Current News

The Community College of Vermont has been selected to receive grant funds from the US Department of Health and Human Services to educate information technology professionals in healthcare. CCV will receive a $580,471 grant and become a member of the Community College Consortia to Educate Health Information Technology Professionals in Health Care, established by a $16 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to help US health care providers nationwide invest in electronic health records systems.

Peter Raymond, a fixture in Vermont's captive insurance industry for 22 years, has announced his plans to leave his state regulatory position and take a job outside of the captive insurance sector.
Raymond, the Director of Captive Insurance for the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities & Health Care Administration (BISHCA), will be replaced by Sandy Bigglestone, a 13-year veteran with the Captive Insurance Division.
"On behalf of the people of Vermont I want to thank Peter for his service to the state, and wish him well," said Governor Jim Douglas. "Peter has been an important part of our success in the captive industry, and leaves the division well-positioned to continue that tradition."

This month, 478 Vermont National Guardsmen will receive a free pair of Darn Tough Vermont socks thanks to overwhelming community support for a promotional program created by Darn Tough Vermont and Lenny’s Shoes & Apparel.
In May, Darn Tough Vermont and Lenny’s Shoes & Apparel teamed up to raise socks for the Vermont National Guard. For every pair sold at Lenny’s stores in Williston, Barre, and Saint Albans, Darn Tough Vermont and Lenny’s donated a pair to the Guard. Their goal was to donate 300 pairs, but customers helped them far surpass that by purchasing well over 400 pairs, while many additional customers not only purchased a pair but also went ahead and donated that pair back into the program, doubling their individual donation.

The 2010 annual rankings of the Top 100 Tennis Resorts and Camps have been published at www.tennisresortsonline.com. Results are based on evaluations submitted by tennis vacationers over the past year.
Earning gold medal honors and placing third of all international tennis resorts is Topnotch Resort & Spa in Stowe, Vermont. Topnotch also placed seventh overall for best international tennis camps. As stated at Tennis Resorts Online in a feature length description of Topnotch Resort which included accolades for recent renovations,

Dealer.com (www.dealer.com) today named Rick Gibbs as its new president. Gibbs co-founded the company in 1998 and has since held the position of CTO, shaping and directing Dealer.com's technological vision, while spearheading its emergence as the global leader in online marketing solutions for the automotive industry. As President, Gibbs will help guide the company as it significantly increases employee headcount and accelerates product development and delivery volume over the years ahead.
"Rick's appointment sends a strong signal to the industry that we are first and foremost a technology company that empowers auto dealers, dealer groups and OEMs. We see a growing trend of powerful Software as a Service business models being driven by technologists," commented Mark Bonfigli, Dealer.com's CEO, who previously held the title of President as well.

The Vermont Ski Areas Association announced at its annual meeting that Vermont s ski resorts recorded 4,125,082 skier visits for the 2009-10 season. This marked a 1.4 percent increase over the prior season s tally and tracked with the 5-year average.
With below-average snowfall, below-average days of operation and an economy still struggling to pull out of a major recession, the season s numbers are a true testament to the ski industry s resiliency and its importance to Vermont s economy, remarked Parker Riehle, President of the Vermont Ski Areas Association.
The 2009-10 season was most notably marked by a late start and an early finish, with few major snowstorms in between. Still, Vermont ski areas saw strong weekend business and solid holiday bookings that brought skier visits ahead of last year, while other Northeastern states saw an overall 2.8% decline as reported by the National Ski Areas Association.

For the week of June 5, 2010, there were 662 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance, a decrease of 177 from the week before. Altogether 10,365 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 533 from a week ago and 4,574 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 3,471 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 115 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 2,206 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is a decrease of 60 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

The federal government cancelled its controversial plan to take a portion of the Rainville family dairy farm to renovate a seventy year old US-Cananda border station.
Senator Leahy announced last Thursday that Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano had decided to close the station rather than go through with the renovation. The Morses Line port entry in Franklin gets approximately 2.5 vehicles an hour. The US Customs and Border Protection sought to seize 2.2 acres from the Rainville family dairy farm, which is adjacent to the station.
Initially the Customs Officials requested 10 acres of the farm land, then reduced it to 4.9 acres. Officials warned the family via a letter that if they did not agree to sell the land for $39,000, it would be seized through eminent domain. They then reduced the requirement to 2.2 acres.
The loss of the land could have put Rainville's dairy company out of business, as that land is used as a feed source for the dairy cows.

The University of Vermont Alumni Association honored outstanding graduates at its annual reunion weekend celebration on Saturday, June 5, 2010. UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel presented the Alumni Achievement Award to Jan Blittersdorf, class of 1984.
Jan Blittersdorf serves as president and CEO of NRG Systems in Hinesburg, Vermont, a global leader in wind measurement technology. She joined the company in 1987, when it employed just a handful of people, and established its financial systems, a progressive compensation program, and a unique benefits package. Today the company is a model employer and workplace, having received recognition from the Wall Street Journal, Best Places to Work (five years running), the U.S. Green Building Council and several other organizations.

The Patrick and Marcelle Leahy Center for Rural Students at Lyndon State College will hold a Vermont Education Summit at Lyndon Tuesday, June 18, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm. Registration is free and is limited to 100. The Center was dedicated to Senator and Mrs Leahy at Lyndon s commencement on May 16, in recognition of the Senator s central role in securing the funding to establish the Center. Its mission is to study rural students to gain a better understanding of how and why they make life choices, especially those regarding higher education and work.
Participants will include principals, superintendents, tech center directors, college presidents, the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation, the State Board of Education, deans of education at Vermont colleges and universities, members of the house and senate education committees, and funders. Economic and community development leaders are also encouraged to attend, as well as those from the private sector.

At its annual meeting in Maine on June 8, Secretary Roger Allbee of Vermont was unanimously elected President of the Northeast Association of the State Departments of Agriculture. This Association of Commissioners and Secretaries of Agriculture from the ten Northeastern States (Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and the six New England States) work on issues both regionally and nationally of common interest to the States.
During the meeting the group discussed a number of issues of interest to the states including food safety, environmental stewardship, regional food security, trade policies, buy local initiatives, invasive species and other issues.

US Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced Tuesday that a $24 billion fund to assist states with their Medicaid populations will be included in a jobs bill package now pending action by the full Senate.
The provision backed by Sanders and Leahy would extend for six additional months an enhanced federal funding match to states that was enacted as part of last year s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Vermont estimates that extending this Medicaid relief would bring $62 million in additional Medicaid funds to the state, helping with the health care coverage needs of thousands of lower income Vermonters. The enhanced federal Medicaid match is set to expire at the end of this year unless the extension is approved.