Current News

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin stood before a joint assembly of the Vermont Legislature in the House chamber this afternoon and offered his second State of the State address. His speech focused heavily on the effects of Tropical Storm Irene and the rebuilding effort which followed the August 28 storm. "Vermont Strong" became a metaphor for the recovery effort and Shumlin used it frequently, not only in regards to the successful rebuilding of infrastructure after Irene, but for the community effort that will be required to overcome other issues the state and Legislature will face, namely the economic recovery and writing a balanced budget.

There were 2,065 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, as claims spiked over the holidays, from what was a relatively high level. New claims increased 376 from the week before but are still below last year's total.
Altogether 9,866 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 1,116 from a week ago but 3,390 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 1,556 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), one more than a week ago. In addition, there were 634 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is 8 fewer than 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

On the opening day of the 2012 Legislative Session, Senator Vince Illuzzi and Senator Hinda Miller introduced a health care bill that would allow for greater choice for employers in the new health care exchange that will be implemented on January 1, 2014.
Last year, the Vermont Chamber worked with Illuzzi on language to amend the health care reform bill now known as Act 48. The bill introduced this year, S272 is consistent with those amendments.
Betsy Bishop, President of the Vermont Chamber said, ‘The Vermont Chamber supports Senator Illuzzi and Senator Miller’s efforts to create greater choice for employers with a focus on the cost of health care insurance and I look forward to working with them to pass this bill this session.’
Illuzzi said the focus of S272 is to ensure smooth transition and allow for choice.

Just in time for the winter sports season, snow lovers visiting several popular Vermont mountains and ski resorts are expected to experience improved mobile broadband coverage and voice performance as a result of continued investment and innovation by AT&T*. The company announced today that it has completed a key initiative in its ongoing efforts to enhance the wireless capacity and performance of its mobile broadband network throughout the popular ski season towns of Killington, Stowe, Bolton, Ludlow and Wilmington.
The network enhancement adds new layers of frequency, also known as "carriers," to eight cell sites throughout Vermont ski country to more efficiently manage available spectrum and increase mobile broadband capacity. The expansion helps manage ever-growing demand for mobile broadband services by allocating more network resources for AT&T's mobile broadband network.

BioTek Instruments is pleased to announce a service partnership with Serlabo Technologies in France. Under this contract, Serlabo will provide installation, installation/operation/performance qualification (IQ/OQ/PQ), primary training, service, preventative maintenance and service contracts for users of BioTek’s microplate instrumentation.
Serlabo Technologies was privately founded in 2002 and is ISO 9001:2000 certified. In addition to the service agreement with BioTek, Serlabo offers high-quality products and services to private and public sector customers in France.
According to Philippe Vivier, BioTek France Director of Sales, ‘The service agreement with Serlabo in France will ensure that our BioTek customers continue to receive high quality instrument service with reduced downtime, and also benefit from a local, dedicated service technician.’

The e-Vermont Community Broadband Project is working across Vermont to help communities solve local issues with 21st century tools. On February 16 e-Vermont will host Vermont Communities in a Digital Age to highlight some of the projects taking place and bring leaders and learners together to share what they have discovered so far. Topics include mobilizing community resources during emergencies, a hands-on lab about digital tools for business, a showcase of how technology is expanding the classroom for 4-6th graders, and a preview of how town meetings can reach a wider audience. The all-day workshop takes place at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center.

Joe Adler, James Lockridge and Justin Hoy To Host Music Industry Gathering
On Saturday, January 14 ‘The 1st Annual Vermont Musicians Summit’ comes to Higher Ground. The event will bring together musicians and professionals from all facets of the Vermont music industry to take part in an array of music-related activities. From 5:30-7pm artists and industry pros alike are invited to come network, share stories, take part in panels and in all ways bring the Vermont music community closer together.
Afterwards, doors open to the public at 8pm for a concert beginning at 8:30 and featuring performances from Kat Wright & The Indomitable Soul Band, Something With Strings, The Human Canvas, The Wind Woods w/ Brett Hughes, and more to be announced, including an all-star jam session with some very special guests.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Congressman Peter Welch (D) on Wednesday announced that the US Department of Transportation is releasing $134.6 million in emergency funds to help Vermont rebuild and repair roads and bridges destroyed or damaged by Tropical Storm Irene and in last spring’s flooding. The total includes $125,651,814 for costs associated with Irene and $8,975,130 for costs associated with the spring floods.
The funding is part of $1.662 billion in new emergency relief funding approved by Congress, signed into law by President Obama in November and released Wednesday by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. There could be further installments of emergency federal road repair aid as repair work continues.

Shearer Volkswagen announces their move to 1030 Shelburne Rd., South Burlington (formerly Shearer GMC Cadillac Buick) across from the Olive Garden. This new location will handle new and pre-owned sales, all parts and service as well as an onsite full-service body shop for even greater customer service. SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT, December, 2011

State officials will visit Killington and Mendon at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11, 2012, to hold a town-meeting style discussion about how they can assist local communities recover from Tropical Storm Irene. The local visit is part of the statewide Community Recovery Partnership initiative launched by Governor Peter Shumlin, and is designed to not only identify local needs but also connect communities with the support and resources they require for both short- and long-term recovery.

Fitch Ratings today affirmed the 'A-' Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and 'BBB+' senior debt ratings of NLV Financial Corp. (NLVF), and the 'A+' Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings of National Life Insurance Company (Vermont)(NLIC) and Life Insurance Company of the Southwest (LSW) - collectively known as the National Life Group (NLGroup). A complete list of ratings follows at the end of this release. The Rating Outlook for all ratings is revised to Negative from Stable.
The rating affirmation reflects an updated review of NLGroup's credit related investment losses, which continued to decline in 2010 and through the first nine months of 2011. The investment portfolio as a whole was in a net unrealized gain position of approximately $300 million at Sep. 30, 2011.

Online advertised job vacancies in Vermont rose 800 and the nation as a whole increased by 93,800 in December to 3,951,000, according toThe Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine®(HWOL)Data Seriesreleased today. The December increase offset the dips of 76,000 in November and 14,000 in October. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 3.45, indicating there were 3.5 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy in November, the latest monthly data available for unemployment.