Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Young Professionals (BYP), a program of the Lake Champlain Chamber (LCC), presents the Greater Burlington Young Professional Community Report, which looks into what young professionals (YPs) want and need to continue to live and work in our community. The Greater Burlington Young Professional Community Report compiled data taken from over 215 participants. It aims to better understand the professional, civic, and personal lenses through which young professionals perceive our community and provides insight into how their perceptions drive their decisions and actions.

Vermont Business Magazine In the fall of 2021, Vermont received $4 million through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to make existing housing and community-based service facilities providing mental health services more accessible, safe, compliant with the ADA, or expand their capacity to provide services. The WCMHS community residence is one of 19 locations to receive funds, and recently completed long-needed repairs and improvements to the building using federal grant money allocated by the legislature and distributed through the Department of Mental Health (DMH).

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and Jake “Body by Jake” Steinfeld, Chairman of the National Foundation for Governors’ Fitness Councils (NFGFC), announced today that NFGFC has selected the State of Vermont for its 2023 DON’T QUIT! Campaign. To help reverse growing trends in mental illness and childhood obesity, the NFGFC will gift a state-of-the-art DON’T QUIT! Fitness Center to three elementary/middle schools. Applications for schools interested in receiving a fitness center will be accepted starting today until Sunday, March 26, 2023.

New Role for Former Director of Health and Resident Services

Vermont Business Magazine Wake Robin, a Life Plan Community and home to about 400 older adults, has named Meagan Buckley, of Richmond, as president and CEO.

Buckley has served as the director of health and resident services at Wake Robin for five years and held the interim president and CEO role prior to her appointment. She is a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator who held leadership positions within the industry before joining Wake Robin’s staff.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, announced Tuesday that the panel will hold a hearing this Thursday, February 16, at 10 am titled, “Examining Health Care Workforce Shortages: Where Do We Go From Here?” According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States will face a shortage of up to 124,000 physicians by 2034, including 48,000 primary care physicians. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, nearly 100 million Americans live in areas without enough primary medical health care providers and about 70 million Americans live in areas without enough dental providers.

Vermont Business Magazine Cigna has selected National Life Group as a recipient of their Gold level Healthy Workforce Designation for demonstrating a strong commitment to improving the health and well-being of its employees through a workplace wellness program. National Life is recognized for its deep and comprehensive suite of benefits that cover the physical, emotional, social, intellectual and financial aspects of a person’s life. Highlights include: world class health insurance options; onsite fitness centers; excellent paid family leave; generous paid time off; employee recognition programs; adoption assistance; 40 hours of paid volunteer time; education assistance; charitable gift match; pet insurance; life insurance and discounts on company products.

Vermont Business Magazine You may have seen lots of red recently, red hearts, red t-shirts, red ribbons and everyone wearing something red to kick off American Heart Month. National Wear Red Day is celebrated each year on the first Friday in February to bring greater attention to heart disease as a leading cause of death for Americans. It’s the second leading cause of death among Vermonters. At Community Health, heart health is a major focus for all of our primary care providers who use routine exams to determine your risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), or heart disease.

by Devon Green, VP of Government Relations, Vermont Association of Hospitals & Health Systems The legislature had a busy week last week touching upon key advocacy priorities for VAHHS and more. Workplace Violence: S.36 passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill passed with an amendment put forward by VAHHS to address concerns about HIPAA preventing health care providers from disclosing to law enforcement that a patient had been discharged or was medically stable. The one “no” vote was supportive of the bill but worried that the disorderly conduct portion could be too broadly applied. The bill will now go to Senate Health and Welfare for consideration and then to the entire Senate.

by John McClaughry Vermont’s long history of parental choice in education will come to a crashing end in 2028 if a bill designed and backed by the “Educational Equity Alliance” makes it through the legislature. What was informally known around Montpelier as “the Public Education Blob” has now become the “Educational Equity Alliance”. Its four components are the Vermont School Boards Association, the Vermont Superintendents Association, the Vermont Principals Association, and the biggest gorilla, the 13,000 member Vermont-NEA. All four of the EEA member organizations staunchly oppose parents being allowed to send their children to independent schools at public expense.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $18,914,000 from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address emerging contaminants, like Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in drinking water in Vermont. This investment, which is allocated to states and territories, will be made available to communities as grants through EPA’s Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (EC-SDC) Grant Program and will promote access to safe and clean water in small, rural, and disadvantaged communities while supporting local economies.

VermontBiz and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced today the top 57 Best Places to Work in Vermont 2023. The awards program was created in 2006 and is presented in partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management, Vermont State Council, (VTSHRM) and the Vermont Department of Commerce and Community Development and Workforce Research Group. The Best Places to Work in Vermont list is broken down into three categories, Small Businesses (15-99 employees), Medium Businesses (100-249 employees) and Large Businesses (250+ employees). This statewide survey and awards program was designed to identify, recognize, and honor the best places of employment in Vermont, benefiting the state's economy, its workforce, and businesses.