Current News

The Vermont office of the US Small Business Association has released loan volume numbers for December 2011 and for the first quarter of the fiscal year (October 1 to December 31). Volume and value were down from the same period last year. The December 2011 total was 25 loans for $6.7 million (55 for $18.6 last year) and for the quarter were 63 loans for $11.3 million (120 for $30.8 million in 2010).

SBA, MONTPELIER, VERMONT DO #0150

December 1, 2011 --December 31, 2011

LOAN VOLUME BY BANK BY NUMBER OF APPROVALS

#
$$
# 504 loan
$$ 504 loan

Bank of Bennington
2
35,000

Borrego Savings Bank
1
600,000

Citizens National Bank
2
55,000
1

87,000

Mascoma Savings

1

2,654,000

The Vermont Department of Taxes (VDT) inadvertently displayed personal data from a weekly batch of Property Transfer Tax Returns for less than two hours on a vendor portion of its website on January 9th. A computer error began a process that resulted in an extra field added to a routine public report. The social security numbers of 1,332 individuals and the Federal Employee Identification Number of 245 businesses were involved. The property transfer report is posted weekly on a data page ordinarily accessed only by real estate professionals; immediate investigation identified two of the three parties who accessed the page during the time in question, and they have destroyed the information. VDT is working to identify the final party, who will be advised that they inadvertently received confidential taxpayer information that must be destroyed.

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) announces the appointment of five new board members. ‘The staff and current board of VBSR are pleased to welcome five talented and capable people to serve on the VBSR Board of Directors. These new leaders will help VBSR continue to be a vital and positive force for socially responsible business policy and practice in Vermont’, said Andrea Cohen, Executive Director of VBSR. Brian Dunkiel, of Dunkiel Saunders Elliott Raubvogel and Hand, and current VBSR Board Chair said, ‘VBSR has just adopted an updated strategic plan and these new board members will play a critical role in ensuring that the goals are achieved. The 2012 Board is diverse in size, sector, and geographic region. VBSR’s smart business strategies have never been stronger or more relevant to strengthening Vermont’s economy and communities’
The five new board members include: David Blittersdorf, David Epstein, Stephen Morris, Avram Patt and Markey Read.

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.orgOne big ticket item for the state’s 2012 budget adjustment act is $30 million for graduate medical education for funding residencies and fellowships for medical students at the University of Vermont.
UVM will cover the state’s $12.76 million share of the Medicaid match, according to the Department of Vermont Health Access budget adjustment request. Federal funds will cover the rest of the $30 million total.
University of Vermont College of Medicine, courtesy of UVM.
Because of UVM’s relationship with the state, the federal government matches the money as if it came from the state. This is the first time UVM has footed the bill for payments of this type, although it is becoming a common practice in numerous other states.

The Kelly Brush Foundation awarded $100,514 in grants for spinal cord injury prevention at the end of 2011 enriching the lives of those with spinal cord injuries and furthering the foundation’s mission to improve ski racing safety, Kelly Brush Foundation President Charlie Brush announced.
The foundation granted $53,442 in Ski Racing Safety Grants to ski clubs and race teams across the country, including two grants to Vermont organizations. In addition, the Kelly Brush Individual Grant Program awarded $47,072 for adaptive athletic equipment, including a grant to a South Burlington adaptive athlete.
‘Raising the bar for ski racing safety is part of the Kelly Brush Foundation’s core mission. This round of Ski Racing Safety Grants supports clubs and race teams from Maine to Idaho in their efforts to make the safety of their athletes a priority and to change the paradigm for both ski racing and training,’ Brush said.

According to a draft report to the Vermont Legislature provided on January 4, Vermont’s education finance reform Acts 60 and 68 have done what they intended to do by equalizing spending from town to town by factoring out property wealth. The report indicates that some towns that have seen a marked increase in spending have also seen an increase in student performance.
Hearings on the report were held January 9 and the final submission will be presented January 18. The report (AN EVALUATION OF VERMONT’S EDUCATION FINANCE SYSTEM) given to the Vermont Joint Fiscal Office by Lawrence O Picus And Associates LLC of California states the following in its executive summary:
‘The intent of this document is to provide you with our findings and to give Vermont’s education stakeholders the opportunity to review and comment on those findings.

Secretaryof State Jim Condos announced yesterday that seven candidates have filed petitions to be placed on the ballot inVermont’s Presidential Primary. The deadlinie was January 9 at 5 pm. Six candidates filed petitions for the Republican ballot and one candidate for the Democratic ballot.
Barack Obama ofIllinoiswas the lone Democrat filing for the March 6, 2012, Presidential Primary.

The Republicans filing petitions inVermontare:

Newt Gingrich ofVirginia
Jon Huntsman ofUtah
Ron Paul ofTexas
Rick Perry ofTexas
Mitt Romney ofMassachusetts
Rick Santorum ofVirginia

Magic has always had a strong following with local Vermonters as a traditional ski area with some of the best natural terrain in the state. To show its support, Magic continues making skiing and riding as affordable as possible for Vermonters who create such a welcoming community for out-of-state visitors during the long Vermont winters. Besides keeping its normal ticket prices below $60 for everyone, Starting this week, Magic will have special Vermonter Days with reduced pricing on all non-holiday Fridays and Sundays.
Vermonters can ski all-day Fridays at Magic’s normal half-day weekday rate ($30 for adults) and get lower weekday rates ($39 for adults) on all Sundays (non-holidays).

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.org In legislative committees on Natural Resources and Energy this session all the buzz is about two bills that would require mandatory renewable portfolio standards. Until now, Vermont utilities have voluntarily purchased renewable energy; the utilities receive credits verifying that the power is renewable and then they sell most of those renewable energy credits to other utilities out of state.
Under several new bills before the legislature utilities would no longer be allowed to sell as many renewable energy credits to other utilities out of state. Other New England states mandate that utilities to show they have a certain amount of these renewable energy credits. Vermont doesn’t require that utilities retain the credits.
Searsburg wind towers, courtesy GMP

For the 6th year Vermont surpassed the 40 new captives licensed mark with 41 new captive insurance companies in 2011 bringing the total number of licenses to 952, according to data released by the Vermont Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration (BISHCA).
Thirty were single parent captives, with six risk retention groups (RRG), three sponsored, one industrial insured, and one association. 2011’s new captive insurance licensees brings Vermont overall total to 952 with 590 active captive insurance companies.
‘One of the most exciting aspects of 2011 and a perennial key to our success is the high quality of companies that we are privileged to work with,’ said David Provost, Vermont’s Deputy Commissioner of Captive Insurance. ‘We’re also seeing the State’s continued investment in staff helping us continue to provide outstanding customer service. That’s very much a part of what keeps Vermont the Gold Standard.’

Larry Sudbay, President and Chief Executive Officer of SymQuest® Group, the region’s leading provider of network and document technology solutions and services cut the ribbon on their new 2,800 sf Network Operations Center (NOC) today.
The NOC is the control center for SymQuest’s 25 top-level engineers who monitor their clients’ networks to manage and remediate both proactive and reactive service requests. Sudbay spoke about the sheer volume of requests that come in to the company on a daily and yearly basis.
‘Today we commemorate the unification of our employees in the service fulfillment of technology requests from our new and secure headquarters location at Technology Park, South Burlington, Vermont,’ said Sudbay prior to cutting the ribbon. He then went on to detail the support the company provides to their 2500 clients spanning from the Adirondacks of New York to the Seacoast of Maine.

Application due January 20, 2012
Applications are now being accepted for the 2012 Governor's Awards for Environmental Excellence. The annual awards honor the actions taken by Vermonters to conserve and protect natural resources, prevent pollution and promote sustainability.
Applications are encouraged from:

Business, Industry, and Trade or Professional Organizations
Environmental, Community, and Non-Profit Organizations
Individual Citizens
Institutions (such as schools, hospitals, and municipalities)
Teachers and Students
Public Agencies