Current News

BioTek Instruments recently announced the expansion of its world headquarters in Winooski, Vermont, USA. The company added 8,000 square feet; effectively increasing the size of its Service department by 50% and housing a new applications laboratory. Additionally, existing space will be repurposed to manufacturing; providing space for the company’s new product lines introduced in the coming year and beyond.

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin and Speaker Shap Smith today announced that the upcoming legislative session will be focused on job creation and balancing the budget. The legislative leaders emphasized job creation as being critical to the state’s economic recovery. The leaders will hold a jobs forum during the first few weeks of the session to allow all legislators to hear from employers about the challenges and opportunities that they face as they do business in Vermont. The forum will help legislators craft an economic development bill that partners state government with our employers and workforce trainers in order to create better job opportunities for Vermonters.

A majority of school superintendents say they could be participating in more shared services, said State Auditor Tom Salmon, CPA, today in reporting the results of his statewide, voluntary survey of school supervisory unions in Vermont.
“Our survey showed that schools are sharing many kinds of services, from transportation and food service to purchasing, office space, computer specialists, language teachers and special education staff,” Salmon said. “However, more than 55 percent of respondents said they could be doing more sharing of services; about 33 percent said they were at the right level of sharing; and no one reported they were doing too much sharing,” Salmon noted.
Forty-nine of 60 superintendents contacted, or 81.7 percent, responded to the 32-question online survey which was conducted from October 7 through November 6.

The Ticonderoga Ferry is temporarily closed and will remain so through the rest of Thursday, December 17, due to ice forming in Lake Champlain. The ferry plans to restart service Friday morning assuming lake conditions allow. For updates on the Ti ferry, go to http://www.middlebury.net/tiferry/

A series of print and television ads featuring Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant employees will begin running in state-wide media outlets this week. In the ads, VY employees discuss the safety of the nuclear plant, and the need in Vermont for the jobs and the economic benefits that the electricity generated at VY provides the state of Vermont.

The US Department of Agriculture today detailed plans to distribute $290 million to struggling dairy farmers. The assistance is part of a $350 million dairy assistance measure Congress approved at the request of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
The measure that provides $290 million for direct support to dairy farmers will result in a payment of about $8,000 to the typical Vermont farmer. Another $60 million was set aside nationwide to purchase cheese for food banks and nutrition programs.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a senior member of the Senate appropriations committee, and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), cochairman of the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus, helped guide the measure through the congressional appropriations process.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today that it has begun processing payments under the Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment program. Farmers can expect to begin receiving payments over the next few weeks.

North Dakota continues to have the nation's most cost-effective state-owned highway system, according to Reason Foundation's 18th Annual Highway Report. The study finds over half of all state-owned highways across the country are congested and 25 percent of bridges are deficient or functionally obsolete. Vermont fell to number 42 in the ranking.
Since 1984, per-mile total disbursements on state highways have increased by 262 percent. In 2007, U.S. states spent over $109 billion on state-owned highways, a 10 percent increase over 2006. But not everyone is getting their money's worth. Taxpayers in New York, Hawaii, New Jersey, California, Rhode Island and Alaska have the worst-performing highway systems in the nation.

Rep. Peter Welch supported and the House passed legislation late Wednesday that will create jobs and extend critical services to the unemployed. The Jobs for Main Street Act (H.R. 2847) will extend emergency unemployment benefits and COBRA health insurance subsidies through June 2010, avoiding a year-end cut-off to safety net programs created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It will invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects, public safety and education jobs, and small business loan programs.
“Tonight we provided critical support to millions of unemployed Americans, while creating jobs and continuing to rebuild our economy,” Welch said. “This investment in our nation’s infrastructure, public services and small businesses continues our commitment to job creation and economic restoration.”
In addition to extending emergency unemployment compensation and COBRA subsidies through June, H.R. 2847:

James "Buddy" Edgerton was recently interviewed on NPR’s popular feature, “Dick Gordon’s The Story” about his new bestselling memoir, The Unknown Rockwell: A Portrait Of Two American Families, co-authored by acclaimed author, columnist, radio host, and public speaker Nan O’Brien. The segment will air today as the lead story in the hour-long program.
To see where and when the program will air in your listening area, please click here: http://thestory.org/Stations. Also, audio will be available on Thursday morning at: http://thestory.org.

A new blog dedicated to the Vermont snowboarding scene was launched by Vermont Ski Areas Association today.
RideVermont.com, a sister site to the popular SkiVermont.com, will report on the Green Mountain State's snowboarding events, news and weather and include interviews with insiders, resort reps and visitors.
"If it's happening in Vermont, and it's happening on a snowboard... RideVermont.com will probably be there reporting on it. No guarantees, though -- snowboarders are busy actually riding," joked the site's curator and writer, Luke Q. Stafford.
Stafford will be updating the site with riding tips, "underground" insights, resort reviews, terrain park photos and videos, powder reports and more.
Source: VSSA. MONTPELIER, Vt. (December 16, 2009) -

The Vermont Arts Endowment Fund and the Concert Artists Fund, two component funds of the Vermont Community Foundation, announced that together they have awarded a total of $99,381 to 16 organizations and individuals across the state. “The arts are an integral part of our economy and our culture. We are honored to support artists ranging from Mira Niagolova to Bob DeCormier’s Counterpoint Chorus,” said Peter Espenshade of the Foundation.
The Vermont Arts Endowment Fund awarded grants totaling $46,305 to support the creation and production of new work by Vermont artists and arts organizations, and provide technical assistance for arts organizations. The Concert Artists Fund awarded $53,076 to support performances of western classical music in Chittenden County. These funds focus support on the exponential impact of arts funding: where one grant can bring opportunities to dozens of community members and artists.
The grants were awarded to:

Related Company: Burlington Telecom Department of City of BurlingtonFinishing just minutes before midnight, Burlington city councilors voted on Monday, December 14, to reject a proposal by Mayor Bob Kiss to finance Burlington Telecom. The vote was held following months of discussion among city officials after it was revealed that the company owed millions in debt to the city, a violation of conditions in its state-granted operating license. The council's decision to seek financing proposals from several companies effectively shut down a request by Mayor Kiss and Chief Administration Officer Jonathan Leopold to allow further negotiations with the investment firm Piper Jaffray for a $61.6 million loan. Leopold said that Piper Jaffray would not likely continue with a financial proposal now that the council would be accepting proposals from other companies.