Current News

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.

Intervale Compost Products will begin accepting yard debris, food scraps, and farm material at its new location at 1042 Redmond Road in Williston bright and early Tuesday, July 12.

"The cement is dry, our bunkers are set, and we're ready for material to come our way," said Tom Moreau, general manager of the Chittenden Solid Waste District, which owns and operates Intervale Compost Products (ICP).

The facility opened July 1 of this year for sales of compost, top soil, mulches, and mixes but, until now, customers with material to drop off have been directed to do so at the Williston Drop-Off Center, located down the road from the new composting facility.

Summer hours for the new Williston location are Monday-Saturday, 8-4

ICP's old location, in Burlington's Intervale, closed on June 30 of this year.

One of four federal grants VSAC receives to help low-income Vermonters prepare for higher education has been renewed. VSAC ‘ the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation ‘ received word late last week that its federal Talent Search grant, set to expire in 2012, will be renewed for five more years. VSAC receives $443,887 a year for the program, and matches the federal dollars with its own resources.
Talent Search is part of a group of federal programs known as TRiO that help low-income students prepare for and succeed in college. VSAC has administered Talent Search in Vermont since 1969. The program identifies students in grades 6 through 12 who are motivated to continue their education but need help reaching their goals.
VSAC offers a second TRiO program, known as Educational Opportunity Center (EOC), for low-income adult learners. VSAC also applied for a new EOC grant, but hasn’t received a response yet.

For decades, Vermont has been known for growing businesses that are worldwide innovators in clean energy and environmental stewardship. The state is also an epicenter for businesses, outside of typical "green" industries, that lead the way in social and environmental best practices while remaining highly profitable. The University of Vermont Continuing Education offers the opportunity for people to learn from these experts in one of the leading places for sustainability studies through its summer institute "Sustainable Business: Practices in Support of People, Profit and Principles," a five-day summer program at its Burlington, Vermont campus, that takes place July 11-15.
Attendees learn the design, organization and management principles, and practices that have made Vermont enterprises sustainable and profitable from the very entrepreneurs and business leaders who have forged the way. More importantly, they can apply what they learn to their own careers and businesses.

On June 29, Chittenden County State’s Attorney TJ Donovan stated that he would not be prosecuting public officials for any involvement in the slew of financial problems that Burlington Telecom, the city-owned communications company, is facing.
In December of 2010, an audit known as the Larkin Report was released finding that BT had borrowed $16.9 million in city funds over a six-year period that it never repaid. It also claimed that the company knowingly withheld this information from the Department of Public Service and other officials.
The report concluded that the debt BT owes to the city on top of the $33.5 million it owes to CityCapital, its commercial lender, were sufficient enough to cast serious doubt on the viability of the company. According to BT’s agreement with CitiCapital, its lender can effectively take possession of BT’s assets if it so desired, but the decision to do so hasn’t been addressed or revealed.