Current News

Vermont’s congressional delegation today announced that the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) will begin accepting applications for federal assistance beginning August 1st, with the goal of awarding approximately $1.25 million by September 30th.
Vermont’s delegation was influential in creating the NBRC, which directly invests federal resources for economic development and job creation in economically distressed regions of northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. In Vermont, eligible counties include Essex, Franklin, Lamoille, Orleans, Caledonia and Grand Isle.
‘We created the commission as a means of responding in practical ways to the common economic challenges throughout the border regions of the Northeast,’ Sen. Leahy, Sen. Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch said. ‘The available funding will provide a vital boost to parts of our state that need it most.’

The Vermont Department of Labor today provided additional information on how to access the temporary jobs and recovery project assistance under a recent flood recovery grant from the US Department of Labor. The grant was secured with the assistance of Vermont’s congressional delegation and Governor Peter Shumlin.
Funds are available in nine Vermont counties to provide temporary employment for up to six months on projects to help public and non-profit structures and facilities clean-up, demolish, repair, renovate or reconstruct their facilities destroyed or damaged by the flooding. The qualified counties are Addison, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orleans and Washington.
While project locations must be specific to the listed counties, persons interested in the temporary employment do not need to be a resident of one of these counties in order to qualify for the employment opportunity.

Merchants Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank, today announced net income of $3.63 million and $6.73 million, or diluted earnings per share of $0.58 and $1.08, for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively. This compares with net income of $4.59 million and $8.42 million, or diluted earnings per share of $0.74 and $1.37, for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010, respectively.
Merchants previously announced the declaration of a dividend of $0.28 per share, payable August 18, 2011, to shareholders of record as of August 4, 2011. The return on average assets was 0.98 percent and 0.91 percent for the quarter and six months ended June 30, 2011 compared to 1.29 percent and 1.19 percent for the same periods in 2010. The return on average equity was 14.20 percent and 13.38 percent for the quarter and six months end ed June 30, 2011 compared to 19.48 percent and 18.10 percent for the same periods in 2010.

Today, Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, NH, joined nine other New Hampshire health facilities, including Dartmouth-Hitchcock, and New Hampshire Medicaid patients to file suit against the State of New Hampshire seeking ‘declaratory and injunctive relief’ from budgeted cuts in Medicaid reimbursements. The lawsuit was filed against Nicholas A Toumpas, in his official capacity as Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, seeking relief from dramatic new NH Medicaid reimbursement reductions.
The suit, filed today in US District Court in Concord, claims that the state is violating the Medicaid Act by not providing sufficient reimbursement to hospitals and their physicians providing care to Medicaid patients. Medicaid is a federal/state partnership and New Hampshire is not fulfilling its legal obligations under this joint program.

A Salt Lake City-based company will pay the State of Vermont $10,000 to settle claims by the Attorney General’s Office that it imported drinking glasses into Vermont from China and Indonesia that contained excessive levels of lead. Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell noted, ‘Lead is highly toxic, particularly to young children. There is no excuse for putting drinking glasses on the market that contain lead.’ The settlement is with Vandor, LLC.
Independent laboratory testing found that 9 glasses out of 15 Vandor glasses and mugs contained lead concentrations of between 14 and 81 times the state limit of 100 parts per million (ppm) of lead for children’s products as defined under Vermont law. The 9 glasses also contained the heavy metal cadmium, although at much lower levels.
The following is a description of the illustrations on the high-lead glasses and the lead concentration for each:
Gone with the Wind glass no. 1’4,831 parts per million (ppm)

University of Vermont Board of Trustees Chair Robert F. Cioffi today announced the appointment of Dr. A. John Bramley as Interim President, effective August 1. Bramley, a longstanding member of the UVM faculty, has served as Department Chair of Animal Sciences, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Provost and Senior Vice President of the University. In 2006 he also served as Acting President during President Daniel Mark Fogel's illness. From 2007 to 2011 he was President and CEO of the Windham Foundation, the largest private foundation registered in Vermont.
In recognition and honor of his service, the Windham Foundation announced last week the creation of the A. John Bramley Lecture Series, designed to focus on preserving Vermont's rural communities.

Citizens Financial Group today announced that its TruFit Student Loan product is now available with a new fixed rate, giving students peace of mind in knowing how much their monthly payments will be when they start to repay their loan. There are no origination fees associated with the loan and interest rates are as low as 6.75 percent APR. Although students have the ability to qualify solely, they are encouraged to apply with a qualified cosigner to increase their chances of receiving the lowest interest rate possible.

The Lake Champlain Maritime Festival sails into Burlington’s Waterfront on Thursday, August 11 through Sunday, August 14, 2011. The celebration boasts exciting, new events and activities within the spectacular setting on the shores of Lake Champlain, including: a New Zip-Line; First Annual Kids’ Day; an expanded Eco-Zone; Joshua Panda and Friends on the Daily Music Stage and more.
Daily Music Featured on Festival Stages
Joshua Panda Band
www.joshuapanda.com
Sunday, August 14

The unemployment rate in Lamoille County stands to drop nearly 1 percent thanks to a job-training program initiated and funded by the food-service provider at Johnson State College (JSC).
Modeled after a similar initiative developed by the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf and the Vermont Foodbank, the eight-week program is training 10 of the estimated 1,100 unemployed Lamoille County residents in the culinary arts and kitchen skills. Trainees attend class and work side-by-side with professional chefs at JSC, helping to run the kitchen and create meals served at JSC and other events.
The idea for the program started last winter, when Aramark, the company contracted to provide food services at JSC, began providing the meals for the Johnson Community Meals program. That program offers a free lunch to residents on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the United Church of Johnson.

More than 100 years after its founding, the Klifa Club is closing its doors and gifting its historic home at 342 Pearl Street in Burlington to the Vermont Community Foundation to establish the Klifa Club Fund for the advancement and wellbeing of Vermont women and children.
The Klifa Club formed in 1900 with the express purpose of ‘mutual improvement of its members in literature, art, science, and the vital and social interests of the day.’ The house at 342 Pearl Street has been the Klifa Club’s home for over 90 years, hosting invited speakers and afternoon tea for its members.

Founded in Burlington in November 2010, Moral Fibers prides itself as being a progressive brand for the modern consumer. The brand’s official motto is, ‘Wear Art. Change Lives,’ but internally, they live by another slogan as well. ‘We don’t give handouts; we give opportunities,’ says brand co-founder and recent UVM graduate Jake Bobrow, staying true to the brand’s openly aggressive stance against the current paradigm of charitable aid. ‘It’s the old ‘give a man a fish’ analogy,’ says Matt Brightman, CEO and co-founder. ‘When charities and first world nations dump food and other donations into a developing country, they build a sense of dependency. Obviously some of that is necessary, but we think aid should be focused more towards building opportunities and individuals.’

Today Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) communicated to its employees that the company’s board of directors voted to approve the fabrication of fuel and the refueling of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in October. This will be the plant’s 29th refueling. While the company has received a 20-year license extension from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the state of Vermont has refused to grant a certificate of public good to continue operating beyond March 21, 2012. That issue is currently being litigated before the US District Court for the state of Vermont.