Current News

The US Census Bureau has released 2010 population estimates for the United States. Vermont's population is estimated at 625,741, a 2.8 percent increase from 2000. New Hampshire had the fastest growth in New England at 6.5 percent for an estimated population of 1,316,470. For Vermont's other neighbors, Massachusetts grew 3.1 percent (6,547,629) and New York grew 2.1 percent (19,378,102). This represents Vermont's slowest Census growth period since the state lost population from 1930 to 1940. Vermont's population grew very rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s. The United States as a whole grew 9.7 percent over the last decade, for a current estimated population of 308,745,538.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and coffeemakers, today announced its fiscal 2011 first quarter results for the thirteen weeks ended December 25, 2010.
First Quarter Fiscal 2011 Performance Highlights1
* Net sales up 67% over Q1’10
* GAAP EPS of $0.02; Non-GAAP EPS of $0.18
* GAAP operating income increases 21% over Q1’10; Non-GAAP operating income improves 67% over the year ago quarter.
* GAAP net income declined 78% over Q1’10; Non-GAAP net income up 73% over Q1’10
First Quarter Fiscal 2011 Results1

Middlebury Interactive Languages (MIL), an academic leader in world language instruction, announced today the early open enrollment period’now through Feb. 25’for its prestigious Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy (MMLA) summer program.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20101119/LA05092LOGO)
MMLA, based on the Middlebury College Language Schools' nearly 100 years of experience in language immersion methodology, is an intensive four-week, residency summer language program for college-bound students in grades 8-12, available at college campuses across the country. Students who register prior to Feb. 25’using application code MMLA2011’will receive $500 off admission.

Capacitor Design Network, a full service graphic design company, whose principal Josh Brown is located in Hinesburg, Vermont, recently designed a new website for Los Angeles based Houndstooth Radio. The URL is http://www.houndstoothradio.com/
The site is run by Kurt St. Thomas who is an award winning filmmaker, author, and disc jockey. He can currently be heard on the airwaves of 106.7 KROQ in Los Angeles, CA.

There were 879 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, an increase of 42 from the week before, as the data has smoothed since its volatility in January. Altogether 12,678 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 155 from a week ago and 2,283 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 2,195 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 19 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 908 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 22 from 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

Vermont Attorney General William H Sorrell announced Monday that Susanne R Young has been appointed as an Assistant Attorney General. She will serve as the supervising attorney for the staff that provides legal services to the Department of Mental Health.
Young served most recently as Legal Counsel to Governor Douglas and as Deputy State Treasurer while Douglas was state treasurer. She returns to the attorney general’s office where she served for 17 years in a variety of positions, including as Chief of the Criminal Division and Deputy Attorney General.
‘We are extremely fortunate to have an attorney with Susanne’s experience re-join our ranks at the AGO,’ said Sorrell. ‘Her knowledge of state government, her past experience in this office, and her familiarity with the legislative process will serve us well.’
January 31, 2010

Judge William K Sessions has approved Attorney General William Sorrell’s proposed settlement with Health Net, Inc., and Health Net of the Northeast, Inc., regarding the health insurance company’s loss of an unencrypted portable hard drive containing protected health information. The State’s complaint alleged violations of HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), Vermont’s Security Breach Notice Act, and Consumer Fraud Act. The settlement approved by the court on Friday requires the defendants to pay $55,000 to the State, submit to a data-security audit, and file reports with the State regarding the company’s information security programs for the next two years.

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, citing the on-going discovery of tritium leaks at the plant, instructed the Vermont Department of Public Service to appoint a Vermont Yankee Reliability Oversight Committee.
‘I've asked the Department of Public Service to organize a Reliability Oversight Committee to provide, in these coming critical months, additional expertise on oversight of Vermont Yankee issues within the state's jurisdiction,’ Gov. Shumlin said. ‘I am deeply concerned with Vermont Yankee’s lack of transparency about serious problems that continue to be discovered around the plant.’

Women-owned small businesses can begin taking steps to participate in a new federal contracting program on Friday, Feb. 4, the U.S. Small Business Administration announced today. The new Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program will be fully implemented over the next several months, with the first contracts expected to be awarded by the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2011.

As one of the first utility mobile phone apps in the country, Green Mountain Power has made it possible for anyone with an iPhone to check in on the most recent environmental information or read about green business news.
"We're excited to use the latest technology to bring useful information to our customers," said Mary Powell, president and chief executive officer at Green Mountain Power. "We are driven to use technology to improve service, and this offers customers -- and others -- an easy way to follow the latest in green news."
The GMP iPhone app includes a Green Biz section and a Green Life section, which offers suggestions for getting more out of your computer, environmentally friendly cleaning solutions and other practical information for reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Online advertised vacancies rose 438,000 in January to 4,273,000 according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series released today. With the January increase, labor demand has risen 1.44 million since the series low point in April 2009. This increase now offsets approximately 80 percent of the 1.76 million drop in ad volume during the 2-year downturn period from April 2007 through April 2009.
"The very strong seasonal gain to start 2011 is welcome news following seven months of essentially flat U.S. labor demand," said June Shelp, Vice President at The Conference Board. "Last year, after a promising start (up about 350,000 in January 2010), labor demand fizzled, and the last half of 2010 was actually flat with no appreciable gains in job demand. Hopefully the January 2011 increase suggests that employers are seeing a pickup in their businesses and labor demand will continue to improve throughout this year."
REGIONAL AND STATE HIGHLIGHTS

In a ceremony held at Camp Johnson, Gov. Peter Shumlin today presented a check for $70,500 to the Vermont National Guard Charitable Foundation, money raised as part of the Governor’s inaugural celebration that will be used to assist the families of Vermont Guard troops.
‘I am proud to make this donation to help the Vermont Guard men and women who are serving our state and their country, and support their families,’ the Governor said. The funds are used to help Guard families meet the financial challenges they face, particularly during a deployment.
‘This recession has been hard on all Vermont families, but particularly difficult for those who lost one income while the husband or wife was serving overseas,’ Gov. Shumlin said. ‘I hope that in making this donation, these families and our Guard troops understand how important their service and their families are to our state.’
Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power Corp. and Inaugural Chairwoman, agreed.