Current News

The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that some unemployed Vermonters may be eligible for additional unemployment benefits. ‘We have been informed by federal administrators that Vermont will be eligible for the ‘3rd tier’ of federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits. This means unemployed Vermonters who have exhausted their Tier 2 benefits may be eligible for an additional 13 weeks of Tier 3 benefits,’ said Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan. ‘Despite the continued decline in the state’s unemployment rate ‘ now at 5.4 percent - due to a seasonal fluctuation between December through March, we hit one ‘trigger’ that activated the additional benefits for some Vermonters.’

Seventh Generation isn't commemorating Earth Day this year. Instead, the country's leading non-toxic household and personal care products company is honoring the planet and its many gifts with something better: an entire month of savings and celebrations. Capping this "Earth Month" extravaganza will be a brand new sweepstakes that will see one lucky person win a spectacular green home makeover and enough cleaning supplies to help their whole community get a safe and healthy jump on spring cleaning.
The Seventh Generation Green Your Town Sweepstakes literally has something for everyone in town. Not only will the Grand Prize winner receive a $10,000 Green Home Makeover, they'll also win 1,000 Healthy Home Starter Kits valued at $55 each for their hometown. Here's a chance to transform your home into the greenest one on the block and then pay it forward to your neighbors to help paint your whole town "green."

Join the Vermont Chamber of Commerce in celebrating the 27th Vermont Business and Industry EXPO. The May 25 & 26 trade show, held at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington, features a wide variety of seminars, special events, and award ceremonies. Check the schedule of events below. Register and learn more by going to www.vtexpo.com or call Antonia at 802-223-0603.
Wednesday, May 25
8 ‘ 9:45 am ‘ Senator Leahy Business Breakfast: The annual U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy's Business Breakfast hosts U.S. Department of Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary Don Graves. Learn about the Treasury Department's efforts to expand capital to small businesses and have an interactive discussion with one of President Obama's leading economic policy advisors. Diamond Ballroom, $35 SPONSORED BY VELCO

FairPoint Communications has expanded broadband to hundreds of homes and businesses in Enosburg Falls.
FairPoint will be bringing total broadband coverage to half of its exchanges this year, including Enosburg Falls, as part of the company’s new high-capacity network called VantagePoint.
‘VantagePoint is enabling us to expand broadband service into areas with no high-speed Internet access and provide enhanced services across the state,’ said Michael K. Smith, FairPoint state president for Vermont. ‘Broadband availability opens the doors to the world for the residents and businesses in Vermont and is fundamental to the state’s future economic growth.’

Again this year runners will take on a rugged 10-mile loop with a 2,400 vertical in Vermont's Green Mountains during the annual McNaughton Ultra Trail Run, an ultra-marathon, with five runners signed on to repeat the loop 50 times in a 500-mile stretch. Others will compete in 100, 150 and 200 mile events.
Racers tackling 500 miles begin Saturday, April 30, and can race for up to 198 hours or just over eight days. The course closes at 6 p.m. May 8.
The 200-miler starts at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 5; the 150-miler at 6 a.m. Friday, May 6; and the 100 at 6 a.m. Saturday, May 7.
Andy Weinberg, race director for Peak Races www.peakaraces.com that is staging the event, said this 11th annual McNaughton Ultra Trail Run is the only one of its kind in North America .

As part of its continuing network investment to support growing demand for advanced mobile devices and applications, AT&T today announced the activation of a new mobile broadband cell site at Pico Peak that will enhance coverage for area residents and visitors to the mountain. With mobile broadband speeds, AT&T customers can surf the Web, download files faster, and enjoy the very latest interactive mobile applications.
The new cell site is one part of AT&T's ongoing efforts to drive investment and innovation to deliver the nation's best, most advanced mobile broadband experience for customers. With the nation's fastestmobile broadband network, AT&T provides accelerated mobile data speeds and simultaneous voice and data capabilities.

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of integrated technology, data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries, reports the following "first look" at February 2011 month-end mortgage performance statistics derived from its loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgage loans. Vermont has the ninth lowest delinquency rate in the nation, and the lowest east of the Mississippi.
Total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure): 8.80%
Month-over-month change in delinquency rate: -1.2%
Year-over-year change in delinquency rate: -18.4%
Total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate: 4.15%
Month-over-month change in foreclosure presale inventory rate: -0.2%
Year-over-year change in foreclosure presale inventory rate: 7.4%
Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure: (A) 4,659,000

As part of its continuing network investment to support growing demand for advanced mobile devices and applications, AT&T today announced the activation of a new mobile broadband cell site in Cabot that will enhance coverage for area residents and businesses. With mobile broadband speeds, AT&T customers can surf the Web, download files faster, and enjoy the very latest interactive mobile applications.
The new cell site is one part of AT&T's ongoing efforts to drive investment and innovation to deliver the nation's best, most advanced mobile broadband experience for customers. With the nation's fastestmobile broadband network, AT&T provides accelerated mobile data speeds and simultaneous voice and data capabilities.

Travel including interline partners Aer Lingus and American Airlines, and expanded access to Cape Air's network in the Northeast and the Caribbean is now available for purchase on jetblue.com.
JetBlue Airways is making it even easier to travel on its interline partners with today's announcement that tickets that include travel on Aer Lingus, American Airlines and Cape Air are now available for sale on jetblue.com. Aer Lingus and American Airlines tickets that include travel on JetBlue are already available on aerlingus.com and aa.com.
"Our growing presence in New York, Boston, and San Juan has positioned us to take advantage of important partnership opportunities," said Robin Hayes, JetBlue's Chief Commercial Officer. "This ability leverages ourjetblue.com platform to drive even more benefit from our interline partnerships, while adding tremendous advantages to our customer, with more options and flexibility."

Search engines cannot do it alone. Search engines can prompt, list, narrow or focus on local results but are not industry experts. Freely Creative, Inc., an organization with a focus on "everything stickers," has launched the niche directory AllAboutStickers.comto support the "sticker" industry by streamlining the search process.
On Google, there are an overwhelming 220 million search results for the term "stickers" and another 196 million for "labels." Even when search terms are narrowed, the choices are overwhelming and don't include many sticker sub-categories such as: custom bumper stickers, paper labels, transfer decals, vinyl cut lettering, car wraps, free stickers, sticker collecting, etc. AllAboutStickers.com was developed as a one-stop directory narrowing the search for "stickers" or "decals" so people don't have to dig through results or understand all the industry-specific terminology.

The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) and Strolling of the Heifers announce the finalists for the 2011 Business Plan Competition. From the 39 submissions received by the April 11th deadline, the selection committee chose 20 finalists as follows below.

Finalists in the "General Business Existing Business" category are (in alphabetical order): (1) Dreamcatcher Entertainment by Bill Forchion; (2) Kaye Audio, Inc., by George Kaye; (3) Laura Zindel Design by Laura Zindel; (4) Saxtons River Distillery, LLC, by Christian Stromberg; and (5) Spirit Hill Farm Back Roads Granola by Virginia Vogel.

The Vermont Family Business Initiative (VFBI) and KeyBank have announced a partnership this week to assist Vermont family and privately owned businesses with transition, succession, and financial planning issues. KeyBank joins The Coaching Center of Vermont, Gallagher, Flynn and Company, and hmc2 agency as current partners of the VFBI. The VFBI works with business owners and their successors to identify challenging transitional issues and develop strategies for successful business transition and strategic growth.
Dann Van Der Vliet, Director of the VFBI, reflected on the new partnership, ‘Having KeyBank helps to round out our array of professional partners. They play a key role in sharing their expertise at our forums and helping us to plan towards the future.’ Family business owners routinely state that their banking relationship is one of the most trusted relationships they have, along with their spouses and financial advisors.