Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Christopher Petry, RN, a nurse in the Emergency Department at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), was the December recipient of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC). Petry grew up in Manchester, VT, and received his nursing degree as a part of Army training and through Weber State University in Utah. He was stationed at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX, and in Utah before returning to Vermont to work at SVMC in 2015.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported January 18, 2023, that hospitalizations have fallen, as have overall COVID-19 cases. COVID-19 activity had risen to a "Medium" level during the holidays after being in the "Low" range in the late fall, according to the VDH. Hospitalizations fell to 31 last week (they were as low as 30 last fall). Total cases fell to 423. The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Vermont is 884, as of January 17. Of those, 699 have been of Vermonters 70 or older. There have been 3 deaths of Vermonters under 30. With 3 deaths in the last week and 8 so far this month, January is on pace to have the fewest COVID-related fatalities since the summer of 2021.

by Steven Berbeco The Vermont Mayors Coalition recently announced a 2023 legislative agenda that supports the eight communities represented in the coalition, from Vermont’s largest, Burlington, to some of the smallest, Winooski and Vergennes. It’s exciting to see our elected officials coming together over a priority that has been on the minds of many of us: Mental Health. As we emerge from the pandemic, again and again our communities have identified access to effective and appropriate mental health services as essential to all of us.

Vermont Business Magazine For the past 12 years, the organization working to promote St. Johnsbury as a destination, to support its business community, and to develop its cultural vitality has been called the St. Johnsbury Chamber of Commerce. The organization announced last week in a letter to the St. Johnsbury business community that it will be known under a different name going forward. Discover St Johnsbury will become the outward-facing name for an organization that is officially incorporated as St Johnsbury Works! Inc., with the additional trade name St Johnsbury Business Alliance used for internal organizational purposes.

by John McClaughry The bulk of the draft bill spells out the procedures the new Commission must follow to collect the required over-order premiums from the handlers, who of course will add the cost to the price of the milk they sell to retailers that is then marked up to their customers. The over-order price must of course not create an incentive for Vermont’s 583 surviving producers to produce more milk. The Commission is authorized to declare what above-market price the handlers must pay to producers – a hidden tax on milk. The price increase will eventually be charged to consumers, and anybody offering milk for less will be hammered with “administrative penalties.” This is nothing less than a price control takeover of the Vermont dairy industry.

Vermont Business Magazine Average gasoline prices in Vermont are up 10 cents in the last week to $3.51 per gallon today, according to GasBuddy. They're up 14 cents over the last month and are 15 cents higher than they were one year ago. The cheapest price is $3.21/g in Brattleboro and the highest is $3.69/g in Milton, Morrisville, Richford and East Berkshire. The national average price of gasoline has risen 10 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.39/g today.

Administrative Complexity, Staff Turnover, and Poor Recordkeeping Contributed to Millions of Dollars in Mistakes

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets Governor Phil Scott proposed ground-breaking investments in food and farming in his budget address on Friday, January 20th. The Governor’s budget leverages innovative investments and programs to grow Vermont’s food, farm, and forest economy. This budget is thoughtful, deliberate, disciplined, and carefully built to make the most of the historic resources available to us. It’s focused on investing, not just spending, to get the best results and grow revenue, so we can move families and communities ahead. It prioritizes the regions and people who need our help most, to deliver an increasingly healthy and vibrant economy in each of your communities.

Vermont Business Magazine On Saturday, January 21, the Vermont Warden Service responded to a snowmobile crash in Waterbury. Game wardens responded to the scene along with Stowe Rescue, Stowe Mountain Rescue, and the Stowe Police Department. An investigation of the crash determined that Sabrina Dimaiolo, 46, of New Jersey, was operating a snowmobile with a juvenile passenger on a guided tour.

Vermont Business Magazine iSun, Inc (NASDAQ: ISUN), a leading solar energy and clean mobility infrastructure company with 50-years of experience accelerating the adoption of innovative electrical technologies, announced the settlement of the pending litigation initiated by Sass Peress. “When we acquired iSun Energy, LLC in January of 2021, we embraced the innovative change pioneered by Sass Peress throughout his career in solar and e-mobility,” said Jeffrey Peck, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of iSun. “We were able to leverage Sass’s existing industry connections to drive our growth strategy forward. We also knew that the innovation acquired would allow iSun the opportunity to build new relationships in new geographic regions. As a Company, we appreciate the opportunity to have worked collaboratively with Sass and his team throughout 2021 and wish him all the success in his path forward. We are happy to settle all disagreements in an amicable manner as our goals of accelerating the transition to clean energy and fighting climate change were aligned from the beginning.”