Current News

Governor Jim Douglas celebrated the State’s ranking as one of the ten best government portals and websites in the nation by e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government. This is the second year in a row that the Vermont Information Consortium (VIC), the State’s web portal vendor, has received this recognition. The Digital Government Achievement Awards (DGAA) go to outstanding websites and web portals at the state, county and city levels.
‘In the coming years, it is important that we continue improving how state government interacts with Vermonters and visitors over the web. Through Challenges for Change and other efforts across state government we are looking to increase web utilization to both save taxpayer money and deliver services more effectively.’

Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced Tuesday that Vermont has been awarded more than $1.47 million in federal grants to help victims of crime. The grants come from the Crime Victims Fund, the primary source of federal financial aid for crime victims, and are administered through the US Department of Justice.
“The need for victim assistance and compensation has grown over the years, and the Crime Victims Fund has been a mainstay for crime victims in states like Vermont,” said Leahy. “Programs like those supported by the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services help survivors piece their lives back together. The vital funding Vermont has received from the Crime Victims Fund will help to ensure continued support for these efforts.”

Tech Vault Inc in South Burlington has expanded its reliable, secure and energy-efficient data center. Tech Vault, a commercial data center in Vermont, is designed to provide reliable, secure data hosting and disaster recovery services for all-sized companies in an energy-efficient and sustainable environment.
Typically, data centers use significant amounts of energy to operate ‘ and to cool the massive computer servers that are needed to process the data. Working with Leading Edge Design Group (Enfield, NH) and Efficiency Vermont, Tech Vault created a secure, reliable and energy-efficient environment ‘ an attractive combination for companies with data hosting or disaster recovery computing needs who also want to reduce their carbon footprint.

The US Senate Tuesday narrowly broke a months-long Republican filibuster by voting 61-37 to advance a small business jobs bill that will boost commercial lending and provide tax relief to small businesses in Vermont and nationwide.
US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who voted in favor of the bill, expects the Senate to give final approval to the bill on Thursday.
The Small Business Job Creation Act modernizes the application process for US Small Business Administration (SBA) lending programs; it targets tax relief to America’s 27 million small businesses; and it creates a $30 billion lending fund for healthy Main Street banks to boost capital access to small firms needing an injection of funds to grow their businesses and hire new workers.

The October issue of Cooking Light (www.CookingLight.com) features the brand's first-ever Taste Test Awards ‘ "The Tasties." The editors tested 200 food products and came up with the best-tasting winners in 32 categories. Twenty-six of the categories feature grocery store products while six showcase artisanal standouts. The issue hits newsstands September 17th. Vermont's Cellars at Jasper Hill Cabot Clothbound Cheddar won in the artisanal cheese category.

The 5th annual Kelly Brush Century Ride drew 675 riders and raised $275,000 for spinal cord injury prevention and research on Saturday.
The ride, which began and ended at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, included 23 participants using hand cycles. The day was postcard perfect with clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70s.
“We are absolutely thrilled to see such strong support for the foundation and our mission,” said Charlie Brush, Kelly Brush Foundation president. “Our thanks goes to each and every rider whose participation helps the Kelly Brush Foundation make a positive difference in the lives of those with SCI and raises the bar for ski racing safety.”
The 100-mile ride raises money for improving ski racing safety, enhancing the quality of life for those with SCI through adaptive sports equipment grants, advancing scientific research on SCI and supporting the U.S. Adaptive Ski Team.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR) announced today that it has executed a Share Purchase Agreement pursuant to which GMCR will acquire all the outstanding shares of LJVH Holdings, Inc. (’Van Houtte’), from an affiliate of Littlejohn & Co, LLC, a private equity firm headquartered in Greenwich, CT, for a cash purchase price of CAD$915 million or USD$890 million based on the exchange rate as of September 13, 2010, subject to adjustment. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including certain regulatory approvals, and is expected to close by the end of calendar year 2010.

The Dartmouth-Hitchcock Boards of Trustees have approved a Fiscal Year 2011 budget, intended to close a projected $50 million budget gap, which includes reducing 4 percent of the workforce and cutting its health insurance share, while maintaining the organization’s goals of high-quality, high-value, patient-centered healthcare.

At its regular quarterly meeting Sept. 2-3, the Trustees also reaffirmed Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s commitment to several major projects, including the ‘eD-H’ electronic health records project and the ongoing development of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, an integrated health system that will coordinate resources, expand access to the specialized services and research available at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and enhance the quality of care in communities throughout New Hampshire and eastern Vermont.

Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier has decided that it is not in The Coop’s best interest to accept the offer from Pomerleau Realty to lease the RJ’s Friendly Market space in downtown Waterbury.
‘Based on our market study and financial analysis, it was determined that it is not financially viable for The Coop to operate in that particular storefront’, explains Coop General Manager Kari Bradley. ‘Overhead costs were a particular challenge, as was its large retail area.’

The US Department of Energy awarded $620,000 to Northern Power Systems of Barre, Vt., to help boost the speed and scale of midsize wind turbine technology, Vermont’s congressional delegation announced today.
Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said the grant will accelerate the development of wind turbines manufactured in the United States.
The delegation had urged U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu to support the proposal that they said is projected to create additional jobs at Northern Power and its suppliers and ‘has the potential to meet a critical need in America’s growing green economy.’
‘Northern Power Systems greatly appreciates the support of our congressional delegation,’ said Jim Stover, vice president of product management and engineering for the Barre-based company. ‘Selection by DOE validates our world-class technology position in permanent magnet direct drive turbine development.’

Vermont students posted a strong showing on the 2010 College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exams and Scholastic Assessment Tests (SAT), as well as the 2010 ACT exams, ranking fifth in the nation, the Department of Education announced today.
The AP program offers high school students college-level courses in a variety of subject areas. In all, 3,677 Vermont students participated in the AP program (up 5.2 percent from 2009) and took 6,057 AP exams (up 5.3 percent from last year). According to the College Board, Vermont continues to increase the number of students taking AP courses even as student enrollment is declining overall.
AP exams are scored on a scale of one (lowest score) to five (highest score). Sixty-two percent of Vermont exams were scored at three or higher. A score of three or above is considered demonstrating college-level mastery of the content.

Organizers of Rutland’s annual Gift-of-Life Marathon congratulated the city of Boston today for beating its New England-record for a one-day blood drive ‘ and vowed to regain the record at the eighth annual event in December.
Boston, which held the record of 772 until Rutland collected 856 in 2008 and 1,024 in 2009, collected 1,177 pints Saturday at Fenway Park. Boston’s annual 9/11 blood drive is held to honor victims of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
‘Blood supplies have been low, and this will give us an enormous challenge as we plan the 2010 Gift-of-Life Marathon,’ said CVPS spokesman Steve Costello, one of the organizers of the annual Rutland event. ‘Game on! We won’t set our official goal until early November, but we already have our sights set on reclaiming the New England record.’