Current News

In New England, the US Small Business Administration supported 4,543 loans totaling a record $1.4 billion in 2011 in New England. (SBA’s fiscal year ran from October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011). This compares with $1.2 billion in 2010 which represents a 14 percent increase this year over 2010 results.
The SBA guaranteed 3,959 loans through its flagship 7(a) Loan Guaranty Program for a total of $783.5 million. These loans are available to purchase or construct real estate, equipment and inventory, to finance fixtures and leasehold improvements, and for working capital.
SBA’s Certified Development Company/504 Loan Program participants were responsible for $636 million in loans to 584 small businesses to construct, purchase or rehabilitate fixed assets such as land, buildings, and machinery and equipment.

Organizers of the Gift-of-Life Marathon announced the goal for the 2011 event today: to break the national record for a one-day community blood drive of 1,968 pints.
‘It will take a tremendous response from the people of Rutland County, but we are issuing the challenge: Let’s top the nation in blood donation,’ said CVPS spokesman Steve Costello, one of the organizers. ‘The need is huge right now, but the spirit of our local communities has never shined brighter than in the wake of Hurricane Irene.’
Added Terry Jaye from WJJR, which co-sponsors the marathon with CVPS: ‘People told us we could never break the New England record, but we’ve done it three times. Now some say the greater Rutland County community can’t break the national record. It will be hard, and we’ll need people from all walks of life to pull together as they did after the storm, but we’ll never know until we try. We think it is possible.’

Efficiency Vermont is providing compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs and advanced power strips to the Vermont Foodbank, the state’s largest hunger relief organization at an event Thursday at the Barre Aud. Distributed with boxes of food, the energy-saving devices will be delivered directly to clients of the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, a federal program administered by the Vermont Foodbank to Vermonters who are both age and income eligible. Clients pick up their food box each month at the Barre Auditorium.
‘For every CFL and advanced power strip used, Vermonters save money on their energy bills ‘ that’s extra money they then can use to buy other essentials they need,’ said John Sayles, CEO of the Vermont Foodbank.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc, (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and coffeemakers, today outlined its plans for continued growth in Vermont. A major new building in Essex is one part of a local expansion that includes facilities in its home base of Waterbury, in South Burlington and in Williston. GMCR has used a strategy of both new construction and taking existing office and warehouse space that is vacant or becoming vacant to expand its local operations. The growth in Vermont will add about 500 employees to an in-state workforce of about 1,500 over the next year and a half. GMCR employs 4,760 system-wide.

Brattleboro Memorial Hospital will join the New England Alliance for Health (NEAH), effective December 1, 2011.
Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital (MHMH) owns and manages NEAH, a limited-liability company under which Dartmouth-Hitchcock shares services with 15 health-care organizations in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts, in purchasing, value improvement, staff development and education, and financial planning and benchmarking.
‘We are pleased that Brattleboro Memorial Hospital has decided to join NEAH,’ says NEAH executive director Stephen J. LeBlanc, who also is executive vice president of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. ‘By working together, health care organizations in our region can share services that result in greater cost savings than can be achieved on their own.’

Governior Peter Shumlin today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved an extension to the deadline for individuals and municipalities to apply for federal disaster assistance. The deadline for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance is now November 15, 2011.
‘This is great news,’ the governor said. ‘Vermonters now have additional time to apply for critical assistance from FEMA. I encourage everyone who thinks they might be eligible to contact their local FEMA office now to submit an application.’
The initial deadline was Oct. 31. With cold weather approaching, it was important for the deadline to be extended to allow more Vermonters ‘ many of whom have been distracted with storm cleanup ‘ to seek federal assistance.

Governor Peter Shumlin today announced the appointment of Beth Robinson to serve on the Vermont Supreme Court. An attorney with nearly two decades of experience practicing law in Vermont, Robinson is also a widely respected civil rights advocate whose work to secure marriage equality rights in Vermont earned wide national recognition. Robinson will replace Justice Denise Johnson, who is retiring.
Robinson practiced law for 18 years at Langrock Sperry & Wool in Middlebury and Burlington, with a civil practice that included workers’ compensation, family law, employment law, negligence and injury cases. She served as co-counsel in the case of Baker versus Vermont, the landmark case that led to Vermont’s passage of a first-in-the-nation civil union law, and led the successful quest for full marriage equality for same-sex couples in Vermont.

The Vermont Community Foundation and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture announced that the Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund has awarded $237,500 to 49 farmers affected by Tropical Storm Irene in the fund’s second grant round. To date, the grant committee has received 159 applications and a total of 101 farmers have received grants in excess of $540,000. The committee is currently reviewing its third round of applications. As of October 13, total contributions received or pledged to the fund exceeded $1.25 million.
‘The storm may be over but the challenges continue for our Vermont farmers,’ said Chuck Ross, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. ‘The Vermont Community Foundation has created unique opportunities for people within and outside Vermont’s borders to contribute to the Vermont Farm Disaster Relief Fund, and as the support continues with compassion and force, our ability to connect resources to farm needs remains strong.’

Draker Labs, the industry's leading provider of turnkey monitoring solutions for commercial and utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, was recently selected by Con Edison Development (CED) to monitor and control more than 40 MWs of grid-interconnected solar projects in the Northeast, including the 20MW Pilesgrove solar power plant. The Pilesgrove facility is the largest PV plant in the northeastern U.S. The Pilesgrove project was put in service in Q3 and is expected to generate enough clean energy to power over 5,000 homes while reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 1,900 tons per year, the equivalent of removing 3,400 cars from the road annually.

The broad Champlain Valley, including the Lake Champlain Islands and the Burlington area, joins the valleys of southern Vermont to continue the colorful display of autumn.
In southeast Vermont along the Connecticut River, the lower elevations range from mid-stage to near peak as the elevation increases, reports Forester Sam Schenski about the Brattleboro to Springfield region.
To the north, around Burlington, Chittenden County Forester Keith Thompson explains: ‘Away from the lake the rains and winds have pulled many of the colorful leaves from the trees down to the forest floors. This is not to say there aren’t still stunning hillsides. Many sheltered valleys and forest pockets are still ablaze with color, but for me, the greatest way to see the fall foliage now is on a hike through the woods. Throughout Chittenden County the forest floor is a carpet of brilliant reds and oranges.’

Secretary of Administration Jeb Spaulding announced today that Vermont’s General Fund revenues continued to be on target with projections, while the Transportation Fund and Education Fund fell short for the month of September. The General Fund saw a drop in the month's vital personal income tax, but was bouyed by a jump in the corporate tax.
General Fund
September is the third month of fiscal year (FY) 2012. General Fund revenues totaled $116.94 million for September 2011, and were +$0.09 million or +0.08% above the $116.85 million consensus revenue forecast for the month, essentially on target. Year to date, General Fund revenues were $293.27 million, and +$6.09 million or +2.12% above the first quarter’s target of $287.18 million for FY 2012.

The Blood in This Town,’ the documentary about Rutland, Vermont’s grassroots efforts to revitalize itself, will make its New York premiere on Friday, October 21, hosted by Pratt Institute's Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development, one of the nation’s leading city planning programs. The evening will feature a screening and revitalization forum bringing together Rutland grassroots leaders, Pratt faculty and New York urban planners for a ‘jam-session’ exchange of community-building ideas and revitalization solutions aimed at exploring new ways forward for America’s ailing towns and cities. This dynamic meeting of ‘small town’ and ‘big city’ know-how takes an innovative approach to building a stronger, more vibrant and sustainable future for all communities across the U.S.