Current News

Vermont wine makers will now have an expanded ability to sample and sell their own and other manufacturers' products at their vineyards. Governor Douglas yesterday at Shelburne Vineyards signed into law S27, an act relating to tastings and sale of wines, fortified wines and spirits. With the enactment of S27, wineries, vineyards and distilleries in Vermont will be able to host special events, including weddings, where they can sample and sell their products. The bill also allows producers of wines, fortified wines and spirits to sample and sell their products at farmers markets, as well as sample and sell other products on their premises.
The governor was joined by members of Vermont s Grape & Wine Council, as well as Secretary Roger Allbee of the Agency of Agriculture and Commissioner Mike Hogan of the Department of Liquor Control.

Legislative leaders announced today that they had put together a package of tax increases, budget cuts and some of the state's "rainy day" funds to offset a $100 million General Fund budget deficit.
Speaker Smith and Senate President Pro Tem Shumlin called it a responsible approach to balancing the budget. The proposal is made up of a $26 million revenue package, $71 million worth of reductions and $3.3 million of rainy day funds. By eliminating the capital gains and income tax deductions loophole, the revenue package reduces Vermonters income taxes by lowering the marginal tax rates. The full passage of this package will result in lower incomes taxes for the vast majority of Vermonters and would drop Vermont s top marginal rate from first to fifth nationally.
We have proposed a thoughtful package that reduces Vermonter s income taxes at a time when they need the relief more than ever, said Senator Shumlin.

US Reps. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Ted Poe (R-Texas) joined Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall at Wilderness Battlefield today to speak out against Wal-Mart s plans to build a super store on the historic Virginia site.
If built, the store would stand across the road from the national park commemorating the bloody struggle and within the battlefield s historic footprint.
The Congressmen and Duvall spoke a day before the 145th anniversary of the Battle of the Wilderness, which claimed the lives of 29,000 American soldiers. An estimated 1,234 Vermonters lost their lives during the course of the two-day battle, which began May 5, 1864.

Winooski s downtown has been designated a Vermont Neighborhood under a housing bill passed last year, making it eligible for benefits designed to aid in the development of lower-cost housing.
The designation of the Vermont Neighborhood, approved by the Vermont Downtown Board last week, will be particularly helpful for a proposed transitional housing project for homeless veterans, according to Commerce and Community Development Secretary Kevin Dorn, who chairs the Downtown Board.
The veterans project would have been subject to the state Land Gains Tax, which was created decades ago to discourage land speculation in rural areas, Dorn said. One of the benefits of Vermont Neighborhood designation will be to exempt developments like this one from that tax.

Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) today reported first quarter 2009 as-reported earnings of $235.3 million, or $1.20 per share, compared with $308.7 million, or $1.56 per share, for first quarter 2008. On an operational basis, Entergy's first quarter 2009 earnings were $252.6 million, or $1.29 per share, compared with $308.7 million, or $1.56 per share, in first quarter 2008.

Consolidated Earnings - Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures
First Quarter 2009 vs. 2008
(Per share in U.S. $)
2009 2008 Change
As-Reported Earnings 1.20 1.56 (0.36)
Less Special Items (0.09) - (0.09)
Operational Earnings 1.29 1.56 (0.27)

The US Army Aviation and Missile Command Contracting Center has awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products an order valued at approximately $150 million to produce Hydra-70 rockets, warheads and motors. Deliveries are expected to begin in September 2010. This order was awarded under a five-year contract originally signed in 2005. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD). System engineering and program management will be performed at General Dynamics Burlington Technology Center in Vermont. Final assembly and component sub-assembly will occur at the company s Camden, Ark., facility and will be performed by the site s existing workforce.

The state Senate yesterday passed a Vermont Yankee decommissioning bill that is a significantly watered down version of one that passed the House, but which still requires the current owners of the Vernon nuclear power plant to cover the cost of decommissioning the plant, whenever that might be. The House version requires that Entergy fully fund the decommissioning within 10 years if the plant closes in 2012.
Entergy is seeking to renew the license for another 20 years. Because of the long period of cool-down and actual dismantling of the plant, much of the money Entergy intended to pay for the decommissioning is coming from investments, which were expected to grow substantially over several decades. However, those investments have suffered as the stock market plummeted over the last year; the expected decommissioning costs have risen; and Entergy announced last year that it wanted to spin off some of its older plants, including Vermont Yankee, into a new company.

On May 20 and 21, business leaders from across Vermont, New England and Canada will converge on Northern New England s largest business-to-business trade show, the Vermont Business & Industry EXPO. The 25th annual exposition of business resources and networking opportunities will take place at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in Burlington. The featured guest will be Van Jones, White House Council on Environmental Quality who will be the keynote speaker during lunch on Thursday May 21. The lunch is sponsored by Comcast Business Class.

The Northwestern Medical Center (NMC) Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Wesley W. Oswald has accepted the position of Interim Chief Executive Officer. Oswald is temporarily filling the position vacated by long-time NMC CEO Peter Hofstetter, who has accepted the CEO position at Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, New Mexico.
Oswald has over 42 years experience in hospital administration. Long-time community members may remember Oswald from his 5-year tenure as the Chief Executive Officer at Northwestern Medical Center in the mid 80s. As a retired CEO, Oswald retired from full-time permanent work in 2002, and has spent the past seven years serving in multiple interim positions throughout the country. He will join NMC s Leadership Team on June 1st.

Charlotte, VT April 30, 2009 Former President and CEO of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, Elisabeth Robert, announced her acquisition of a majority interest in Terry Precision Cycling, today s premier women s cycling company. Terry s founder Georgena Terry and Vice President of Marketing Paula Dyba will remain as continuing equity partners in the business.
Robert, who served as CEO of Vermont Teddy Bear Company (VTB) for more than a decade, will also take on the role of CEO at Terry Precision Cycling effective today. Robert intends to move the headquarters of Terry Precision Cycling from its home in Rochester, New York to Vermont within the next year.

Rep. Peter Welch and the state of Vermont will host a day-long conference this Friday designed to help small businesses learn how to contract with the state and federal government.
The Stimulating Green $$ conference, which will take place from 7:30 a.m through 3:30 p.m. at the Burlington Sheraton, will feature government agencies and contractors looking to contract or subcontract with Vermont s small businesses.
The conference will also help Vermont companies learn more about the $700 million the state is expected to receive through the federal economic stimulus package and how best to access it.

The cost of long term care in Vermont is rising at a rate outpacing inflation, putting significant financial pressure on those in or near retirement, according to an annual study by Genworth Financial. At the same time, the current economic downturn has led to a decline in home values and investment returns for many residents of Vermont, creating further financial planning challenges for many in the state.
Nationwide, the annual cost for a private nursing home room is $74,208, or $203 per day, representing an increase of 4 percent annually since 2005. This represents a rate of growth nearly twice that of the median annual inflation rate of 2.3 percent over the same period of time, measured using the Core CPI (which excludes food and fuel) reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Burlington, this cost has risen 9 percent a year since 2005 and across the rest of Vermont the cost has risen 4 percent a year over the same time period.