Current News

by Kate Duffy,
Vermont Business Magazine
Breaking up is hard to do. Central Vermont Public Service will pay $19.5 million to Fortis Inc, a Canadian company that had sought to acquire the utility in a $700 million deal announced in late May. The deal dissolved when Gaz Metro, the Montreal-based parent company of Green Mountain Power, bested it with a $702 million offer to merge the two Vermont utilities.
CVPS shareholders will receive $35.25 per share, a 45 percent premium over the closing price of $24.32 immediately before the Fortis deal was announced, and 15 cents higher than the $35.10 Fortis had offered for each share.
Fortis declined to submit a counter offer. Instead, it will collect on a sort of corporate pre-nuptial agreement, receiving a $17.5 million ‘break-up fee’ and $2 million from CVPS to cover expenses associated with the failed acquisition.

The Vermont Foodbank asks the public to do ‘Nothing’ about hunger. Breaking away from traditional appeals, the Foodbank’s ‘Nothing’ campaign evokes the desolation of ‘Nothing’ to eat and offers something to do about it.
Cans of ‘Nothing’ ‘ 14,000 empty cans with slots for collections ‘ will be sold for $2.99 each at all Vermont Hannaford Supermarkets. Proceeds from the sale of each can benefit the Foodbank and help provide 18 nourishing meals for a family in need. The Vermont Foodbank turns ‘Nothing’ into a commodity to help the hungry at a time when the need has never been greater.
The ‘Nothing’ Campaign is on the web at www.nothing.org, on television, on the radio, and in social media outlets such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube. This landmark campaign begins July 14, 2011, and continues through September.

More than $1 million in federal disaster aid has been approved for eligible applicants in Vermont affected by the spring storms and flooding that occurred from April 23 to May 9.
Since President Obama issued a major disaster declaration on June 15th for these storms in the counties of Addison, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, and Orleans, over 800 people have registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The grants include $1,050,536 in housing assistance, such as rental and home repair assistance, and $25,820 in other needs assistance, such as replacement of personal property.
Caledonia and Washington counties recently received federal declarations on Friday, July 8, for storms and flooding that occurred May 26th to 27th.

Vermont Business Magazine is seeking nominations for this year’s highly anticipated selection of Vermont’s Rising Stars, Vermont's most accomplished young leaders. Award recipients will be selected in September by a panel of judges for their commitment to business growth, professional excellence and involvement in their communities. Nominees must be under 40 as of October 1, 2011. Nominations will be open until September 2. The Rising Stars will be honored at a dinner in November.
To nominate someone, please click HERE.
Last year, at its inaugural Rising Stars Award dinner, VBM honored 40 winners, as it turned out, 20 women and 20 men. The average age was under 30.

US Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today awarded more than $2.2 million to public housing authorities in Vermont. The funds will allow these agencies to make major large-scale improvements to their public housing units. See below for a full list of VT public housing authorities receiving funding.
HUD’s Capital Fund Program provides annual funding to all public housing authorities to build, repair, renovate and/or modernize the public housing in their communities. This funding can be used to make large-scale improvements such as new roofs and to make energy-efficient upgrades to replace old plumbing and electrical systems.

Vermonters around the state will get a chance to comment directly to the Commissioner of Banking, Insurance, Securities & Health Care Administration (BISHCA) about the proposed annual budgets of their local hospitals. On August 4 the Vermont Health Care Administration, a division of BISHCA, will hold a public hearing from 1:30 pm to 5 pm to hear comment about the fourteen hospital budgets now under review by the Administration.
BISHCA Commissioner Steve Kimbell and Acting Deputy Commissioner Mike Davis will lead the hearing at the Vermont Department of Labor, 5 Green Mountain Drive in Montpelier. For the convenience of Vermonters around the state, ten additional sites will provide an interactive video link-up to the hearing:
Bennington - Senior Citizen's Service Center, 124 Pleasant Street
Brattleboro - Brattleboro Union High School, 131 Fairground Rd, Room 125
Lyndonville - 1001 College Road, Lyndon State College

Ledyard National Bank is pleased to announce the results of their recent charitable campaign. In celebration of Ledyard’s 20th anniversary, it recently donated $30,000 to five local non-profit organizations. The campaign was designed to provide increased exposure for the non-profits and positively affect community awareness of their missions and goals. The campaign challenged community members to visit the Ledyard website and vote online for one of the five organizations that they felt was most deserving of Ledyard’s highest donation. More than 53,000 votes were received in the 5 week campaign, and each community member was allowed to cast one vote per day.
The Grafton County Senior Citizens Council garnered the most votes and received $10,000. Lake Sunapee Region VNA & Hospice, Listen Community Services, Upper Valley Haven and WISE each received $5,000.

According to a recent survey by TD Bank, college and university financial decision-makers across the country cite reduced tuition and declining fee revenue as major causes for concern and are increasingly considering "going green" to save on operating expenses, while ramping up information technology (IT) spending and investments in updating campus infrastructure.
TD Bank's survey of chief financial officers, accounting officers, comptrollers and other financial managers at private, not-for-profit colleges and universities across the US found that nearly three out of four (72%) respondents view reduced net tuition and fee revenue as their biggest financial concern, even as they deal with decreasing private gift income (59%).
Despite these concerns, spending is expected to increase in many areas over the next 12 months, with 77% expecting to invest in on-campus "green" power or environmental sustainability projects over the next five years.
Financial Concerns

Vermont Agency of Transportation today announced the re-opening of two bridges along Route 103 in Chester. In order to rehabilitate two structurally deficient bridges in a rapid reconstruction process, bridge # 9 (near Benny’s Sunoco) bridge #8 were temporary closed traffic. On Sunday, July 10, both bridges were once again opened traffic - a full seven days ahead of schedule.
‘We applaud the work of the contractor, Cold River Bridges, to expedite this project,’ noted VTrans Secretary, Brian Searles. ‘And we appreciate the patience and endurance of the community’residents and businesses -- throughout the process. Vermont’s economic growth depends upon a strong infrastructure and we are committed to fixing our aging bridges and roads, ‘ he said.

A mobile Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) is now open in Newport to assist individuals, households and businesses with disaster-related damage caused by late spring storms and flooding in Vermont.
The DRC is staffed with disaster recovery specialists from various federal, state and local agencies and organizations who can provide information and answer questions about storm-related assistance.
The mobile unit is located at:
Newport City Hall Gymnasium
222 Main Street
Newport, VT 05855
The center will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.

The leaders of Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (NYSE: CV) (CVPS) and Gaz Métro Limited Partnership (Gaz Métro) today announced that a definitive agreement for the sale of CVPS has been signed. This clears the path for the combination of CVPS and Green Mountain Power Corporation (GMP), a subsidiary of Gaz Métro, into one utility. The deal is valued at $702 million, including the assumption of about $230 million of debt.
A joint statement released this morning said that the new agreement provides significant benefits for customers, community, employees and shareholders, including $144 million in customer savings over 10 years, a Vermont ownership interest in VELCO, and the establishment of the Headquarters for Operations and Energy Innovation in Rutland.

Seventh Generation is pleased to raise the curtain on a new summer music promotion with best-selling children's performers, The Laurie Berkner Band. The artists have worked with Seventh Generation to express sustainability in song with the release of the original track "One Seed."
"One Seed" and four other exclusive tracks from The Laurie Berkner Band, including the title track off her soon to be released DVD "Party Day!," are available for free download with the purchase of two specially-marked Seventh Generation laundry or baby care items.