Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) is now accepting grant applications for the FY 2023 Mobility and Transportation Innovation (MTI) Grant Program. The program is designed to support innovative strategies and projects that improve mobility and access to services for transit-dependent Vermonters, reduce the use of single-occupancy vehicles, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Foundation is recognizing a gift to the Heart of Winooski’s “Uplifting the Winooski School District BIPOC Educator Workforce Program” from an anonymous fund. This initiative will enable current Winooski School District (WSD) professionals and members of the Winooski community to translate their certification and/or work experiences from their country of origin to the Vermont Teaching Licensure standards so they’re able to teach in Vermont schools. Approximately 51 percent of Winooski Middle and High School students identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), however, only 6 percent of the district’s teachers identify as BIPOC. There are current staff members and community members from WSD students’ countries of origin and US-born People of Color (BIPOC) who do not hold teaching or administrative positions due to educational and financial barriers to licensure.

Vermont Business Magazine Security staff at Vermont’s correctional facilities will soon see a greater work/life balance and enhanced pay and benefits as the result of an agreement reached last week between the Vermont Department of Corrections and the Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) Supervisory and Corrections Bargaining teams. The agreement supports the Department’s comprehensive “Stability and Sustainability Plan” by providing targeted enhancements to support staff through the transition.  The Stability and Sustainability Plan will stabilize facility staffing levels, reduce the need for field staff to cover overtime shifts, increase bonuses, and improve the quality of life for frontline staff. Security staff at facilities will begin the transition from 8-hour to 12-hour shifts on August 28.

Vermont Business Magazine  The Burlington police union contact was ratified Monday night by the City Council during its July 25 special meeting. The contract, which includes 20 percent base pay increase over three years, builds upon the BPD Rebuilding Plan, which was approved last month by City Council as part of the FY 23 budget. The contract was approved by the City Council 10-1. As part of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget process, Mayor Weinberger identified that a strong contract with the BPOA would be a critical step to rebuild the BPD back to the 87-officer authorized cap (there are currently 62 officers on staff). The negotiated contract achieves that goal by offering police officers a 20 percent base pay increase over three years, including a 12 percent increase in the FY 23 (in years two and three the increases mirror the terms of the recently approved AFSCME contract).

Vermont Business Magazine Tess Wiskel, MD, is a Climate and Human Health fellow with the Harvard Center for Climate, Health, and Global Environment; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Emergency Department; and the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. She will be a guest on Medical Matters Weekly at 12 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27. Tess is an emergency physician and a graduate of the Brown University Emergency Medicine Residency Program and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.