Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Pico Mountain, part of the POWDR adventure lifestyle company, will kick off the 2023/24 winter season at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, December 9, 2023 with a bonus weekend. The resort will operate Saturday and Sunday and then reopen on Friday, December 15 for the regular Thursday-Monday schedule.  A newly rebuilt pump house and the addition of 25 new high-efficiency HKD snow guns, Pico Mountain was able to, on average, convert 62% more water into snow than in previous years. Pico Mountain also received its first diesel-electric drive groomer, which will enable the grooming of steeper terrain regularly and with 20% fewer emissions and fuel consumption. 

Vermont Business Magazine This holiday season, passengers traveling to and from the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport will have the opportunity to sample Vermont-made products, watch demonstrations, and purchase last-minute gift items via Local Maverick, a Burlington-based retail, marketing, and incubation firm. With dozens of products ranging from coffee, jewelry, elixirs, and chocolate; Vermonters or those visiting the Green Mountain State can leave with a taste of Vermont for their friends and family. Local Maverick will also schedule cooking demonstrations, tastings, and liquor sales. 

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch’s (D-Vermont) bipartisan bill, the Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality (TRANQ) Research Act, passed the United States House of Representatives this week with unanimous support. The bill was passed by the Senate in June and will soon be signed into law by President Biden. The bipartisan Testing, Rapid Analysis, and Narcotic Quality (TRANQ) Research Act, co-led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) takes steps to address the deadly rise in illicit use of Xylazine, or Tranq – a harmful animal tranquilizer – and other novel synthetic drugs that have become increasingly common in the illicit drug supply in Vermont and across the country. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) wants to hear from you. VCBB has released Vermont’s draft Digital Equity Plan and wants your comments on how to improve it. The Digital Equity Plan serves as the state’s vision and strategy for digital equity, which means that everyone has access to the internet, as well as the devices and skills to use it effectively and safely. The plan includes a digital equity needs assessment, asset inventory, and implementation plan. It prepares Vermont for federal grant funds to carry out the plan and details activities, key performance indicators, and partnerships.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations both increased last week. There were also 6 fatalities reported by the Vermont Department of Health last week, for a pandemic total of 1,067 as of November 25 (the most recent data available). The Vermont Department of Health reported November 29, 2023, that COVID-19 hospitalizations were up 11 to a statewide total of 47. COVID-19 activity remains in the "Low" range, according to the VDH. Reported cases last week were 290, up 32 for the week. VDH reported 15 COVID-related deaths in were 25 in October and 12 so far in November. Of the total deaths to date, 856 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 An acoustic stone wall at a public amphitheater in Killington, a mural by a local Abenaki artist at the Retreat Farm in Brattleboro, and plans from the locally owned electric utility in the Town of Stowe to engage a stone mason to re-envision public access are among the projects recently awarded Animating Infrastructure grants from the Vermont Arts Council. Strengthening the connection between people and place, these award-winning public art projects promise to bring vibrancy and vitality to their communities. From conception and design to implementation and programming, creative placemaking has been shown to foster social connectedness, improve livability, and enhance a sense of community pride and identity. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Women’s and Children’s Services (WCS) nursing team at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) were honored in November with the DAISY Team Award for Extraordinary Nurses. The DAISY Award is an international recognition program honoring clinical excellence and outstanding compassionate care provided by nurses. SVMC, a member of Dartmouth Health, selects honorees through patient nominations. WCS provides care for approximately 400 births per year, serving patients and families from Vermont, New York and Massachusetts.

Vermont Business Magazine The Champlain Housing Trust and Evernorth has announced the completion and occupancy of Stuart Avenue Apartments and the beginning of construction of 10th Cavalry Apartments which collectively will bring over 100 new permanently affordable apartments to the Town of Colchester. The two developments were supported by the Town of Colchester, which recognizes and has prioritized the need for more housing in the community and more broadly in Chittenden County, which has a county-wide rental vacancy rate of 1% or less. Completed in September, Stuart Avenue Apartments are home to 36 households in the Sunderland Farms neighborhood, a new mixed-use neighborhood located in Colchester’s designated Growth Center, adjacent to Severance Corners, and was developed by SD Ireland.

Vermont Business Magazine Rutland County Head Start, which operates within the Rutland Community Programs division of Community Care Network (CCN), today announced the implementation of its new Early Head Start program designed to provide high-quality care for infants and toddlers. The new Early Head Start program, which will be hosted at Rutland County Head Start’s Meadow Street and Discovery Center facilities in Rutland beginning in late-December, will offer 27 openings for children ages birth to 3, in addition to the 45 existing openings currently offered to children ages 3 to 5 through the traditional Head Start program.

Senator Bernie Sanders Let me say a few words to express my concerns about the $106 billion emergency foreign aid supplemental bill that we may soon be considering. There are pieces of this bill I strongly support, but in its present form I do not think it serves the interests of the American people. Let me explain why. First, while I strongly support Ukraine’s valiant efforts to defend itself against Putin’s invasion, and Israel’s need to defend itself against incoming rocket and missile attacks, I am deeply concerned that this legislation has no investments to address the needs of working families in the United States – 60 percent of whom are living paycheck to paycheck. Let’s be clear: it is not only foreign countries that face emergencies. We face enormous emergencies in this country right now in terms of child care, primary health care, housing, and much more. The American people do not want us to continue to ignore these issues.

Vermont Business Magazine The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) has recognized Rutland Regional Medical Center, as one of 78 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals that have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2022. As a participant in ACS NSQIP, Rutland Regional is required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and collect data that assesses patient safety and can be used to direct improvement in the quality of surgical care.

Vermont Business Magazine Copley Hospital’s expanded Infusion Center, scheduled for completion in spring 2024, will be named The William B. DeLaney Infusion Center after the late Bill DeLaney, a longtime supporter and former patient. DeLaney’s wife, Beverly Vahlteich DeLaney, made the $200,000 gift after learning about the project. Though Bill and Beverly lived for over 50 years in Cleveland, Ohio, they spent their annual summer vacations in Craftsbury. “Bill counted the days to when we could travel to Vermont,” said Beverly, who shared that as Bill’s health declined, he needed weekly blood transfusions. Beverly says she was relieved to learn that Bill could get his required care at Copley. “Thanks to Copley, a happy decision was made that we’d be able to spend another summer at our favorite place.” When Beverly received a notice about the Infusion Center expansion, she quickly jumped at the opportunity to give back.