Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Mental Health (DMH) is holding its annual conference at the Killington Grand Resort Hotel on October 19, 2023. Themed “Reshaping the Mental Health System Through Integration,” this full-day event will feature more than 20 engaging presentations and provide a unique opportunity for participants to gain insights from esteemed keynote speakers William Killebrew and Jennifer Moss. The conference, structured around three focus tracks – Wellness & Self Care, Integrated Care & Policy, and Mental Health & the Criminal Justice System- will include interactive workshops catering to diverse age groups, ranging from children and teens to adults and families. These workshops will feature insightful panel presentations and showcase promising evidence-based practices. 

Vermont Business Magazine About 100 people — including DSP workers, clients, agency administrators and governmental leaders — turned out to recognize the work done each day by these skilled staff who support people with developmental disabilities at a September 14 event honoring Vermont’s Direct Support Professionals at the State House in Montpelier. This event occurred just hours after the US Senate voted unanimously to pass a resolution for the recognition of Direct Support Professionals Week.  

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Creamery is proud to announce a partnership with Green Mountain United Way, introducing the Working Bridges program to all 100 employees at its Websterville, Vermont facility. This initiative delivers crucial support services directly to employees on-site, fostering personal growth and overall well-being while enhancing workplace satisfaction and productivity. Resource Coordinators from Green Mountain United Way will be present at Vermont Creamery on a regular basis, offering confidential assistance with various aspects of employees' lives; these coordinators will also be accessible through email, phone, and text outside of working hours.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy and Marcelle Leahy joined Howard Center staff and community partners in Shelburne on September 20 to celebrate the construction of a new home for 16 Vermonters who benefit from a structured and supportive environment. Speaking to a crowd of about 70 who gathered for the event, Senator Leahy thanked all those who played a part in the construction of the new building and observed, “We’re a little state, but we punch above our weight.”

Vermont Business Magazine Join VBSR, United Way of Northwest Vermont, and a special guest from the Burlington Police Department for this two-part Mental Health First Aid certification course. Mental health challenges have increased significantly in the past few years and systems of support have been pushed to a breaking point. Now, more than ever, we need to come together to address the gaps in our mental health network for ourselves and our colleagues. Registration fee of $30 for both sessions covers the cost of your certification.

Vermont Business Magazine September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and an amazing duo of superheroes without capes will be in Wells River to fill students and educators with HOPE (Hold On, Possibilities Exist). Tom Murphy and Rick Yarosh, of Sweethearts & Heroes, will work at Blue Mountain Union School on Wednesday, Sept. 27 and Thursday, Sept. 28. Sweethearts & Heroes is a student empowerment and empathy activation team that aims to prevent bullying and suicide with a focus on the basic components of social-emotional learning (SEL). Sweethearts & Heroes offers a profound, engaging signature presentation that calls for HOPE, Empathy and Action; Circle, which is built on the ancient ritual of communicating in a circle to build empathy; and BRAVES Buddies, which trains older students in bully drills that they, in turn, teach to students in lower grades.

Vermont Business Magazine Cathedral Square and SASH (Support and Services at Home) staff recently had the opportunity to welcome several representatives from CMMI, including Director Elizabeth Fowler, at Allard Square in South Burlington. Their visit included a tour of the property and a SASH participant's apartment, as well as an overview of the SASH model including recent results from our statewide Chronic Conditions Initiatives, Embedded Mental Health program, and SASH for All leveraged by the resources of SASH partner organizations. They also heard directly from two SASH participants about the positive impacts they’ve experienced.  

Vermont Business Magazine Mascoma Community Development (MCD) is proud to announce an award of $50 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) authority from the U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Fund. The NMTC program allows MCD to direct capital toward underserved communities through financing high-impact, mission-focused projects nationwide, with a primary focus on New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, New York, and Massachusetts. This New Markets Tax Credit award represents MCD’s sixth allocation, providing a total of $335 million since their first award in 2014. MCD is a Community Development Entity (CDE) established by Mascoma Bank to deploy tax credits into projects that benefit severely distressed, low-income persons and/or communities, and which promote job retention and creation, downtown revitalization, business development and expansion, and additional catalytic development. 

Vermont Business Magazine Janet Ancel has been unanimously elected to the board of Public Assets Institute. A nonpartisan nonprofit in Montpelier, Public Assets Institute is Vermont’s independent research organization on state budget, tax, and economic issues and the source for timely and in-depth state fiscal and policy analysis. Ancel was the chief architect of Vermont’s groundbreaking state Child Tax Credit, which became law in 2022. Ancel’s state credit was modeled on the pandemic-era expansion of the federal child tax credit, which successfully reduced child poverty by more than forty percent nationwide, with even larger reductions among Black and Hispanic children.

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Peter Welch (D-VT) and John Fetterman (D-PA), alongside Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02), and Jim McGovern (MA-02) today introduced the Streamlining Nutrition Paperwork Act of 2023. The legislation modernizes the existing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Act (SNAP) by making it easier for people to apply for SNAP over the phone. SNAP helps low-income individuals and families by providing monthly benefits to purchase food.  

Vermont Business Magazine The National Park Service awarded $10 million in the second round of funding from the Semiquincentennial Grant Program commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. These grants include $409,960 for the preservation of the Old Constitution House in Windsor, Vermont. Created by Congress in 2020 and funded through the Historic Preservation Fund, these grants will support 20 cultural resource preservation projects across 14 states. The Old Constitution House is the birthplace of Vermont, where on July 8, 1777, the first Constitution of the “Free and Independent State of Vermont” was adopted. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Manufacturing Collaborative (VT-MC), hosted by Vermont State University, announces a new $1.5M contract with the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) to establish the New England Defense Supply Chain Enhancement Initiative. Funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), the two-year initiative aims to fortify supply chain resiliency through workforce development and the advancement of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies. This is only the latest in business and government partnerships where students work directly with companies to tackle tough business challenges in research and development, product design, and manufacturing.