Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Campaign for Vermont Prosperity (CFV) released poll results exploring Vermonter’s opinions on climate change, the Paris Climate Accords, and the Legislature’s Clean Heat Standard. The poll found that Vermonters are generally supportive of carbon reduction strategies to address climate change. Two-thirds approve of the state aiming for the Paris Climate Accord target of carbon-neutrality by 2050. However, most (50%) didn’t want to see any increased tax burden to support meeting that target. While Vermonters support incentives for electric vehicles and heat pumps, the Legislature’s Clean Heat Standard legislation and the Climate Council’s tax on transportation fuels found stiff opposition.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), today led the committee in marking up the SCREENS for Cancer Act of 2023, the Advancing Research in Education Act, the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act, and the Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources’ Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announces an update to the State's PFAS Roadmap, outlining continued efforts to address PFAS sources and contamination and to protect the well-being of Vermont residents. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of human-made chemicals known for their resistance to heat, water, oil, grease, and stains. These chemicals, prevalent since the 1950s in various industries and consumer products, are persistent and stable, meaning that once they are released, they do not break down and can build up in the environment, wildlife, and humans. For humans, exposure to these “forever chemicals” may lead to adverse health outcomes.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and Department of Liquor and Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight announced today that online sports wagering will launch in Vermont on January 11, 2024. Through a competitive bid process, the Department of Liquor and Lottery selected DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook to operate mobile sports wagering platforms in Vermont. The state will receive a percentage of each operator’s Adjusted Gross Sports Wagering Revenue, in addition to an operator fee. The new online sportsbook operation is expected to bring in up to $7 million in new revenue to the State during the first full year of operations.

by Sarah Billings-Berg, VTSU Dean of Nursing and Health Sciences Ready for some good news about nursing in Vermont? I bet you are. I know—reports haven’t always focused on the good news. As recently as last year, news reports focused on nurses retiring, how we don’t have personnel or facilities to educate new nurses, the high cost of education and how all these factors plus burnout resulted in a shortage of nurses in Vermont and across the country. This leads to the use of expensive travelling nurses to provide essential staffing in our hospitals and community care settings. In short, the news focused on the problems with developing and maintaining our nursing workforce in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development State Director for Vermont and New Hampshire, Sarah Waring, on Monday announced $250,000 to make essential energy improvements for low-income Twin State residents. The investments are being made to three nonprofit organizations through Housing Preservation Grants and are included in today’s national announcement of $80,119,669 to fund more than 200 projects that will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

Vermont Business Magazine HomeShare Vermont and Woodstock’s The Thompson Senior Center have joined forces to bring more Vermonters access to the homesharing model. "This partnership will open new doors to folks in our area and we can’t wait to make the connections with HomeShare Vermont,” Deanna Jones, executive director at The Thompson Senior Center, said. With this partnership, HomeShare Vermont’s coverage will expand into the majority of towns in Windsor County and reach into Rutland County.

Vermont Business Magazine The Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging (SVCOA) has announced the recipients of its esteemed 2023 Community Partner Awards, recognizing Bayada Home Health in Rutland and Laurie Rau, LTCCC, for their exceptional dedication and significant contributions to the community. 

Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center proudly announces the return of its Chief Medical Officer, Simha Ravven, M.D. from a transformative volunteer opportunity in Rwanda. In collaboration with Partners in Health, a Harvard University affiliated organization that collaborates with national governments to provide care and strengthen public health systems, Dr. Ravven spent two weeks working with Rwandan Medical Students at the University of Global Health Equity in Kigali and Butaro, Rwanda. During this period, Dr. Ravven engaged with fourth-year students in the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program, who are about a year and a half away from beginning their careers as general practitioners in Rwandan communities. 

Vermont Business Magazine Nineteen Community Health Workers (CHWs) representing health and community-based organizations across 9 Vermont counties (Bennington, Chittenden, Franklin, Lamoille, Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor) completed the first ever CHW Core Competency Course offered in the state. The 10-week course was sponsored by the Vermont Community Health Worker Workforce Initiative from Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center (AHEC) with support from the Vermont Department of Health. James Figueirado and Marilyn Gardner, noted trainers/facilitators from the Community Workforce Institute (CWI) in Massachusetts, delivered the training, which culminated in a graduation ceremony held in Montpelier

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), a member of Dartmouth Health, has hired Kate Czaplinski as Director of Marketing and Communications and Public Information Officer. Czaplinski joins SVMC with over 5 years of experience in nonprofit communications and more than a decade in Connecticut news and media.

Vermont Business Magazine Some Vermont Electric Co-op members may be without power into Tuesday as crews continue to assess and repair damage after heavy, wet snow covered the region last night. “These outages are widespread and restoration for some areas is taking time,” said Jake Brown, VEC Energy Services Planner. VEC members who still do not have power and do not have an Estimated Time of Restoration assigned to their service should expect to not have power overnight and should plan accordingly. People who need a warm place to go can inquire with their local community or call 2-1-1 for more information. As of 5 pm Monday, VEC is reporting: 179 Outages; 3296 Members affected; 51 Towns affected.