Current News

Montpelier, Vt.- Governor Jim Douglas announced that Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge is making a total of $4,963,000 of fiscal year 2003
grant funds available for local and state homeland security preparedness in
Vermont. The money is for domestic preparedness equipment, training and
planning.
Governor Douglas said that Vermont's Homeland Security Unit (HSU) would work
with all response organizations in the state to ensure that grant funds
reach the largest number of participants in the most effective manner.
"Over the next 30 days we will be working closely with representatives from
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to finalize the details of this
grant," Douglas said. "These additional resources will allow our local
first responders and state public safety units to be more prepared for a
variety of public safety scenarios."

IDX Systems Corporation (NASDAQ:IDXC) reported results today for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2002.
Revenues for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2002 were $122
million compared with $103 million in the fourth quarter of 2001.
Revenues for the twelve-month period ended December 31, 2002
increased more than 17% to $460 million compared with revenues of
$391 million for the same period in 2001. Revenues reflect the adoption
of EITF 01-14, and all periods presented, including 2001, have been
reclassified to reflect this on a consistent basis.
Fourth Quarter Results excluding special items
IDX considers net income excluding special items to be the most relevant benchmark of the Company's core operating performance.
The Company reported fourth quarter 2002 net income of $5.0 million,
or $0.17 per share, excluding a lease abandonment charge, compared

IDX Systems Corp and the State of Vermont to start an apprenticeship program that will train workers for jobs at the medical software company in South Burlington.
Interested people must be willing to train for eight weeks. The training cost nothing and also pays nothing. Once they pass the training course they will have an opportunity for a paid, full-time apprenticeship at IDX Systems Corp. After the one year apprenticeship they have an opportunity for a full-time job that pays in the range of $45,000 to $50,000 a year.
This apprenticeship program is a joint effort between the State of Vermont and Vermont HITEC, a nonprofit organization affiliated with IDX.
Started one year ago, the IDX information technology program is the first in the state. Starting April 15th, this will be the fourth program with 17 students enrolled.

Jager Di Paola Kemp, a Burlington design and marketing firm will aly off eleven employees, thirteen percent of its staff. The company staff will now consist of 73 employees.
The layoffs were in response to less marketing dollars coming from Burton Corp. Burton is a manufacturer of snowboards and accessories with headquarters in Burlington.
Recently Burton Corp cut 42 jobs at the company as part of a restructuring plan that includes cost-cutting measures throughout the company.
Jager Di Paola Kemp has handled the Burton account since the 1980's.

Vermont Department of Employment & Training
Vermont Labor Force Statistics (Seasonally Adjusted)
January 2003 December 2002 January 2002
Total Labor Force 351,600 351,900 345,500
Employment 337,400 338,700 332,600
Unemployment 14,300 13,200 12,900
Rate (%) 4.1 3.7 3.7
Montpelier - The Department of Employment and Training recently announced a
seasonally adjusted state unemployment rate of 4.1 percent for January, an increase of
four tenths of a percentage point from the revised December estimate. The comparable
national rate was 5.7 percent, down three tenths of a point from the prior month.
Unemployment rates for Vermont's 13 labor market areas ranged from 2.2 percent in
Hartford, to 8.4 percent in Newport. Labor market area rates are not seasonally adjusted;

John W Davis, CPA and principal of John Davis & Associates, CPAs, expressed his enthusiasm for the web site created by Earthlogic Media Technologies. "With this attractive, easy-to-use, informative new web site the firm has demonstrated keenly the power of web technology to work for the accounting industry. I like the sections with the latest news and financial calculators, the page of many business resource links, but perhaps most of all, the CPA profiles page allowing our clients to know personally who they are working with."
The John Davis & Associates, CPAs site offers an "Our Community" page featuring profiles and news of its clients to share with others, giving clients another aveunue for exposure in the community. The web site displays informative brochures, newsletters and articles about the firm's services. Visitors can now sign up and receive email announcements on a regular basis keeping them up to date on the latest financial and accounting news.

How Do Responsible Public Companies Handle the Issues of Enron+1?
A panel of Vermont CEOs will explore critical themes in a town-meeting-style open discussion
§ Sarbanes-Oxley Corporate Reform Bill

§ Accountability – accounting and auditing

§ Board of directors and the auditing committee

§ Unresolved issues
Moderator

· Scott Pardee, Alan R. Holmes Professor of Monetary Economics, Middlebury College
Panelists

· Joe Boutin, President and CEO, Merchants Bank

· Edwin Colodny, CEO (Retired), USAIR; Acting CEO,

· Liz Robert ‘78, Chief Bear Officer, Vermont Teddy Bear, Inc.
Co-sponsored by

DigitalBridges2.0 Club of Middlebury College
Student Investment Committee of Middlebury College
Middlebury College D.K. Smith 2003 Spring Forum

Thursday, April 10, 2003

4:30-6:00 p.m.

Room 216, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)

Raising the Bar. Thriving by Continuous Improvement
A One-Day Introduction to Performance Excellence Thursday, April 3rd, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
EXPLORE AND LEARN ABOUT:
Strategic Planning: Learn how to align decisions, improvement efforts and daily operations to attain the strategic results you require.
Leadership: An effective leadership system sets the course and climate for the organization and inspires others to "make it happen." Find out how to transition from reactive managing to energizing, proactive leadership.
Developing the Organization: See examples of how the challenges of current and emerging business trends can be addressed through enhancing agility, innovation and individual and team empowerment. Find out how process and data management also play an important role in the success of high-performance organizations.

Administrator Hector V. Barreto of the U.S. Small Business Administration lifted a 5-month cap on SBA-backed loans and invited participating lenders to resume submitting applications for guaranteed loans up to the $2 million statutory limit.
The decision was made today after President Bush signed recently adopted legislation that allows the agency to implement its revised econometric subsidy model, which more accurately forecasts the actual costs of the 7(a) loan program. The model will be applied retroactively to the beginning of the current fiscal year.
The econometric model, in combination with appropriation levels provided in the FY 2003 budget, will allow the agency to approve more the $9.4 billon 7(a) loans during the current year, plus $1.8 billon in STAR loans that have already been made.
The decision to lift the loan cap is effective immediately

Sonnax has entered into a contract to purchase the Ben & Jerry's
Distribution Warehouse in Bellows Falls, VT.
Closing for the transaction
is scheduled for Oct. 1, 2003. Reconfiguration and renovation will take
approximately two months after the closing, and they expect to be fully
operational in December of 2003.
All finished goods ready for sale will be
located in the new facility. In addition, the Engineering Department and a
new Technical Center for the development of new products will be based in
the new facility. Expansion is expected to add at least seventy-five jobs
over the next five years.

Union Bankshares, Inc (AMEX-UNB) announced the planned merger of its two subsidiary banks, Union Bank, Morrisville, Vermont and Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company, St Johnsbury, Vermont, under the name and banking charter of Union. Union Bankshares acquired Citizens in December of 1999. Since the acquisition, each subsidiary bank has operated semi- autonomously under the bank holding company.
Union, serving north-central Vermont and Citizens, serving northeastern Vermont are community banks with combined assets of $343 million as of December 31, 2002. Both banks provide commercial, residential and consumer loans, as well as a wide array of deposit products and trust services.

The Vermont Small Business Development Center is seeking input on business needs in Vermont. Using a new online survey, SBDC will tally the responses to help develop programs and training to better serve small businesses.
The Vermont Small Business Development Center, with headquarters at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, has regional offices throughout the state providing comprehensive and free business counseling.
“It’s critical that we keep pace with the changing needs of our customers,” said Donald Kelpinski, State Director. “So – we’re asking what businesses need to make them more successful.”
Companies that complete the survey and provide contact information will be entered into a drawing for a gift certificate for FastTrac Planning – a popular eleven-week seminar designed to help you grow your business valued at $495.