Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Breastfeeding parents are highly motivated to feed their babies breast milk for its health benefits (83%) but cite significant challenges, particularly around pumping breast milk, which about 3 in 4 breastfeeding parents do at least some of the time, according to new research. Conducted by Mamava and Medela, the study surveyed more than 15,000 breastfeeding parents about their breastfeeding motivations, challenges, and support systems. August is National Breastfeeding Month.

Vermont Business Magazine Lamoille County and neighboring towns have certainly seen their share of rainfall this summer, resulting in catastrophic flooding, damage to houses, farms, roadways, and infrastructure, and the contamination of many towns’ drinking water systems. For over a week, water storage tanks and daily tractor trailers hauling water have been the norm at Copley. 

Vermont Business Magazine What if you always wanted to become a nurse, but never had access or opportunity? Then, an employer like Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, provided you with an easy way to get your education while you are working, with no financial outlay on your part. This week, nine SVMC hospital employees were invited to participate in SVHC’s RN Apprenticeship Pathway – a strategic partnership between the hospital, Vermont Talent Pipeline, Vermont State University (VTSU), Community College of Vermont (CCV), and Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC).

Vermont Business Magazine National Life Group has been named on the 2023 Ward’s 50, an annual list of the country’s 50 top life and health insurance performers based on financial health. Ward’s measures performance over the previous five years in determining which companies make the list. National Life’s 2022 Annual Report noted steadily increasing sales records despite market volatility.

Vermont Business Magazine To mark the completion of the new mental health support area in its Emergency Department (ED), Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital (NVRH) will hold an Opening Celebration on Tuesday, July 25, 2023. The mental health support area, which was made possible by a $3 million Congressionally Directed Spending grant sponsored by Senator Leahy, will expand the ED to better support individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis. The space will include four patient rooms and two easily accessible bathrooms; a staff station; and a social room for commingling, consultation and family meetings.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Health brings its popular and unbearably adorable “Teddy Bear Clinic” to Rutland’s National Night Out Tuesday, August 1, from 4 to 7 pm at Meadow Street Park in Rutland. Lots of love and care will be shared at Community Health’s Teddy Bear Clinic where our staff and volunteers hear from children and tend to what ails their teddy bear, stuffed puppy, dinosaur or favorite plush creature. The Teddy Bear clinic typically attracts hundreds of teddy bears and their owners as they line up for a dose of kindness from our compassionate nurses, doctors and health care volunteers.

Vermont Business Magazine The VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region (VNAHSR) offers a weekly grief support group each Tuesday at 6pm in the Casella Conference Room at the VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region’s Rutland office on 7 Albert Cree Drive. Led by Chaplain and Spiritual and Bereavement Coordinator Rev. Jesse Bradley, the support group reviews grief stages and how to successfully navigate the process from grief to hope for newly bereaved individuals.

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Peter Welch (D-VT) and Representative Becca Balint (D-VT) sent a letter to US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg this past Friday, calling on the Department of Transportation (DOT) to support the State of Vermont’s request for immediate and robust assistance to help Vermont rebuild and recover from the recent devastating flooding. The congressional delegation urged Secretary Buttigieg to activate aid through DOT’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Emergency Relief (ER) program to help fund repairs and improvements to roads, bridges, culverts, and other impacted infrastructure across the state, including the 93-mile Lamoille Valley Rail Trail. 

Vermont State Police On July 24, 2023, at approximately 1019 hours, Troopers from the Vermont State Police – Rutland Barracks, responded to a two-vehicle, head-on crash on US Route 4, near Woodward Road, in the Town of Mendon. Upon arrival, both occupants of Vehicle #1 were pronounced deceased by members of Regional Ambulance Service. Two occupants of Vehicle #2 were extricated from the vehicle with life-threatening injuries.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger and area stakeholders discussed the impacts of the proposed zoning amendment to create the South End Innovation District (SEID), which will legalize housing in Burlington’s South End. The proposal would enhance the already bustling manufacturing and arts district by enabling dense, mixed-use development of a large swath of the city that is currently dominated by undeveloped or underutilized parcels. The proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Development Ordinance creates an overlay that applies to a portion of the South End Enterprise Light Manufacturing Zone (E-LM), to facilitate dense, mixed-use development including multifamily housing for the first time in the core of the South End. 

Public Assets Institute In the hardest hit parts of Vermont, flood recovery will take some time. But the federal disaster declaration for Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windham, and Windsor counties makes resources available immediately. Federal disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) will cover Vermonters living, working, or scheduled to work in those counties who lost work as a result of the flooding. Unlike traditional unemployment insurance, DUA also covers independent contractors, the self-employed, and agricultural workers. Applicants must file for traditional unemployment first, within a month of becoming eligible.

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermont navigates the aftermath of historic flooding and its impact on our communities, businesses across the state are grappling with meeting the immediate needs of their families, employees, and business while trying to figure out where and how to apply for financial assistance. In response, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility and Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance are partnering to host this virtual forum will include panelists offering public and private financial assistance to discuss the resources available to businesses and organizations, how to navigate the system, and Q&A.