Current News

As the fall foliage season shifts into high gear, AAA is working with Vermont’s tourism industry leaders to disseminate information nationwide through its travel offices. The resources will be used by AAA’s travel counselors to help direct motorists and encourage them to travel the Green Mountain State.
Tom Williams, Regional Manager of AAA Northern New England, noted, ‘We have a golden opportunity to provide up-to-date, practical information to members across the country. In the great majority of areas hit by the storm, visitors will find roadways with smooth pavement and bright lines. It is our role to make sure that people who are interested in coming to Vermont get the information they need.’

Online advertised vacancies were up 500 in Vermont in contrast to a nationwide drop of 43,500 in September to 3,947,100, according to The Conference Board Help Wanted OnLine Data Series released today. The September drop follows a decline of 164,000 in August and a decrease of 217,000 in July. The Supply/Demand rate stands at 3.50, indicating there were 3.5 unemployed for every online advertised vacancy in August, the latest monthly data available for unemployment.
-- Labor demand retrenches in the 2nd and 3rd Quarters after an impressive start in Q1
-- Since March, labor demand down by 500,000 (11 percent)
-- Losses widespread across States and occupations
-- Nationally, there are 10 million more unemployed (9.98 million) than advertised vacancies

The Vermont Working Landscape Partnership announces the release of Investing in our Farm and Forest Future. This nonpartisan Action Plan offers five recommendations to help reinvigorate the state’s rural economy.
· Build a major campaign to celebrate the distinctiveness of the working landscape that is Vermont.
· Target strategic investment through a Vermont Agriculture and Forest Products Development Fund.
· Designate and support ‘Working Lands.’
· Develop tax revenue to support working landscape enterprise development and conservation.
· Create a State Planning Office and activate the Development Cabinet.

Richard Mallary, the independent-minded dairy farmer from Orange County and former congressman, has died, according to Governor Shumlin's office. He was 82. Mallary, a Republican, took over as Vermont's lone member in the US House of Representatives after Robert Stafford joined the US Senate. Mallory served in the 92nd Congress and was re-elected to the 93rd, serving until 1975. Mallary ran unsuccessfully for Vermont's other open Senate seat against Patrick Leahy in 1974. Jim Jeffords succeeded Mallary in Congress. Mallary twice served terms in the Vermont House (1961-1969; 1999-2003), including as Speaker from 1966 to 1968. He served one term in the state Senate (1969-1970). He also served as an executive for Central Vermont Public Service and president of Vermont Electric Power Company.

Governor Peter Shumlin announced today the allocation $1.8 million in tax credits to downtowns across the state to support nearly $30 million in building improvements. The credits, competitively awarded by the Downtown Development Board, went to 15 projects ranging in size from a small community group’s efforts to open the shuttered village store in Guilford to more substantial private investments like the conversion of Winooski’s Champlain Mill into a hub for rapidly growing technology firms like MyWebGrocer.
Other projects include the preservation of 37 affordable housing units at the Wharf Lane apartments in Burlington and 41 senior housing units at the former Hotel Rockingham in Bellows Falls. A complete list of tax credit projects is included below.

Poverty increased in Vermont and across the nation in 2010: according to the US Census Bureau, over 76,000 Vermonters (including 1 in 6 children) are living below the poverty level ($22,314 for a family of four), with nearly 165,000 Vermonters (1 in 3 children) considered low-income (below 185% of poverty). Almost 93,000 Vermonters currently receive 3SquaresVT benefits (known nationally as SNAP), which, when added to income, lifted 26% of 3SquaresVT households out of poverty, ranking Vermont second in the nation for its program impact. 3SquaresVT continues to see rising participation as well as all-time high benefits, bringing over $11 million into the Vermont economy each month.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) announced Wednesday that seven police departments across Vermont have been awarded grants through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Hiring Program. The grants total more than $1.3 million to help law enforcement departments hire officers.
‘The COPS program has helped Vermont communities keep officers on the streets, which helps keep all Vermonters safe,’ said Leahy. ‘These grants have helped law enforcement departments in Vermont and across the country for nearly 20 years. The COPS program is an important partnership between the federal government and state and local law enforcement, and I will be working in Congress to ensure that we maintain our commitment to this successful program.’
Vermont communities have received nearly $46 million in grants from the COPS program since 1994. More than 285 officers have been hired across Vermont as a result of these grants.

Vermont HITEC, Inc, a nonprofit organization dedicated to high-quality workforce development, today announced an education and apprenticeship program that will bring 30 high-tech jobs to Vermont over the next several months.
The newly developed program is a partnership between Vermont HITEC and Allscripts, the leading global provider of Electronic Health Records and other technologies essential to creating a Connected Community of Healthâ ¢. It provides free education and on-site apprenticeship training at Allscripts South Burlington, Vermont, location. The program is designed for unemployed and underemployed Vermont residents. Successful completion of the program will lead directly to full-time employment as an Associate Interface Analyst in the growing field of Electronic Health Records.

Philadelphia’s independent bike shops are about to experience a new kind of traveling salesperson. Terry Bicycles’ CEO, Liz Robert (formerly CEO of The Vermont Teddy Bear Company) is trading in her business suit for bike shorts and embarking on a pedaling excursion. Robert is loading her backpack with samples and sales catalogs and riding from bike shop to shop in metro locations around the country, selling the Terry line of cycling gear and testing Google Bike Maps as well as the developing bike infrastructure of our cities and towns.

Apple specialist Small Dog Electronics recycled an estimated 30 tons of e-Waste at its annual recycling event in South Burlington on Saturday, September 24.

More than 400 vehicles filled with old TVs, computers and electronic peripherals lined up at Ben & Jerry’s corporate office on Saturday to recycle old electronics for free. All of the electronics collected will be safely and responsibly recycled by WeRecycle! in their two processing plants in Connecticut and New York. The recycling event is part of Small Dog’s commitment to having a net positive impact on the environment by recycling a greater volume of electronic equipment than they sell.

Vermont is in line to receive up to $3.1 million over the next five years as part of one of the country’s largest investments ever in promoting good health, the Vermont congressional delegation announced today.
Vermont will be a leader in the new national initiative that also will limit spending by avoiding costly, chronic diseases in the first place, according to U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
The Vermont delegation had urged U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to include Vermont in the first round of grants.
Dr. Harry Chen, the Vermont health commissioner, welcomed the grant. The state will use the first year’s installment of $621,760 to help decrease disparities in health care for poor people and minorities. The department plans to focus on reducing tobacco use and promoting exercise and healthy diets.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) today announced that by the end of October it will open seven temporary bridges that will provide the public access over brooks and rivers where Tropical Storm Irene damaged permanent structures, rendering them unusable for public travel.
The first two of these temporary bridges is scheduled to open this weekend, and once in use will provide the public unhindered travel along both Route 100A in Plymouth and Route 100 in Pittsfield. Opening the bridge in Pittsfield is significant as it will allow the public to travel freely along Route 100 between Stockbridge and Killington for the first time since the storm struck on August 28.