Current News

The Northeast Resource Recovery Association has been awarded the contract to administer the State of Vermont’s E-Cycles program starting July 1, 2011. NRRA and the Association of Vermont Recyclers have worked with Goodpoint Recycling of Middlebury as a primary recyler to begin the process of collection. The program will offer free collection of computers, monitors, printers and computer peripherals from residents, non-profit organizations, school districts, and small businesses with 10 or fewer employees at year-round collection sites statewide.
NRRA and its partners were selected from a competitive RFP process in late April based on their ability to provide oversight and transparency to a very detailed tracking process required by State law. The Program is reimbursed by manufacturers of covered electronics.

The chief executives of Vermont’s leading businesses appear poised to hold steady their growth plans through the remainder of 2011, with sales and employment expectations less optimistic when compared against the first quarter survey period. The survey was completed between June 10 and June 24 and released today by Vermont Business Roundtable Chair Steve Voigt, CEO, King Arthur Flour and President Lisa Ventriss.

Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Robert Ide announced today that the Department will be moving its Chittenden County office from its current Burlington, North Avenue location to 4 Market St. in South Burlington.
The move will occur over the weekend of July 15-17 and will require the DMV to close the North Avenue office at noon on Friday, July 15th. The new office in South Burlington will open for business at noon, Monday July 18th.
‘We pride ourselves on the quality service we provide to Vermonters. However, in order to ensure a successful move, with all the logistics involved, it is necessary to close our Chittenden County operation from noon Friday until noon on Monday.’ Commissioner Ide said.

The Circumferential Highway experienced a small victory recently when it came to light that the Federal Highway Administration had issued an ROD or Record of Decision, giving the good-to-go on the current design and location of the proposed highway. This thumbs-up to the Vermont Agency of Transportation, however, is far from a green light on the actual construction of the highway, which still faces an "end of road, turn back" sign from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The giant undertaking of connecting Interstate-89 in Williston with 117 and 289 in Essex has been riddled with problems since planning began in the early 1980s and the original layout for the road was declared dead by Governor Shumlin at a press conference in May of this year. The new proposal, known as Alternative 17 or what was previously referred to as the Circumferential A/B Boulevard, is not expected to be any less divisive.

One message that state and federal officials want to share with those affected by the flood is to fill out and return your U.S. Small Business Administration application - don't throw it away.
Applicants who register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency typically receive a loan application from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Many think that these are for businesses or people who want to take out loans and push these applications to the side or patently discard them.
"This is where people take themselves out of the process," said Vermont Emergency Management Director Mike O'Neil. "If they don't complete the paperwork, they miss out on FEMA aid beyond help with home repair or rental assistance."
Applicants should know:
· Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair/replace real estate.

The Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) is a program in the 2008 Farm Bill. VAPG’s goal is to help new and existing rural independent agricultural producers. Grants are made to enable viable agricultural producers (those who are prepared to progress to the next business level of planning for, or engaging in value-added production) to develop businesses that product and market value added agricultural products. There are two types of grants available, Planning and Working Capital. The deadline is August 29.
Planning Grants assist agricultural producers to determine the viability of a potential value-added venture, and specifically for the purpose of paying for a qualified consultant to conduct and develop a feasibility study, business plan, and/or marketing plan and market survey associated with the processing and/or marketing of a value-added agricultural product.

Vermont Public Television covered the visit by First Lady Michelle Obama to the Vermont National Guard on Thursday afternoon, June 30, and has posted video of it on http://www.vpt.org/.
The 24-minute video includes a welcome from Major General Michael Dubie, who introduced Marcelle Leahy. Mrs. Leahy introduced the First Lady, who thanked the service members and their families gathered at the Aviation Support Facility in South Burlington. She praised the work of Guard members at home and overseas.
At the event, she also talked about the Joining Forces initiative to support military families and veterans that she and Jill Biden lead. She highlighted efforts of Vermonters to support the troops and their families, including the work of people in Hyde Park, to help a wounded veteran. She encouraged others to volunteer, saying, ‘No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.’

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has announced a new US Army contract with Revision Eyewear, for work in Essex Junction, on a next-generation helmet that will be designed to apply the grim lessons of troop injuries in Iraq Afghanistan in improving head protection for US soldiers. The three-year contract is with the US Army’s Natick Labs Soldier Systems division and is worth $1,990,340.

For the first time, scientists at IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) have demonstrated that a relatively new memory technology, known as phase-change memory (PCM), can reliably store multiple data bits per cell over extended periods of time. This significant improvement advances the development of low-cost, faster and more durable memory applications for consumer devices, including mobile phones and cloud storage, as well as high-performance applications, such as enterprise data storage.
- Reliable multi-bit phase-change memory technology demonstrated
- Scientists achieved a 100 times performance increase in write latency compared to flash memory
- Enables a paradigm shift for enterprise IT and storage systems, including cloud computing by 2016

People's United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Danvers Bancorp, Inc., a $2.9 billion bank holding company based in Danvers, Massachusetts. Danvers Bancorp's sole subsidiary, Danversbank, has 28 branches in the Greater Boston area. The total consideration paid by People's United will be comprised of approximately 18.5 million shares of common stock and $214.5 million in cash.
The Hartford Courant is reporting that, based on People's United's closing stock price of $13.44 Thursday, the deal is valued at about $463 million in cash and stock.

The Vermont Energy Education Program (VEEP) is offering two institutes this summer to help teachers understand the science, as well as the costs and benefits, of producing electricity using renewable energy. The goal is to give teachers the knowledge and hands-on experience they need to explore topics related to solar power and wind power with their students and have a greater understanding of current energy issues. The two 4-day institutes cost $300 each. A limited number of scholarships are available through VEEP.

With vermont and four other states banning certain small-device batteries containing mercury and lead starting today, Maxell Corporation of America, the leading manufacturers of battery and data storage products, has announced the introduction of an environmentally advanced silver-oxide cell that successfully reduces the mercury and lead in the cathode material to zero, while maintaining a battery life comparable to conventional silver-oxide cells with the new zero-mercury, zero-lead added type.