Current News

Plasan, a global leader in the field of combat-proven survivability and armor solutions for vehicles, airborne platforms and personal protection, has received another US Military contract worth $170 million to the Bennington company. Plasan makes plating for armored vehicles. The vehicles themselves are made by Oshkosh Defense in Wisconsin. Plasan is seeking to expand its site in Bennington by 4,500 square feet to accommodate the work. Employment at the site is up to 220 and could grow further.
The latest MRAP-ATV contract is worth $640 for 1,460 vehicles and brings the total Oshkosh deal to $4.74 billion, which includes spare parts and support. The 8,079 all-terrain vehicles are mine-resistant and are intended to support the military effort in Afghanistan. Last month, Plasan announced it had delivered its 5,000th armored kit, meeting all delivery deadlines. Plasan is a subcontractor for Oshkosh. Oshkosh received the new contract in late February.

Goodrich Delivers 2,000th Helicopter Health and Usage Management System (HUMS)
Diagnostic health management system saves time, money for military, commercial helicopters
Goodrich Corporation s (NYSE:GR) Sensors and Integrated Systems business in Vergennes, Vt. marked the delivery of its 2,000th helicopter health and usage management system (HUMS) in a ceremony March 8, 2010 attended by employees and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Leahy has supported the company in winning more than $100 million in contracts to develop and deploy the HUMS systems for a number of helicopter platforms for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps.
I am incredibly proud to mark this day with the men and women of Goodrich, said Leahy. 2,000 HUMS units are a win for Vermont, the Department of Defense, and our men and women in uniform. These life-saving, money-saving devices keep our helicopters flying safely and have been at the heart of this region s economy.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will chair a field hearing of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, March 22, in Barre, Vermont. The hearing will examine the effective efforts of Barre and surrounding communities in fighting drug-related crime. Leahy has invited the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, R. Gil Kerlikowske the nation s drug czar to testify at the hearing. Kerlikowske is the former police chief in Seattle, and has almost 40 years of law enforcement experience. Judiciary Committee Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a former prosecutor, will also attend.

The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) is inviting eligible and qualified borrowers to apply for an allocation of Vermont s $135 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bond (RZFB) tax-exempt bond issuance capacity. The next round of applications is due at VEDA s offices on April 15, 2010.
This special tax-exempt bond financing is only available through the end of 2010, said VEDA Chief Executive Officer Jo Bradley. Financing a project with tax-exempt bonds enables borrowers to make needed investments at the lowest possible cost, and so the Authority is eager to commit all of the funding Vermont has been allocated. Thus far, VEDA has committed approximately $30 million of Vermont s special tax-exempt bonding capacity.

Vermont s two largest utilities today signed a memorandum of understanding with provincial utility Hydro-Québec that sets the stage for a new power supply contract for Vermont customers. The 225-megawatt deal is comparable the current Hydro-Quebec contract and the initial cost will have little if any inflation, according to a utility source.

A study by the Brookings Institution has found that Vermont received federal funds distributed based on census data at a rate of double the national average, according to data from fiscal 2008. The study found that Vermont received close to $1.79 billion in funds, or $2,873.67 per capita. Nationally, the average is $1,469 per capita. Vermont was second only to Washington, DC in terms of per-capita money awarded. The largest portion of the state s census-related funding, 67.5 percent, was put towards health care, followed by 10.6 percent allotted to transportation. The institution s data suggests that states with a higher participation in the census reap more financial reward from the federal government.
(Source : The Burlington Free Press)

The 2010 Census is here! To conduct this massive undertaking, the U.S. Census Bureau must hire for a variety of positions, and at a time of economic uncertainty, there are still plenty of jobs available. Currently, the Burlington Local Census Office serves residents in the 14 counties of: Addison, Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grande Isle, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans, Rutland, Washington, Windham and Windsor. Burlington has 2010 Census positions, starting at $13.50/hour, available for immediate applications.
2010 Census job applicants must be at least 18 years old, have a valid Social Security number, be able to pass a background check and take a 30-minute, multiple-choice basic employment test that measures knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform a variety of census jobs. In most cases, workers will also be required to possess a valid driver's license and have use of a vehicle.

Weekly unemployment claims declined dramatically last week after increasing the previous two weeks. For the week of March 6, 2010, there were 897 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance, a decrease of 498 from the week before. Altogether 15,463 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 54 from a week ago and 2,814 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 4,647 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 96 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 3,389 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 32 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc

A new federal regulation from the U.S. Department of Education required states to identify persistently low-achieving schools in order to receive federal funding as part of the Statewide Fiscal Stabilization Fund allocations under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Vermont s long standing track record of providing a high quality education for our young people did not exempt us from the latest requirement from the U.S. Department of Education (USED) to identify our 10 persistently low-achieving schools, said Rae Ann Knopf, Deputy Commissioner at the Vermont Department of Education. Nor should it prevent us from providing those and other schools with much needed resources and supports to reach our most disadvantaged kids.

The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2010 was 6.7 percent, unchanged from the revised December rate and up 0.5 point from a year ago.
After our annual benchmark revision process, Vermont s unemployment rate remained unchanged and has been on the decline since May of 2009, said Patricia Moulton Powden, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor. With the exception of last month, seasonally adjusted jobs have been on a very slow, but positive growth pattern since September, 2009.
Seasonal Job Growth

Governor Jim Douglas today strongly criticized the Environmental Protection Agency s (EPA) decision to reconsider its approval of the Lake Champlain clean up plan known as the Lake Champlain Total Maximum daily Load (TMDL). In papers filed in federal court yesterday, the EPA stated its intent to reconsider the approval given by EPA Region I in 2002.
Vermont s efforts to clean-up Lake Champlain are a model for how federal, state and local officials and organizations can partner to achieve a cleaner environment, said Governor Douglas. EPA s decision to reverse course is an affront to Vermont taxpayers, legislators, our Congressional Delegation and all those who have worked so hard to implement our TMDL.

Island Pond residents voted on Town Meeting Day to sell the John Boylan state airport in order to allow the opening of a log yard and wood-pellet manufacturing plant. The nonbinding vote passed 326-74.
Fran Azur of Newport plans to repurpose the defunct Ethan Allen furniture plant as a wood-pellet factory, a move which will create about 34 plant jobs plus dozens of additional logging and trucking jobs. Before the vote, Azur had stated that if he was unable to purchase the nearby airport property to use as a log yard for the new plant, he would abandon the plan and instead move the project to a site in New Hampshire.