Current News

Next Thursday (August 11th) Burlington’s Dealer.com will be hosting the second annual Woody Classic ‘ a local tennis match and celebration open to the public. As a neat throw-back to the 70’s and 80’s, competitors are required to use wooden racquets and dress in retro-style athletic gear. In addition, the event will culminate with a ‘Sunday Bash’ where families are encouraged to attend and enjoy the food and free activities while cheering on the finalists (who are competing for prizes valued at more than $4,500).
WHAT: Tennis athletes and fans are invited to dust-off their headbands and travel back to the era of John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg’s classic rivalry by participating in the second annual Dan Bonfigli Woody Classic ‘ a local tennis competition requiring athletes to use wooden racquets and show off their retro-style sportswear in honor of the heyday of 1970’s and 1980’s tennis.

US Small Business Administration Deputy Administrator Marie Johns will tour Sonnax Industries, a Bellows Falls and SBA success story. Sonnax Industries, a designer, producer and distributor of automotive transmission components for the automotive aftermarket, has been announced as part of the ‘SBA 100.’ After receiving an SBA loan, the company increased revenue, expanded their facility and hired an additional 118 employees.
The SBA 100 features one hundred businesses that have created at least 100 jobs since receiving SBA assistance. Descriptions and a photograph gallery of each of the SBA 100 companies can be found at www.sba.gov/100.
The SBA 100 companies include businesses in a variety of industries, from manufacturing, to food and beverage, to shipping. Each business received SBA support in the form of capital, contracting, counseling or investment before going on to create at least 100 jobs.

Mobile Medical International Corporation (MMIC) and ORBIS International are pleased to announce that the world’s only Flying Eye Hospital will be landing in Burlington, Vermont for two days later this month. The Flying Eye Hospital, a state-of-the-art surgical and training facility housed inside of a DC-10 aircraft, will be on display at the Heritage Aviation facility at Burlington International Airport on Tuesday, August 30 and Wednesday, August 31.

Stantec has announced solid results for the second quarter of 2011, with gross revenue increasing 11.1% to C$412.3 million from C$371.1 million in the second quarter of 2010, net revenue increasing 12.7% to C$342.3 million from C$303.8 million, net income increasing 8.0% to C$25.7 million from C$23.8 million, and diluted earnings per share increasing 7.7% to C$0.56 from C$0.52. Stantec has about 50 employees in its South Burlington office and nearly 400 employees across New England.
‘Our performance in the second quarter of 2011 was in line with our expectations at the end of the first quarter,’ says Bob Gomes, Stantec president and chief executive officer. ‘Thanks to the continuing support of our clients and staff, we are on track and expect consistent performance during the remainder of the year.’

In an effort to reduce the city’s environmental footprint, including greenhouse gas emissions, traffic and air pollution, and improve employee health and wellbeing, the City of Burlington is pleased to announce membership in the CCTA Smart Business Program. Through the program, the City ‘ along with other participating employers, can purchase CCTA bus passes for staff to be used on CCTA local or commuter buses. CCTA Smart Business also includes an emergency ride home service for those who commute by bus. Called ‘SureRide’, this emergency ride home program reimburses staff for a taxi ride home in the event of an unplanned emergency when they commute to work via CCTA. The most recent benefit added to the program is that after every 5 months of continuous participation, the 6th month is free thereby saving employers money while being socially responsible.

Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE: CV) reported consolidated earnings of $9.2 million, or 67 cents per diluted share of common stock, for the first six months of 2011 compared to $5.6 million, or 46 cents per diluted share of common stock, for the same period in 2010. Second-quarter earnings were $0.7 million or 5 cents per common share, 6 cents lower than in 2010. The improved earnings overall were driven in part by increases in operating revenue and decreases in operating expenses and storm restoration costs compared to the first six months of 2010, reduced in the second quarter by costs associated with the company's pending sale to a subsidiary of Gaz Metro Limited Partnership, Northern New England Energy Corporation, which also owns Green Mountain Power Corporation, the second largest utility in Vermont.

Year-to-date earnings of $9.2 million, or 67 cents per diluted share, 21 cents higher than 2010

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 117,000 in July, and the unemployment
rate was little changed at 9.1 percent, down from 9.2 percent in June, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Job gains occurred in health care, retail trade, manufacturing,
and mining. Government employment continued to trend down. The drop in the unemployment rate is attributed mostly to a reduction in the labor force, as fewer people were looking for work, but there was some modest gains in jobs.
Household Survey Data
The number of unemployed persons (13.9 million) and the unemployment rate (9.1
percent) changed little in July. Since April, the unemployment rate has shown
little definitive movement. The labor force, at 153.2 million, was little
changed in July, with a gain of 117,000.
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men(9.0 percent),

Vermont-born global economist David Hale will appear on the EAI platform for the seventh time on Monday, August 29, at 7 pm in the University Amphitheatre at the Sheraton Burlington Conference Center.
David and his wife Lyric are the editors of a just released book, What's Next? Unconventional Wisdom on the Future of the World Economy (Yale University Press).

Joe Tymecki, chair of the Mount Mansfield Collocation Association technical committee, announced that antenna and tower maintenance work is planned for Sunday, August 7, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., weather permitting.
The work will require power to be reduced or turned off at times and will affect TV reception for some Vermont viewers, as well as reception of the two radio stations that transmit from the site.
Television stations affected will be Vermont Public Television, WCAX, WPTZ, WVNY and WFFF, as well as WEZF-FM and Vermont Public Radio’s 107.9.

Vermont's Fuse, LLC, a marketing agency that helps brands target teens and young adults, today was named to Outside magazine’s fourth annual ‘Best Places to Work’ list. Fuse was ranked number 26 out of 50 selected companies. The full list and related story will be published in the September issue of Outside magazine, available on newsstands August 16, 2011.

Terry Bicycles’ CEO, Liz Robert (formerly CEO of The Vermont Teddy Bear Company) is trading in her business suit for bike shorts and turning into a new kind of traveling sales rep. Robert is loading her backpack with samples and sales catalogs and riding from bike shop to bike shop in metro locations around the country to meet shop owners and managers and learn about their business, and to introduce them to the Terry line of cycling gear. All the while, she is testing Google’s beta Bike Maps and the developing bike infrastructure of our cities and towns.
Robert (pronounced ro-BEAR) recently pedaled through San Diego and neighboring coastal towns, and along the Rail Trail of Westchester County, NY. Her next bike tour is set for the Greater Boston area on Thursday, August 11 and Friday, August 12. She plans to ride from Natick to Cambridge and then along the Northshore from Marblehead to Manchester visiting independent bicycle dealers.

On August 3, 2011, the Vermont District Court approved the Dean Foods Settlement involving the price of Grade A milk produced and sold in the Northeast. The class action antitrust lawsuit brought by a class of northeast dairy farmers against Dean, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Dairy Marketing Services (DMS) was filed in August of 2009. The farmers reached a settlement agreement with Dean Foods Company in December 2010, including $30 million in monetary damages. The final settlement had to be approved by the federal court, which has taken over 7 months.