Current News

UVM proposal calls for construction of new campus facilities

A report issued by University of Vermont's Campus Task Force II suggests a $100 million dollar expansion of athletic, health and recreation facilities, which would make the renovation the biggest capital project in the univerity's history. The renovations would require considerable private funding, due to the schools constraints on borrowing capacity.

The project will add 350,000 square feet of indoor space to the 400,000 square feet area already in use, and would probably happen in multiple stages over the period of many years. UVM is using the consulting firms Cannon Design and Brailsford & Dunlavey, who they also worked with to construct the $61 million Davis Center project.

CVPS Donates Plug-in Car to UVM for Research on Hybrid Vehicles in Northern Climates
UVM president Daniel Mark Fogel was handed the keys to a new car today. But he wont be taking it for a joy ride.
Instead, he received the plug-in hybrid electric vehiclea modified Toyota Prius donated by Central Vermont Public Serviceon behalf of UVMs Transportation Center. UVM researchers will use the vehicle to explore how a new generation of hybrid cars, which recharge from a standard outlet, perform in the cold, hilly conditions of Vermont.
Bob Young, president of CVPS, presented the vehicle to President Fogel and Transportation Center director Lisa Aultman-Hall as part of CVPSs "plug n go" program, the nations first utility program that allows customers to use plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to reduce driving costs and air pollution by substituting off-peak electricity for gasoline.

FAST COMPANY RANKS THE WORLD'S 50 MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANIES:
EIGHT OF THE 50 ARE BASED IN THE NORTHEAST
(FAIRFIELD, CT, NEW YORK, NY, STRATHAM, NH, ARMONK, NY,
BURLINGTON, MA, BURLINGTON, VT, CORNING, NY)
NEW YORK, February 20, 2008 Fast Company magazine has announced
its "Fast 50" list of the world's most innovative companies. Eight of the 50
firms named to the 2008 list are based in and around the Northeast (Fairfield,
CT, New York, NY, Stratham, NH, Armonk, NY, Burlington, MA, Burlington, VT,
and Corning, NY). The Fast 50 firms in the Northeast that made the list are:
No. 4 GE (Fairfield, CT)
No. 12 News Corp. (New York, NY)
No. 21 Timberland (Stratham, NH)
No. 22 IBM (Armonk, NY)
No. 24 Anomaly (New York, NY)
No. 31 IRobot (Burlington, MA)
No. 35 Burton (Burlington, VT)
No. 38 Coring (Corning, NY)
Expanded profiles of theses companies can be found at

IRS drops plan to change captive insurance tax status
The Coalition for Fairness to Captive Insurers, CICA and VCIA are pleased to report that today (February 20, 2008), the Internal Revenue Service announced that it is withdrawing proposed IRS Regulation §1.1502-13(e) on consolidated returns that would have adversely affected single parent captive insurance companies. Consequently, the public hearing requested by the Coalition on this issue which was scheduled for February 29th has been cancelled.

A WEEKEND OF RECORD BREAKERS FOR OKEMO
LUDLOW, Vt. For the second year running, the Sunday of Presidents' Day Weekend was a record-breaker for Okemo Mountain Resort. Skier and snowboarder visits were up three percent for the day, compared to last years historic milestone, and up more than five percent compared to the previous best day in February 2005.
Skier visits for the two-day period including Sat., Feb. 16 and Sun., Feb. 17 placed the weekend as the second-best two-day period over the past five years and the resort posted record revenues for the weekend. As of Feb. 17, skier visits for the season were 38 percent ahead of last year.

The RightThing Acquires AIRS, First-of-Kind Recruitment Deal
Acquisition Combines Best-in-Class Services with Award-Winning Recruitment Software and Training Solutions

Vermont Public Service Board approves FairPoint-Verizon deal
The Vermont Public Service Board finally approved, February 15, 2008, the massive deal between FairPoint Communications and Verizon to buy the 1.6 million telephone landlines in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. However, the Vermont regulators added another $31.7 million in stipulations to the $2.7 billion deal.

FairPoint's initial reaction to the new stipulations was guarded, in that the North Carolina company was not sure that Verizon would go along with the add-ons.

Verizon would be required to pay $25 million for a performance enhancement plan that would spend up to $12.5 million a year to upgrade service if some milestones were not met. Also, Verizon would have to deposit $6.7 million in an escrow account to fund the removal of dual utility poles around the states.

Lake Champlain Chocolates (LCC), a gourmet Vermont chocolatier and maker of a gourmet line of organic chocolates was selected as "Best Milk Chocolate" in a taste test of more than a dozen varieties of organic chocolates.

In a recent taste test hosted at Martha Stewart's Body + Soul Magazine, organic chocolate bars from more than a dozen different manufacturers were tested in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and "wild" categories. At the completion of the taste test, Lake Champlain Chocolates was chosen at the best milk chocolate "bar none." Amongst the positive reviews, the milk chocolate bar was described as "a buttery treat that's as rich as a slice of chocolate cake."

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Officials from the agencies of Agriculture, Food and Markets and Natural Resources announced today joint funding of $700,000 over the next three years to help draw down a $14 million backlog in federal funding for on-farm projects that will improve water quality and accelerate efforts to address phosphorus pollution in Lake Champlain.

Testifying before the Senate Economic Development Committee, agency officials said that will ensure numerous projects are immediately undertaken this field season - with dozens more ready to be implemented over the next several years.

The spending plan, which will use state capital funds, has the support of Governor Jim Douglas, who said Vermont has an obligation to fund projects to clean Vermont waters.

Statewide
Technology Project Unveils New Website
ConnectVermont Project Includes Fiber optic, Wireless,
Online Information
MONTPELIER
– The project responsible for bringing wireless Internet access to
highway welcome centers; putting tourism information online; and bringing
motorists road condition reports now has its website.
Officials said
the ConnectVermont program’s new website at www.connectvermont.com
would not only help visitors and Vermonters learn more about its many high-tech
services but provide another way to access them.
“This
website really shows how the ConnectVermont project is making a difference in
people’s lives,” said Robert T. White, who is the project’s
director within the Vermont Agency of Transportation. “From vacationers
looking for a cultural event using wireless internet at a welcome center to a

According to a recent study by the Corporation for National and Community Service, volunteering among college students has increased by 20 percent in recent years. A renewed spirit of civic engagement is evident as more students demonstrate their compassion, commitment, and creativity by serving others all across the country, including the Green Mountain State.

On February 11, 2008, the Corporation recognized four Vermont schools for exemplary community service. Norwich University, Castleton State and St. Michael's Colleges and the University of Vermont were named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

MONTPELIER - The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) today announced that it will dip further into its dwindling road salt reserves to loan salt to municipalities for the remainder of the winter, which has been a particularly severe and has strained both state and local salt supplies.

VTrans Secretary Neale Lunderville said all VTrans Maintenance Districts will loan salt to their regional municipalities until the District's supply reaches 25 percent of capacity, which is less than a 48-hour supply. The Districts will curtail loans when this threshold is met, but will again loan salt once supplies can be replenished.

VTrans divides the state into nine Maintenance Districts. Currently, two Districts are unable to loan salt because they have already reached the 25-percent threshold. To date, VTrans has loaned salt to more than 65 municipalities and two state colleges.