Current News

by Kevin Kelley Vermont Business Magazine Faced with multiple uncertainties some they can affect, some they cannot Vermont health care reformers are waiting to see whether state and federal initiatives will advance the cause of providing all Vermonters with access to high-quality, affordable treatment.

The uncertainties also come in long-term and short-term varieties.

Close on the horizon, and within Vermonters' control, are decisions relating to a report due in January from a consultant team that's weighing three options for overhauling the state's health-care system.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: BHLB), which does business as Berkshire Bank with offices in southwestern Vermont, and Legacy Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEGC) announced today that they have signed a definitive merger agreement under which Berkshire will acquire Legacy and its subsidiary, Legacy Banks, in a transaction valued at approximately $108 million.
The merger of Legacy into Berkshire will create a combined institution with $4 billion in assets. This in-market merger will create efficiencies and market share benefits for the combined banks, which both have branches in Western Massachusetts and Northeastern New York. Including Berkshire's pending merger with Rome Bancorp, the combined bank will have more than 60 offices serving Berkshire County, the Pioneer Valley, New York, and Southern Vermont.

The Department of Labor announced the state minimum wage will be increasing to
$8.15 per hour from $8.06 per hour on January 1, 2011. Vermont’s minimum wage increases at the same
rate as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), as calculated in August, for the preceding year. This August, the
CPI increased by one and one tenth percent (1.1%).
Addit ionally, the basic wage rate for ‘service and tipped’ employees is tied to the CPI. As such, the basic
wage for such employees will be increasing to $3.95 per hour from $3.91. Service or tipped employees are
individuals working in hotels, motels, tourist places, and restaurants who customarily and regularly receive
more than $120.00 a month in tips for direct and personal service.
Tipped employees’, like other workers, total earnings during a pay period must equal or exceed $8.15 per
hour. If a combination of tips and the basic wage do not meet that requirement, the employer must make

Governor Jim Douglas today announced that $857,000 in Vermont Community Development Program grants are being awarded to four communities ‘ Bethel, Randolph, Vergennes and Rochester. He made the announcement at a ceremony at the Bethel Town Hall, highlighting an affordable housing project in specially targeted for seniors and the disabled.
‘Senior housing and housing for disabled Vermonters is a critical part of keeping our communities vibrant,’ Governor Douglas said. ‘This allows them to live close to family, friends, services and support systems that help them remain independent and active.’

The Vermont Teddy Bear Company of Shelburne today announced that 2010 holiday sales are up more than 20 percent over a year ago, due to dramatic revenue increases in its PajamaGram business unit.
Skyrocketing sales of PajamaGram's wildly popular "Hoodie-Footie" pajamas have forced the company to add a third shift during the week leading up to Christmas, while phone lines are lit-up as the company responds to the avalanche of orders.
"American consumers are back, and they're saying 'I want my Hoodie-Footie,'" said John Gilbert, CEO of Vermont Teddy Bear. "We've sold more Hoodie-Footies in the past week than any single pajama product in the last 5 years. The Hoodie-Footie is just on fire."
The Vermont Teddy Bear Company is one of America's leading gift companies, and includes the PajamaGram Company (www.PajamaGram.com) and Calyx Flowers (www.CalyxFlowers.com ).

After 37 summers, the Vermont Mozart Festival will be closing its doors on or before January 15th. Since 1974, the Festival featured world-class performances in beautiful and historic locations around the state. Countless generations of family and friends came together for three weeks each summer to enjoy enchanting classical music under the stars. In recent years, though, the organization began to incur debt from which it simply could not recover.
‘In spite of the fact that public support has increased dramatically over the past six years, we have not seen a continuing interest in programming,’ said Executive Director Timothy R. Riddle. ‘The audience has been steadily decreasing. We engaged a wonderful new artistic director to revamp programming, in the hopes of increasing ticket sales. Unfortunately, due to lack of financing, the Festival was unable to continue to move forward with these plans long enough to allow these changes to have an impact.’

The Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) is providing information today on the recent passage of the Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation 2008 (EUC 08) program.
Congress passed legislation last week to retroactively extend the Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program. Based on the passage of this legislation Vermont is now authorized to establish entitlement under the EUC08 program for eligible claimants. Vermont currently qualifies for the first two Tiers of the EUC08 program. Tier 1 provides up to 20 weeks and Tier 2 provides up to 14 weeks of additional benefits. Claimants can file up to 26 weeks of state benefits before shifting to the extended federal program which in Vermont consists of up to 34 weeks of emergency compensation. The maximum number of weeks currently available in Vermont is 60 weeks.

Governor-elect Peter Shumlin on Wednesday appointed Patrick Berry, Vermont Law School’s director of Governmental Affairs and Environmental Advancement, to be commissioner of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. Kim Royer will be the Deputy Commissioner.
‘Pat Berry is a dedicated hunter and angler and possesses a broad background and expertise in Fish and Wildlife issues,’ said Shumlin. ‘Pat’s skills combined with Kim’s expertise of the department and wildlife biology will make them an amazing team. I thank them both for their service’

Governor-elect Peter Shumlin today said that local school boards and communities are best left to make their own budget decisions and he will not ask the Legislature to enforce the voluntary education spending cuts recommended under Challenges for Change. At the same time, he said that local school districts will still receive $23.2 million less from the state this year. While much of that should be made up with the nearly $19 million in federal education stimulus money that the state received earlier this fall, the $19 million is a one-time allocation of funds and school districts should continue to develop fiscally sound budgets so as not to result in increased property taxes.
He makes this announcement following last week’s report that school districts were unable to meet the $23.2 million voluntary reduction targets set earlier this year.

Vermont's population grew a modest 2.8 percent to 625,741 from 2000 in the recently completed census. The US Census Bureau also announced yesterday that the 2010 Census showed the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2010, was 308,745,538.
The resident population represented an increase of 9.7 percent over the
2000 US resident population of 281,421,906. Commerce Secretary Gary
Locke, Acting Commerce Deputy Secretary Rebecca Blank and Census Bureau
Director Robert Groves unveiled the official counts at the National Press
Club in Washington, D.C.
‘A big thanks to the American public for its overwhelming response to
the 2010 Census,’ U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. ‘The result was
a successful count that came in on time and well under budget, with a final
2010 Census savings of $1.87 billion.’
Rebecca Blank, now Acting Deputy Secretary of Commerce who has overseen

Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE-CV) and the Vermont Department of Public Service have agreed to a rate settlement that will reduce a November rate request.
Driven by reliability and transmission improvements and increasing power costs, in November CVPS asked the Vermont Public Service Board to authorize an 8.34 percent rate increase under the company’s alternative regulation plan. CVPS and the DPS have agreed to reduce the increase, which is expected to take effect Jan. 1, to 7.67 percent. The agreement also amends and extends the company’s alternative regulation plan.
Under the settlement, which must be approved by the PSB, the company’s allowed return on equity would remain at the current level of 9.59 percent. CVPS agreed to reduce its return on equity request and make an additional $13 million investment in the Vermont Electric Power Company by the end of the year, changes that reduced the size of the rate increase.

Displaying a spirit and commitment greater than communities 30 times its size, the greater Rutland area turned out in force Tuesday and reclaimed the New England single-day blood drive record at the Gift-of-Life Marathon.
‘After last year, we knew just about anything was possible, but this is absolutely amazing,’ said CVPS spokesman Steve Costello, one of the organizers. ‘Rutland County should be enormously proud. We beat Boston, and we beat Boston handily!’
Boston, which held the record of 772 pints until Rutland collected 856 in 2008 and 1,024 in 2009, collected 1,177 pints Sept. 11 at Fenway Park, retaking the record from Rutland. GOLM organizers immediately vowed to reclaim the record, and local residents did just that ‘ collecting 1,393 pints on Tuesday.