way, and Tate fell into the water below. Teenage lifeguards on duty at the nearby pools were immediately notified and began making multiple entries into the tank to locate Tate. These lifeguards did so at extraordinary personal risk in a heroic attempt to save Tate’s life. The Vermont State Police presented its investigative findings to the Lamoille County State’s Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors determined that no criminal charges would be filed as a result of Tate’s death.

by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First Wade Cochran, director of the enforcement and safety division at the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles, has been placed on paid leave pending an unspecified external investigation, according to officials. Agency of Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn said DMV Commissioner Wanda Minoli placed Cochran on leave on Thursday. Flynn declined to provide any details. Cochran, 48, of Waterford, declined comment. The FBI is conducting the investigation, which stems from an alleged incident before Cochran’s hiring at the DMV last August.

Public Assets Institute and Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy While most state and local tax systems worsen inequality with the wealthy paying a far lesser share of their income to taxes than low- and middle-income families, Vermont’s tax code is progressive through the bottom 80 percent of income distribution and regressive through the top 20 percent. That’s according to the latest edition of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s Who Pays?, the only distributional analysis of tax systems in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This relative progressivity in Vermont’s tax code is largely driven by the state’s use of personal income taxes and targeted, refundable anti-poverty tax credits. However, declining progressivity in higher-income brackets and the reliance on property taxes for higher-income taxpayers for education funding leave room for improvement. 

Vermont Business Magazine Veterinarians Without Borders/Vétérinaires Sans Frontières, a Canadian non-profit organization focused on animal health to improve the health of communities, today announced an expansion into the United States, with the establishment of the registered US charity Veterinarians Without Borders USA. Together, these two charities are rebranding as Veterinarians Without Borders North America (VWB North America). VWB North America works in more than a dozen countries and serves more than 1.5 million people and animals annually through a range of programming including emergency response efforts, establishing animal health systems and empowering marginalized populations. In the US, VWB North America is offering training services to animal welfare organizations, specifically geared toward animal shelter staff and volunteers, including the Lucy Mackenzie Humane Society in West Windsor, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine In March of 2022, Melissa and Christopher Fitzhugh's lives took an unexpected and frightening turn. Their daughter, Heidi, made her grand entrance into the world at just 25 weeks, three full months ahead of schedule. Weighing just 1 pound, 8.7 ounces, Heidi's premature birth was the beginning of an intense, emotional journey for the Fitzhugh family at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The NICU, known for its exceptional care and dedication, recently received the prestigious 2023 Press Ganey Human Experience Guardian of Excellence Award. The recognition places the UVM Children’s Hospital among the top 5% of health care providers nationwide for patient experience, underscoring their unwavering commitment to clinical excellence and empathetic patient care.

by Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, Vermont Association of Hospitals & Health Systems Welcome back! In every session, usually around the third week in April, there's a simultaneous head explosion as we all mentally calculate the number of hours in the day and the things that need to get done and realize that it's physically impossible. This year, I'm feeling it in week one. There are some huge ideas impacting health care out there, and not a lot of time. 

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.