Current News

The Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce announced the coveted Best Taste and Best Display Awards presented at the 30th Annual RRCC Winter In August Celebration sponsored by Rutland Herald, which was held on August 9, 2011 at the Diamond Run Mall. Best Taste Award was presented to South Station Restaurant and Best Taste Runner Up award went to American Legion Post 31; the Best Display Award was presented to Killington Grand Resort Hotel and Best Display Runner Up was presented to South Station Restaurant.
Nearly 400 people including Congressman Peter Welch, Governor Peter Shumlin and Lt. Governor Phil Scott to help recognize the positive economic impact that the ski industry has on the Rutland region and Vermont. Twenty area restaurants and businesses provided delicious food for attendees to enjoy while the businesses marketed their establishments.

The Brattleboro Retreat has entered a relationship with Black River Produce, a Vermont-based distributor of local produce, through which the hospital’s food service vendor, Sodexo, is able to purchase its produce and cheese provisions with first priority given to Vermont-sourced goods. The move comes in response to internal surveys and staff suggestions strongly in favor of supporting local, sustainable agriculture.
‘We’re a rural community in a green state,’ explained Vareen O’Keefe-Domaleski, MSN, Ed.D., senior vice president for Patient Care. ‘The Brattleboro Retreat wants to support our local farmers and also provide our patients, staff and guests with the very best in healthy, fresh, high-quality produce.’

In a court document filed today, Casella Waste Systems, Inc., agreed to pay $1 million to resolve a multi-year investigation of the company’s violations of a 2002 settlement with the Attorney General. Casella issued over 2,400 contracts for residential and commercial waste hauling services that violated the 2002 agreement.
‘When a business makes a promise to correct certain behavior, we hold them to that promise,’ said Attorney General Sorrell. ‘Consumers and businesses alike expect that our consumer protection and antitrust settlements will be vigorously enforced ‘ and they are.’

J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Central Vermont Public Service second for overall customer satisfaction among electric utilities in New England and New York. CVPS ranked third in the East Region for customer satisfaction among midsized utilities for the second straight year ‘ and sixth in the country for customer service.
The company, one of the smallest investor-owned utilities in the country, ranked second in its segment for customer service and corporate citizenship, third for communications, power quality and reliability.
The study showed:
â ¢ CVPS customer service ranks sixth in the country out of 124 utility brands.
â ¢ Strong awareness of CVPS’s environmental efforts, energy efficiency programs, donations and employee involvement in community activities.
â ¢ Excellent customer satisfaction with outage restoration estimate accuracy and outage information.

The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) announced today a $1,134,000 grant award from The Corporation for National and Community Service. The funding will allow VHCB to sponsor nearly 100 AmeriCorps members over three years to serve at more than 20 non-profit organizations throughout Vermont, addressing community needs in the areas of housing and homelessness, energy savings, and environmental protection.
Governor Peter Shumlin said, ‘In 2010 the VHCB AmeriCorps Program was honored as one of the most innovative AmeriCorps programs in the United States. This grant renewal funding reaffirms the value of this important program to our communities. I congratulate the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board for receiving this grant and thank all those who have answered the call to service by joining AmeriCorps.’

On August 3, 2011 the Best Western Windjammer Inn and Conference Center in South Burlington, Vermont earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ENERGY STAR certification, which signifies that the building performs in the top 25% of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.
‘Earning the EPA ENERGY STAR certification displays the Best Western Windjammer Inn’s commitment to lowering energy usage and their overall carbon footprint, said Alan Hebert, Planning and Development Manager for Restaurants, Lodging and Ski Areas at Efficiency Vermont. ‘The hotel has proven that it is a leader within Vermont’s tourism industry by being the first hotel in Vermont to earn this designation.’

There were 625 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, an increase of 43 from the week before. Altogether 7,090 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 66 from a week ago and 2,085 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 1,596 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 5 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 760 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 7 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
Vermont's unemployment rate increased one-tenth in June to 5.5 percent. See story HERE.

In a ceremony earlier today, Governor Peter Shumlin offered praise for the Vermont & the New Hampshire Valley American Red Cross on two fronts. First, as a sense of normalcy has returned in the wake of several disasters, the governor took the opportunity to commend the hard work and service provided by the Red Cross during April’s Brooks House fire in Brattleboro and the spring flooding that occurred across the state. He took particular note of the role of Red Cross volunteers in carrying out the organization’s humanitarian mission.

Seventy-five years ago, tire manufacturing pioneer Nokian Tyres, Inc invented the Hakkapeliitta, the world’s first tire designed specifically for passenger cars to handle the snow and ice of winter roads. On Saturday, the company will mark this milestone in Vermont with an all-day picnic that also honors employee contributions to the company’s continuous spirit of innovation.
The 75th Anniversary celebration will be held Saturday, August 13 at the Nokian Tyres North American Headquarters, 1945 Main Street in Colchester, VT, from 11 amuntil 6 pm
Over 150 employees and their families from Vermont and across the US and Canada will enjoy music, games, kids’ play structures, and a huge BBQ buffet.
Nokian Tyres moved its North American headquarters from Nashville, Tennessee, to Colchester, Vermont, in 2009 to take advantage of the snowier New England road conditions where the company’s innovative winter tires thrive. The facility employs 57 people.

Shawn Calley, Executive Chef of Amuse at the Essex Resort & Spa was named Top Chef of the Champlain Valley at CVAA's benefit to support Meals on Wheels. Calley went head to head against Donnell Collins of Leunig’s Bistro (2010 Top Chef winner) and Matt Birong of 3 Squares Cafe. Calley’s winning appetizer and entrée were a carrot bisque with local balsamic vinegar reduction and rabbit quenelle (Vt. Quality rabbit done in fricassee style, lightly sautéed rabbit liver, kohlrabi julienne slaw, ravioli of greens on a pistachio and reduced local balsamic).
According to Calley ‘It’s really an honor to be voted Top Chef, and I’m very proud of my teammates Master Chef Arnd Sievers and Chef Jean-Luc Matecat for doing such a phenomenal job. I wanted to create something that not only shows my passion for food but also reflects what we’re bringing to the area with Amuse. Burlington has never seen a restaurant like this before; it’s going to be a lot of fun.’

The 2011 Volunteering in America report lists the Burlington area 8th among 75 comparable cities in the area of volunteerism. The Volunteering In America report is a partnership between the Corporation for National and Community Service, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Bureau for Labor Statistics to collect volunteering data annually through the Current Population Survey’s (CPS) Supplement on Volunteering.
The Volunteering in America research, released by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), is part of the most comprehensive national study conducted on volunteerism. Nationally, volunteers served nearly 8.1 billion hours in their communities ‘ valued at nearly $173 billion. The report covers 2007-2010 and shows the Burlington area with a Volunteer Rate of 37.7%, compared to 36.5% nationally, and 42 volunteer hours per resident annually, compared to 34.1 hours nationally.

An effort by Entergy Corporation to cancel its $40 million guarantee of the decommissioning of the Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear power station in Vernon has been stalled by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Entergy notified the NRC that it was cancelling the financial obligation because the NRC had approved the relicensing of the plant. With the relicensing for another 20 years, Entergy maintains that earnings from the plant during that period will cover the cost of decommissioning and therefore the guarantee would be unnecessary.
However, the NRC is saying in a letter sent to Entergy Vermont Yankee that cancellation is "premature" at this time because operation of the plant for another 20 years after March 2012 is not guaranteed, given the uncerainty of ongoing legal action. The NRC says that Entergy may resubmit its request to cancel the guarantee after the issues with the state and in federal court are resolved.