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The 2015 Middlebury College Commencement on Sunday celebrated the conclusion of the undergraduate careers of 552 graduating seniors from 46 states and 32 foreign countries. It was the final Commencement presided over by Ronald D Liebowitz, who is stepping down from the presidency in five weeks’ time.

May 24, 2015, was also memorable for its sunny skies and warm breeze, for a student speech that captured perfectly the day’s rite of passage from the perspective of the graduates, and perhaps most of all for Julia Alvarez’s powerful Commencement Address that extended gratitude to others and probed what it means to be a soulful person.

The celebrated poet and novelist, daughter of the Dominican Republic and Middlebury College (Class of 1971), and beloved member of the faculty, Alvarez paraphrased John Keats when she said, "Life, not college, is the vale of soul-making, and the way to make a soul is by giving yourself to what you love."

The state of Vermont will be moving all of its out-of-state inmates to another private corrections firm in Michigan. The two-year, $30.4 million contract with The GEO Group Inc, will move all 319 inmates from private facilities in Kentucky and Arizona, which should save Vermont about $2,055 per inmate per year. The GEO Group (NYSE: GEO) announced Wednesday that the signing of a contract with the Vermont Department of Corrections for the out-of-state housing of up to 675 inmates at the company-owned North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan. The state, however, is looking to move all inmates eventually back to Vermont.

Leaders from across the nation who are studying how communities source, grow, process, purchase, and contemplate food will soon arrive in the Green Mountain State for the inaugural three-week Vermont Food Systems Summer Study Tour, May 31 – June 20. One of the only study tours of its kind in the world, students will earn transferable credits while accessing a “movable feast” of Vermont food systems education.

by Amy Ash Nixon vtdigger.org All eyes were on the House Education Committee at the start of the 2015 legislative session as it took on the daunting task of trying to reconcile the shrinking number of students in Vermont’s schools with increases in school spending and property tax rates. In 2014, taxpayers voted down three dozen school budgets on Town Meeting Day. The issue permeated the 2014 campaign season, prodding lawmakers to take action.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense (DoD) office, announced BioTek Instruments Inc of Winooski, Vermont as a finalist for the 2015 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The award is the DoD’s highest recognition given to employers for exceptional support of National Guard and Reserve employees. The top 30 employers were selected from a pool of 2,960 nominations submitted earlier this year by National Guard and Reserve service members.

A board including Senior DoD and other officials and representatives of prior recipient organizations will now select up to 15 Freedom Award recipients to be honored at the 20th annual Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award ceremony in late summer.

A Rutland man who has devoted four decades to protecting birds and the environment was presented the GMP-Zetterstrom Environmental Award today. Roy Pilcher, who founded Rutland County Audubon and has served as president and in other lead roles for more than 40 years, was presented with the award during a ceremony at the West Rutland Marsh, an Audubon Important Bird Area, a designation Pilcher was instrumental in obtaining.

The annual award, named for famed osprey advocate Meeri Zetterstrom, comes with $2,500 to support Rutland County Audubon’s ongoing work.

“Roy is an example for all Vermonters to emulate,” said Mary Powell, president and CEO of Green Mountain Power. “He has devoted nearly half his life to creating and improving bird and other wildlife habitat, introduced hundreds of people to birds and nature, and created awareness of and the tools to ensure good stewardship of important ecological sites.”

by Public Assets Institute In addition to pushing up property taxes in many towns, the education reform bill passed in the closing days of the session violates a fundamental principle of fairness in Vermont’s education funding system: towns with the same education spending per pupil have the same homestead tax rates. Before Gov. Peter Shumlin decides to sign the bill into law, he might want to check whether the tax penalties it contains in Section 37 also violate the Vermont Constitution.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc (NYSE: BHLB) announced today the signing of a definitive agreement for the acquisition of privately held Firestone Financial Corp as an operating subsidiary of Berkshire Bank. Based in Needham, Massachusetts, Firestone is a longstanding commercial specialty finance company providing secured installment loan equipment financing for small and medium-sized businesses. Berkshire Hills is the parent company of Berkshire Bank, with offices in southwestern Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims in Vermont shot up last week. There were 814 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont, an increase of 310 from the previous week's total and 113 more than they were a year ago. Generally, claims have been running below last year's totals.

Altogether 5,372 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 171 from a week ago, and 629 fewer than a year ago. The Department processed 0 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), the same as the previous week.

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on Thursday said that President Obama will nominate Burlington attorney Eric Miller to be Vermont’s next United States Attorney. Leahy recommended Miller in February to serve as Vermont’s 37th United States Attorney, managing the US Department of Justice’s US Attorney offices in Burlington and Rutland and overseeing the work of nearly 20 attorneys who represent the United States in criminal and civil investigations and litigation in Vermont.

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ICBA Securities Inc, the broker-dealer subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), announced Thursday that it has received the endorsement of the Vermont Bankers Association Inc. (VBA). VBA is the 38th state banking association to endorse the services of ICBA Securities, which provides fixed-income investment products and services to community banks.

“We are delighted to include the Vermont Bankers Association into the ranks of state and regional partners that have endorsed ICBA Securities,” said Kathy Underwood, ICBA Securities board member and president of Ledyard National Bank in Norwich, Vt. “ICBA Securities offers a diverse portfolio of investment products and has a strong track record of providing the best possible service and products to the nation’s more than 6,000 community banks. We look forward to working with Vermont’s community banks and assisting them with their investment needs.”

A St Johnsbury businessman praised for his honesty and professionalism was honored as the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce’s 44th Citizen of the Year at the organization’s annual meeting on May 21. Wesley Ward, owner of Wes Ward Auto Repair and Westward Equipment Service, was recognized for his extensive volunteer efforts with local and regional civic organizations. Ward, a past president of the Northeast Kingdom Chamber, learned of the award in a surprise video announcement prepared by fellow chamber member and friend, Steve Nichols, from Nichols Communications. The four-minute video featured photos from his life and career with voiceovers from the chamber director and wife Paula Ward, outlining his many area accomplishments.