Current News

All three Vermont tax categories fell below targets for the month of January, according to Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding. Nearly all the General Fund taxes, including the vital personal income and sales taxes, were down. Fuel tax receipts were also below expectations, thus bringing down the Transportation Fund. Spaulding laid most of the blame on the lack of snow, resulting in fewer tourists and fewer consumption revenues.
January is the seventh month of fiscal year (FY) 2012. General Fund revenues totaled $129.17 million for January 2012, and were -$4.67 million or -3.49 percent below the $133.84 million consensus revenue forecast for the month. Year to date, General Fund revenues were $698.29 million, and -$4.67 million or 0.66 percent short of the target of $702.95 million for FY 2012.

Joined by community leaders and project organizers, Gov. Peter Shumlin today announced the award of $2.2 million in Vermont Community Development Program funding foraffordable housing, economic development, andother local projects in six Vermont towns. Combined with other sources,these projects will leveragea total of $20.5 million in other public and private resources.
The grants awarded today are federally funded, with the money flowing to the state from the Community Development Block Grant Program of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The program is administered by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development with funding decisions recommended by a public board and finalized by Secretary Lawrence Miller.

In another historic breakthrough for the burgeoning organic sector of American agriculture, the United States and the European Union Wednesday announced a pact that will facilitate organic trade between the two regions, the two largest organic producers in the world. Under the agreement, organic products certified in the United States or Europe may be sold as certified organic in either region, beginning June 1. Before, growers and marketers wanting to trade products on both sides of Atlantic had to obtain separate certifications to two standards, subjecting them to a double set of fees and inspections and export paperwork.

The Vermont housing market was the only one in New England to experience a year-over-year decline in both number of transactions, down -2.4 percent, and median price, down -4.3 percent, according to RE/MAX.Vermont's median home price is $180,900, down from $189,000. This still places Vermont third highest in the region, behind only Massachusetts ($260,000) and Connecticut ($232,500).
RE/MAX of New England Executive Vice President Jay Hummer said the number of transactions is encouraging, but there is still a gap between what buyers think their home is worth and what it will actually sell for.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc, (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, today announced the expansion of its line of KeurigSingle Cup Brewers with the addition of the KeurigVuebrewer, a premium new platform designed with the ability to brew stronger, bigger, and hotter. The new Vuebrewer, paired with new Vuepacks, maintains the simplicity and convenience of the existing KeurigK-Cupsystem with added customizable features so consumers have control over the strength, size, and temperature of their beverages.
Vueâ ¢ Platform Benefits

Brew Stronger
: With Custom Brew Technologyâ ¢, the Vueâ ¢ brewer adjusts water pressure, timing, and airflow so consumers can brew to better suit their taste preference.

Unilever and Ben & Jerry’s jointly have announced that they plan to roll-out climate-friendly ice cream freezer cabinets in the United States in 2012. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, along with other iconic Unilever ice cream brands including Breyers, Good Humor, Klondike, Magnum, and Popsicle, will soon be available in cabinets that use at least 10 percent less energy and replace harmful ‘F’ gas coolants with hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants. The new freezers will be identified with ‘Greener Freezer’ stickers in demonstration of Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever’s environmental commitment to help protect the planet.

The Northeast Kingdom Travel and Tourism Association (NEKTTA) has retained the services of PMG Public Relations and Pure Marketing to assist with its marketing and public relations initiatives. This strategic partnership aims to increase visibility of the Northeast Kingdom as a multifaceted travel destination, to strengthen NEKTTA’s extensive network of business partners and to raise awareness among this group about the economic impacts of tourism.

NEKTTA also aims to develop a more cohesive and coordinated effort between all Northeast Kingdom organizations with an interest in tourism, including chambers of commerce.

‘Tourism in this region continues to grow; the Northeast Kingdom has so much to offer visitors,’ said Gloria Bruce, executive director of NEKTTA.

There were 837 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont last week. Claims have fallen and remained flat after a spike around New Year's, where they reached 2,000 claims. By comparison, new claims last summer were running under 500. In this latest report, new claims increased by 4 from the week before and are 19 above last year's total.

TheUS Small Business Administration reminds Private Non-Profit Organizations (PNPs) inVermontthatMarch 15is the deadline to submit Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications. The loans are available from the SBA because of the severe storms and flooding that occurred fromApril 23 through May 9, 2011.
Eligible non-critical PNPs located inAddison,Chittenden,Essex,Franklin,Grand Isle,Lamoille,OrleansandWashingtoncounties inVermontare eligible to apply to the SBA. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers and colleges.

A group of 27 senators called today for ‘significant improvements’ in a bill to modernize the U.S. Postal Service.
In aletterto a Senate panel that oversees the Postal Service, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Patrick Leahy and 25 others suggested specific measures to preserve first-class and Saturday mail delivery, stop wholesale closings of rural post offices and mail processing centers, and spare many of the 220,000 jobs that the Postal Service wants to cut.
‘Everyone understands that the Postal Service is in the midst of a serious financial crisis that must be addressed,’ the senators wrote. ‘But we believe that this financial crisis can be solved in a way that does not substantially slow down the delivery of mail and harm ruralAmerica.’

Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy will chair a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, February 15, focused on the lifesaving Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program, which has helped provide law enforcement officers in Vermont with over 3600 vests since 1999.
Leahy has invited Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling to testify before the panel in Washington, DC. Schirling will testify about the importance of the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program in helping small jurisdictions like those in Vermont purchase vests. Leahy was one of the lead authors of the grant program, which was enacted in 1998. Since then, he has worked to improve and reauthorize the program. In recent reauthorizations, he secured inclusion of a matching requirement to ensure that in smaller jurisdictions, including certain jurisdictions in Vermont, the federal grant will always amount to 50 percent of the purchase cost.

Green Mountain Power (GMP) and the City of Montpelier are excited to announce the opening of a new public electric vehicle (EV) charging station, located behind City Hall. The public will be able to charge their vehicles at the station at no cost for the first year. This is the third public EV charging station that GMP has made available to the people of Vermont.
"We believe that the City of Montpelier is an ideal place for our newest EV station," said Mary Powell, President and CEO of Green Mountain Power. "Providing this infrastructure across Vermont is a critical step toward the increased use of electric vehicles. This project and others like it are essential to our efforts to make alternative energy vehicles -- and the savings they can provide -- more accessible to Vermonters."