Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Peter Welch (D-VT) issued a statement today responding to the drug company Merck’s lawsuit to block drug price negotiation provisions included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Welch was a key architect of the bill’s drug pricing program and longtime advocate for lower drug prices and health care access. “This lawsuit is completely without merit and yet another example of Big Pharma putting profits over the health of working families."

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today at his afternoon press conference announced that he had vetoed the Legislature's signature bill this session, H.217, which is related to child care funding and expansion. Scott emphasized that he a lawmakers have the same goal of what he calls "cradle to career" universal education. He also reiterated that he has pushed for a funding package that includes the online sales tax, now $56 million per year. But in his veto statement today, he balked at the "regressive" payroll deduction to be implemented to help pay for it and the overall cost, which will be $124.8 million in FY2025, when it's fully implemented. Scott is likely facing an uphill battle in an effort to have his veto sustained. The measure passed comfortably over the two-thirds majority in both chambers. 

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont has launched an open-access academic press aimed at removing the financial barrier between peer-reviewed research and audiences worldwide. Fully funded by the university and overseen by UVM Libraries, the UVM Press operates under a “diamond open access model” – meaning that authors pay no fees to publish with the press, and readers pay no fees to access the press's published materials.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College Online has appointed Sergio Tenreiro de Magalhães, Ph.D., as Chief Learning Officer and Sarah McMaster as Executive Director of Marketing and Enrollment Management. Following the announcement of Chris Montagnino as Vice President of Champlain College Online (CCO) last year, the online institution has positioned its leadership team to support strategic goals, including new remote learning opportunities, program growth, and enrollment management. 

Vermont Business Magazine In May, organ donation and organ transplants in New England attained a new monthly record high. New England Donor Services (NEDS), the federally-designated Organ Procurement Organization responsible for the recovery of organs and tissues in the six state region, reported it coordinated a record-breaking 61 organ donors that resulted in 160 life-saving transplants.

Vermont Business Magazine On June 1, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed Treasurer Mike Pieciak’s public retirement initiative proposal, VT Saves (S.135), into law. Passed unanimously by the Vermont House and Senate, the program requires employers not already offering a retirement plan to sign up for VT Saves, establishing a Roth IRA for their employees with automatic payroll deductions. The program is of no cost to the employer, and employees can opt out of the program at any time.

Vermont Business Magazine In 2022, Joe Wiah was honored with the Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial, Community Leadership. The director of the Ethiopian Community Development Council’s Multicultural Community Center in Brattleboro, Wiah is helping refugees integrate into community life in Southern Vermont. In a recent interview, he talked about his work and what receiving the award meant to him both personally and professionally. The annual award recognizes Con’s life by rewarding a community leader who shares his vision of a better Vermont and who seizes the responsibility for making that vision a reality. 

Vermont Business Magazine Fidium Fiber is expanding service coverage of its all-fiber internet network to 2,400 homes and businesses in Waterbury, Moretown and Duxbury. Construction is scheduled to begin by Monday, June 12, with local build-out scheduled for the coming weeks. More than 80,000 Vermonters can now order Fidium Fiber, and through this expansion thousands more homes and small businesses will soon have access to Fidium’s multi-gig speed fiber internet service.   

Vermont Business Magazine The medical staff of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) recognized the following individuals for their contributions to clinical insight and teamwork. Marie George, MD, infectious disease physician, received the 2023 Clinical Excellence Award, recognizing her outstanding diagnostic acumen and commitment to communication with medical colleagues. Dr. George is a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic physician who has worked at SVMC since 1999. She is a past president of the Medical Staff and serves as medical director of infection prevention.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported May 31, 2023, that COVID-19 hospitalizations increased. COVID-19 activity remains in the "Low" range, according to the VDH. There were 5 COVID-related deaths in the last week for a pandemic total of 974 as of May 27 (this is the most recent update). VDH reported 15 COVID-related deaths in March, the fewest since the summer of 2021, 19 in April and 9 so far in May.

by John McClaughry In this era dominated by aggressive steps to deal with “climate change”, it’s worth inquiring into what the climate activists are working to install in our public school system, presumably to lead their pupils into supporting a long list of policies on the climate change agenda. This is not a new thought. As far back as 2007, a Governor’s Commission on Climate Change called for “promoting enormous systemic and long term cultural, cross-generational change in our awareness and behavior through the efforts of our formalized K-12 public and private school systems.”

Vermont Business Magazine The staff and providers at Menig Nursing Home in Randolph Center recently achieved a deficiency-free survey from the Vermont Division of Licensing and Protection (DLP). The survey report, released May 10, followed a comprehensive three-day review of the care and services provided at the 30-bed skilled nursing facility, part of Morgan Orchards Senior Living Community at Gifford.