Current News

by Ciara McEneany, Community News Service Vermont students may have more protections when it comes to discrimination and harassment in schools as advocates are urging lawmakers to include them in a bill that right now only focuses on workplaces and places of public accommodations. The bill, S.103, passed in the Senate late last month and is moving through the House. Its core goal is to get rid of the existing legal requirement that harassment or discrimination must be “severe or pervasive” to be considered unlawful. Members of several civil rights and education groups in recent weeks have told legislators that the bill is an opportunity to free students from that legal standard too.

Vermont Business Magazine The Cancer Patient Support Foundation (CPSF) has awarded $3 million to local cancer patients and their families. CPSF supports over five hundred local cancer patients each year, removing barriers to treatment and helping them meet their basic needs. For over 20 years, CPSF has been the only local statewide fund supporting patients and their families. Over 11,200 families have received over $3 million since the organization’s inception in 2001. Each year over $170,000 is awarded.

Vermont Business Magazine In recognition of the importance of the nursing profession to its members and the community, New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) annually awards three nursing scholarships of $3,000 each. As part of their application, candidates submit an original, 250-word essay describing how they will use their degree to contribute to their community.

Vermont Business Magazine Community Care Network (CCN) today announced the creation of the Larry Wildes Memorial Bowling Fund, a pool of supportive funding designed to enable individuals with developmental disabilities to participate in CCN-led bowling activities at a reduced cost. The fund, which aims to secure new donations moving forward to ensure long-term sustainability, was made possible by an initial, anonymous donation of $10,000 in memory of Larry Wildes, a long-time Community Care Network client and avid bowler who passed away in 2022 at the age of 59.

Vermont Business Magazine Advocates for improving end-of-life care options for terminally ill adults praised the Vermont legislature and Governor Phil Scott (R-Vermont) for becoming the first state to remove the residency requirement from its medical aid-in-dying law. The signing of the bill, H.190, into law removing the residency requirement means that people who reside in other states can seek medical aid in dying in Vermont. The governor’s signature today comes on the heels of strong tri-partisan support for H.190 in the legislature.

Vermont Business Magazine The latest Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory and Forecast Report (1990-2020) has been released today by the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) Climate Action Office (CAO). The report provides estimates of greenhouse gas emissions in various sectors of the Vermont economy. As in prior years, the largest emitting sectors of GHG emissions in 2020 were transportation, building energy use, and agriculture. Vermont’s GHG emissions declined 10% percent from 2017 to 2020, as shown in Figure 1. The decrease in transportation emissions was responsible for most of this decline and was largely due to the global pandemic and Vermonters staying home. However, it remains to be seen how much of those emission reductions will remain long-term due to policies like telework being more prevalent since the pandemic. In addition to providing sector-based estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, the GHG inventory is integral to assessing Vermont’s progress toward meeting the emission reduction requirements established in the 2020 Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA): 26% below 2005 levels by 2025, 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Law and Graduate School announced a new VLGS scholarship initiative to support the Indigenous people of Vermont. The First Nations scholarship is available to citizens of state or federally recognized tribes. The purpose of the scholarship is to enable Indigenous students to pursue careers in any of the many programs offered by Vermont Law and Graduate School, including legal degrees within the Law School and master’s degrees offered by the Graduate School and its School for the Environment.

Vermont Business Magazine Corporate treasury departments are embracing social tokens, real-time payments, virtual cards and other digital innovations for their speed, security and convenience, according to new research from Citizens. Yet, traditional payment modes – checks, automated clearing house (ACH) and physical credit cards – still have a stronghold. “This is a time of disruption in the payments world,” said Matt Richardson, executive vice president and head of treasury product solutions, Citizens. “While we see many treasury departments taking advantage of new technologies, some have been slow to adapt.” The Citizens survey of 205 treasury executives at middle-market businesses ($50M to $1B annual revenue) in February and March 2023 focused on company use of payment modes today and what treasurers think of their options.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today addressed a luncheon hosted by the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce. The Governor discussed his priorities as the legislative session enters its final weeks. “To restore the strength and vitality of communities like Springfield, it takes a holistic approach. All the pieces have to fit together. For strong, healthy and safe communities, we need to grow our workforce. To grow our workforce, we need more housing, childcare, good schools, and thriving downtowns. We also need to help families keep more of what they earn, so they can actually enjoy all Vermont has to offer, instead of pushing them to the point where they can barely get by."

Vermont Business Magazine 2023’s US Good Food Awards’ results have just been announced and Blake Hill Preserves is honored with THREE WINNERS - two in the Elixirs category for their Wild Mint Botanical Shrub and Spicy Jalapeño Botanical Shrub, and Blake Hill’s Fresh Tomato Savory Jam is a Winner in the Preserves category. Blake Hill’s Botanical Shrub Collection continues to be their most successful new product launch yet, with six US Good Food Awards since its introduction just two harvest seasons ago. This unique Collection captures the essence of everything that is Blake Hill. At its very heart are wild herbs foraged from the meadows at Blake Hill, and fresh organic produce from local farms to provide a special taste of terroir.

by Steven Berbeco May is Mental Health Awareness month. So often when we hear about mental health – especially lately – we hear about problems and cracks in the system. It can be overwhelming and difficult to know what we can do as individuals and community members to support each other when so many of us are struggling. This mental health crisis we keep hearing about in the news and in our communities is real and dire, but it is not hopeless. As a community, we have the power and the capacity to be protective factors for each other.

Vermont Business Magazine A Vermonter’s quality of life is significantly enhanced by their ability to receive in-home care versus residential care in a facility such as a nursing home. According to the most recent US Census data, the State of Vermont’s median age is the second oldest in the United States. The shortage of direct care nursing staff statewide is a challenge to providing those critical in-home supports. A new initiative is underway to address this critical staff shortage within in-home health. The Vermont Direct Care Initiative is an intradepartmental collaboration within Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living between the Adult Services Division and HireAbility Vermont. The goal is to increase the number of trained Direct Care Workers providing in-home health care, improve recruitment and retention of Direct Service Workers, and promote the healthcare career ladder through scholarships and mentorships.