Current News

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.

Among the variety of new construction and improvements at Vermont’s resorts, one theme unifies. These snow-centric businesses listen to their guests and year after year, strive to create the best possible experience for their extended family of skiers and riders.
Here is the latest update from the Vermont Ski Areas Association, Ski Vermont:
BOLTON VALLEY RESORT

General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products was awarded an $8.6 million contract option by the U.S. Army for the load, assemble and pack of the M231 and M232A1 Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS). General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
The option modifies an existing contract awarded in December 2008. The MACS provides propelling charges with combustible cartridge cases for 155mm artillery. The charges are compatible with new and existing howitzer systems and offer enhanced precision with a reduction in weight and volume.
Production work will be performed at General Dynamics' facility in Camden, Ark., which has approximately 300 employees. Program support will occur at the company's Williston, Vt., facility, which has a workforce of approximately 400 employees. Work will be completed by September 2013.

For his work to understand how to build better robots, Joshua Bongard, a researcher at the University of Vermont, has received the highest award given by the US government to young scientists.
UVM roboticist Josh Bongard will go to Washington D.C. to meet President Obama and receive the government's highest award for young scientists. (Photo: Sally McCay)
On September 26, President Barack Obama announced Bongard as one of 94 winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers; he will be honored at a White House ceremony in October.
Bongard is only the second researcher in UVM history to receive the PECASE award, which provides $500,000 in research funds over several years.
Inspired by evolution

Penley Corporation, based in West Paris, Maine, has agreed to settle claims by Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell that the company violated the state’s Consumer Fraud Act by misrepresenting the availability of local composting options for its Full Circle line of ‘compostable’ cutlery. The settlement requires Penley to pay $10,000 to the State of Vermont in penalties and costs, and another $10,000 to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA Vermont) to support its Harvest Health Coupon Program.
Commenting on the settlement, Attorney General Sorrell said that Vermonters care about responsible disposal, including the compostability, of consumer products, and need to be able to rely on sellers’ claims about how those products may be disposed of. ‘If most Vermonters can’t compost an item in the state, then advertising the item as ‘compostable’ is deceptive,’ he said.