Current News

Long-time Burlington auto dealer Bill Shearer acquired Lewis Motors in South Burlington effective July 1, 2009, adding three new brands to the Shearer family of dealerships in Vermont. The current location on Shelburne Road will be retained, but each brand will have its own dealership identity. The names will be changed to Shearer Acura, Audi South Burlington and Volkswagen South Burlington.
"Acura, Audi and Volkswagen are flagship brands that have become mainstays in Vermont. The Lewis family has set a solid foundation for their future" said Shearer.
Alex Lewis founded Lewis Motors in 1974 as a Volkswagen dealership. The Audi franchise was added in 1976. Alex's son David joined the firm in 1987 after graduating from Norwich University. The Acura dealership opened in 1995 and David Lewis purchased Lewis Motors from his Dad in 1996.

Douglas administration officials announced three major affordable housing grants on Tuesday that will create or restore housing in Springfield, Johnson, and Bellows Falls. At a ceremony at the Rockingham Canal House in Bellows Falls, Deputy Commissioner of Housing and Community Affairs Tayt Brooks presented a grant for $3.5 million to Stewart Property Management, which will be used to assist in the purchase and rehabilitation of Rockingham Canal House, a 41-unit affordable senior housing property.

Rep. Peter Welch announced $100,000 in federal funding for the St. Albans Police Department at a press conference Tuesday morning in Houghton Park.
The Welch-secured Community Oriented Police (COPS) grant will be used to fight increased drug activity in the region. The funds will help the St. Albans Police Department upgrade and improve communications equipment and make use of Mobile Data Computer Terminals.
Welch was joined at the announcement by Police Chief Gary Taylor and several other members of the Police Department, along with Mayor Marty Manahan and Chad Spooner, who leads a neighborhood watch program in the Houghton Park area.

Governor Douglas will host dignitaries from Canada, France and Britain for the signature celebration of the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain s exploration of the lake that bears his name at the Burlington International Waterfront Festival starting Friday.
The Lake Champlain Quadricentennial is an exciting opportunity to celebrate, learn and deepen our appreciation of Vermont s fascinating history, rich culture and scenic landscape, said Governor Jim Douglas. Vermont is looking forward to hosting leaders and thousands of visitors from around the world for this historic event.

A dairy processing plant in Brattleboro; a food processing center in Hardwick; a slaughterhouse in Westminster; and a Barre facility that recycles furniture and other goods for distribution to needy Vermonters were among more than $3 million in job creation grants announced today. At a ceremony at Recycle North s new facility in a former granite shed in Barre, Governor Jim Douglas announced the award of $3.3 million in Community Development Block Grants for those projects, as well as others.
These grants are a great resource for companies, municipalities and organizations looking to grow and answer their unique challenges and needs, said Governor Douglas. I m pleased to honor each of these recipients today with grants that will help with planning, redevelopment, expansion, handicap accessibility and more. These recipients are very deserving of our support.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Senator Patrick Leahy announced the creation of the Vermont Technology Seed Capital Fund, a $1 million fund designed to help high-tech businesses across the state. Supported by a grant in the federal government's 2009 budget, the fund will make early $50,000 to $250,000 investments in technology firms with high-growth potential in return for later repayments. The fund will be managed the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET), a Burlington-based non-profit that offers office space and business development resources.
Vermont is blessed to have a variety of non-profit loan funds, at least one private venture capital fund and myriad of private investors, said Leahy. But after fours years of VCET operations it has become clear that Vermont needs more early capital that can help businesses through growing pains and create jobs for Vermonters.

Vermont Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee yesterday met with the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at a town hall meeting in Concord, New Hampshire, where he joined other Northeast agriculture commissioners, emphasizing the serious need for assistance for dairy farmers in Vermont and across the nation.
At his first face-to-face meeting with the Obama administration official, Allbee thanked Secretary Vilsack for the leadership he has already provided the dairy industry including moving surplus products into food export and nutrition programs. He also asked for more direct assistance, explaining the dire need for help on behalf of the State s 1,046 dairy farmers.
Secretary Vilsack indicated yesterday that he understands the seriousness of the situation our dairy farmers are facing and that he is continuing to work on additional options for the industry. He also stated the need for USDA to renew its focus on regional food production, said Allbee.

Governor Jim Douglas and New Hampshire Governor John Lynch will be in Beecher Falls tomorrow at the Ethan Allen furniture plant to address employees and offer state support and resources to the roughly 260 employees who were recently informed that they would be let go. At least half of the employees reside in New Hampshire.
I want to thank my good friend Governor Lynch for taking the time to come to Vermont and for his Administration s commitment to work with mine so that our labor officials can deploy every possible resource to the employees of Ethan Allen, said Governor Douglas. We will continue to work together to offer support to this important employer and to the people of this region. This is a very difficult time for our state s economy, especially in the Kingdom, and we must do all we can to be sure that when the economy rebounds we are prepared with the tools and economic support to help Ethan Allen thrive again.

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, in cooperation with USDA and the Vermont Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation, invites you to attend a free educational workshop designed to teach volunteer citizens how to identify the Asian longhorned beetle (ALB). This will help to ensure early detection and better chances of eradication quickly of this destructive non-native forest pest.
The preferred host for the ALB is maple trees making it a real and serious threat to the Vermont landscape and economy. Just last year, ALB was found in Worcester, Mass.
The workshops will include two hours of classroom time followed by one hour in the field to teach volunteer citizens how to identify ALB. Classroom work will include information on the threat to Vermont s forests, the biology of ALB, including how to recognize the larval and adult stages, how to recognize external symptoms of ALB infestation on host trees, and who to contact should they see this pest.

For more than 40 yeas, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce has recognized an outstanding citizen with the prestigious Citizen of the Year award. Nomination materials will be collected through July 31, and a special selection committee will meet soon thereafter to select this year’s recipient.
Nominees are judged on three criteria: This award is presented to a Vermonter who has made major contributions to the progress and betterment of the Green Mountain State; has been distinguished through outstanding service to his or her community and region; and in the judgment of the selection committee, typifies the true spirit of service and self-sacrifice in representing the finest ideals of Vermont citizenship.

The chief executives of Vermont s leading businesses seem cautious over capital expenditure and employment levels for the summer and fall when compared against expected increases in their sales volumes for that same time frame. In general, however, the attitude of the business community appears to have stabilized from the last quarter. The current mood was assessed at the end of June and released today by Vermont Business Roundtable Chair Bill Stritzler and President Lisa Ventriss.

Business leaders in New England are cautiously optimistic about the local and national economies, according to a new survey conducted by the National Association of Corporate Directors New England Chapter (NACD New England). Seventy-eight percent of the boardroom directors and other business leaders surveyed believe that the U.S. economy will recover either significantly or slightly within the next 12 to 24 months. Only five percent believe the economy will worsen, and 16 percent expect it to remain the same.
NACD New England's 2009 Leadership Survey on Economic & Corporate Governance Trends surveyed 145 business leaders who serve on corporate or non-profit boards or hold other leadership positions at New England companies regarding the economy, as well as corporate governance issues including risk management, government oversight and boardroom diversity.