Current News

This summer, Stowe Mountain Resort will replace the FourRunner chairlift on Mount Mansfield with a new high-speed quad. Originally installed in the ‘80s, the FourRunner has been Stowe’s most popular lift, uploading more skiers and riders than any other lift in the resort’s history. The new lift will debut for the 2011-2012 ski and ride season.
‘Our goal is to provide the very best experience possible for all of our guests,’ states Robert McEleney CEO and President of Stowe Mountain Resort. ‘The terrain on Mount Mansfield is the heart and soul of the resort. This brand new detachable quad lift will provide superlative lift service to the very best alpine terrain in the East.’
Now, amidst a winter experience that’s second to none in the Northeast, access to the greatest variety of terrain east of the Rockies will become even more seamless with a new state-of-the-art quad on Vermont’s highest peak.

The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC) has teamed up with Purdue University’s Technical Assistance Program to offer Green Generalist Online training, an interactive and educational online course that provides awareness of the key environmental issues facing companies and ways to redesign their business practices using environmentally friendly techniques. The Green Generalist Online workshop is appropriate for the entire workforce and all business sectors.
Green Generalist Online has seven sections, seven tests, and three interactive simulations. It takes up to four hours to complete. The cost is $175 per person using a special ‘Discount Code’ available through the VMEC website. A Green Generalist Certificate is also available from Purdue TAP upon course completion. Registration is possible through the VMEC website at www.vmec.org or www.vmec.org/online-courses.

Select Design is the winner of the Burlington Business Award and Jeffrey L Davis of JL Davis Realty is the winner of the Tim Halvorson Award, which are presented by the Burlington Business Association. The 33rd Annual Burlington Business Association Dinner & Awards Ceremony will be held April 7th at the Hilton Burlington Hotel
The Burlington Business Award, originally the Small Business Award, was established in 2002 to honor exemplary business practices, contributions to the community, promotion of a positive image for Burlington, and overall business success. This year, Select Design will join the Burlington Business Award Hall-of-Fame, with past recipients including Seven Days, SkiRack, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Run Vermont, TruexCullins, Gardner’s Supply Vermont Lake Monsters, Shanty on the Shore, and Lois Bodoky ‘Hot Dog Lady’.

On Friday, March 25th, the Lake Champlain Community Sailing will host the 1st Annual Northeast Regional Community Sailing Symposium on the Burlington waterfront. Representatives from public access sailing centers from six northeast states will attend to network with other sailing educators, participate in workshops, and discuss the growing movement of public access sailing in the United States. This event provides a crucial professional development opportunity to the growing number of community sailing educators and directors in the northeast region.

Senator Patrick Leahy yesterday lambasted the Pentagon for its decision to issue a stop-work order on General Electric's version of the jet engine for the F35 fighter jet. Some of the components for the engine are made by GE in Rutland. The principal contractor for the engine is Pratt & Whitney. Leahy and others in Congress had been able to continue funding for the GE version through stop-gap measures as Congress continues to work on a new federal budget. However, the House declined to add the GE funding to the latest interim budget bill. The Pentagon subsequently ordered GE and partner Rolls Royce to stop work on the engine. However, GE has decided to self-fund continued work on its engine.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org March 24, 2011You can call it Frank. You can call it Fred. But don’t call it a single-payer health care system. That was the message Representative Mark Larson, D-Burlington, delivered to lawmakers in the House Appropriations Committee last week and during the House floor debate on Vermont’s latest effort to reform its health care system. The euphemism single-payer was struck from the bill in an amendment to make the legislation more palatable to Republicans, sources say. The bill passed 89-47 after eight hours of debate, speeches, amendments and roll call votes. The legislation now goes to the state Senate.
The actual, rather unsexy moniker? ‘A Road Map to a Universal and Unified Health System,’ or Green Mountain Care, for short.

Two foresters from the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation recently participated in an interstate effort to survey for the emerald ash borer in eastern New York. The emerald ash borer is an invasive insect from Asia, which was detected in Ulster and Greene Counties in New York last summer. The State of New York, with assistance from the US Forest Service, is conducting a survey to delineate the extent of this infestation so that management options to slow the spread of the insect can be developed.

The City of Burlington announced today that Fitch Ratings has assigned a BBB rating to $37 million in outstanding Burlington International Airport (BTV) revenue bonds, with a negative outlook. This represents a downgrade from the BBB+ Fitch rating maintained by BTV. However, the rating by Fitch is investment grade and represents an improvement from the last rating BTV received from Moody’s Investors Services in May and October of 2010. City and Airport officials cited substantial progress in addressing BTV’s financial issues.
‘The City is pleased that Fitch has preserved an investment-grade rating for BTV and recognizes our financial progress,’ said Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss. ‘There is certainly more work to be done, but this demonstrates the Airport and the City are on the right track.’

Draker Labs, a provider of high performance turnkey monitoring systems for large commercial and utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, is moving into new, larger offices on April 1, 2011. The company’s new offices will be located in the Maltex building at 431 Pine Street in Burlington, VT. The move reflects significant growth the company experienced during 2010 as well as future expansion plans.

US Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced today that public housing agencies in Vermont will receive $386,383 to link low-income families with the necessary education and job training to put them on the path to self-sufficiency. These agencies are among nearly 600 that will receive approximately $54 million in grants. See national list here.
Vermont Agency Positions Funded Amount Funded
Brattleboro Housing Authority 1 $49,700.00
Burlington Housing Authority 2 $101,685.00
Vermont State Housing Authority 4 $234,998.00
VT Total: 7 $386,383.00

FairPoint Communications has expanded broadband to hundreds more homes and businesses in Hartford, White River Junction, Wolcott and Readsboro.
FairPoint’s new fiber-based, high-capacity network ‘ called VantagePoint(sm) ‘ offers customers a better, faster way to communicate.
‘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.’

Small business lenders now have access to more in-depth information and resources on U.S. Small Business Administration loan programs through the new Lender Toolkit on the agency’s recently redesigned website.
The new site strengthens SBA collaboration with its lending partners, making it easier for them to identify the points of contact, loan programs and financing options that will best expand access to capital for local small businesses to help them grow and create jobs.
Elements of the streamlined Lender Toolkit include useful tools like the ability to download and submit loan packages, updates on interest rates and important lending news, all at www.sba.gov/for-lenders.