Current News

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and coffeemakers, on Thursday announced its fiscal 2010 fourth quarter and year-end results for the thirteen weeks and fiscal year ended September 25, 2010. Annual sales were nearly $1.4 billion and net income was almost $80 million.
Performance Highlights
Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2010
* Net Sales up 73% over 2009
* GAAP EPS of $0.20; Non-GAAP EPS of $0.221
* GAAP Net Income up 92% over 2009
Fiscal 2010
* Net Sales up 73% over 2009
* GAAP EPS of $0.58; Non-GAAP EPS of $0.701
* GAAP Net Income up 46% over 2009
Restated Financial Results

Rick Fleming of Fleming Oil in Brattleboro, Vermont, was named the new President of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association. The VFDA Executive Board unanimously elected Fleming to the volunteer leadership post at their annual winter meeting. Rick succeeds Peter Bourne of Bourne’s Energy in Morrisville. Bourne will remain on the VFDA Executive Board.
"Rick is a respected leader in the fuel industry. VFDA members and staff are fortunate to have Rick accept this important role," said Matt Cota, VFDA’s Executive Director.
Fleming also serves on the Board of the New England Fuel Institute (NEFI) and the Petroleum Marketers Association of America (PMAA). As President of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, Rick will help guide an organization that represents nearly 300 companies that are in the business of keeping Vermonters warm.

Philip Conroy, Jr., Ed.D. has been appointed president of Vermont Technical College by the Vermont State College's Board of Trustees following a six-month nationwide presidential search. Dr. Conroy comes to Vermont Tech from Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts, where he serves as vice president of enrollment management and marketing, responsible for admissions, financial aid, marketing, publications, the web site, public relations, and retention related activities.
Conroy, who has served in a variety of roles at Mount Ida since 1997, is an internationally recognized expert on higher education management, particularly in the areas of strategic enrollment management and institutional advancement.

Governor-elect Shumlin named Keith Flynn as the Commissioner of Public Safety today.
‘Keith’s experience on the front lines of law enforcement as well as in the judicial system give him the knowledge, insight and perspective that’s necessary to be a great Commissioner of Public Safety,’ said Shumlin. ‘I am deeply grateful to Keith for his willingness to tackle the challenge of making Vermont a safer place to live, work and raise a family.’

Governor-Elect Peter Shumlin announced today that Susan Allen and Bianca Slota will take positions on his Executive Office staff. Allen, who has worked as a reporter, editorial writer, and columnist, and is currently the Executive Director of Renewable Energy Vermont, will be Special Assistant to the Governor with responsibilities that include policy work and communications strategies. Slota, previously a reporter for WCAX television, will serve as press secretary.

Today the Vermont Department of Public Service released an audit of Burlington Telecom that examines the organization’s business operations - and its expected effect on ratepayers. The 51 page audit details the knowing violation by city leaders and managers of the department’s license conditions; its lack of financial stability and weak inventory and accounting practices. The period under review was from the issue date of the CPG, September 2005, through the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 2010.
The following conclusions were included in the audit:
â ¢ That Burlington Telecom has not been in compliance with Condition No. 60 since September 2005; that Burlington Telecom failed to meet the requirement to repay borrowed funds within 60 days; that even after instituting a policy to repay loans within 60 days, it has continued to carry a negative balance, failing to repay over $16 million in loans from the City's Pooled Cash fund.

Vermont’s Congressional Delegation ‘ Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Congressman Peter Welch (D) ‘ Friday reported that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is releasing $3.3 million more in home heating assistance to Vermont. The Vermont lawmakers have been pushing for this funding and more, which they say Vermonters will need before the winter’s through.
The grant is part of a nationwide release of $2.68 billion in Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding to help eligible families pay for the cost of heating their homes. The funds are the second installment of regular LIHEAP block grants to be released this fiscal year. Because Congress has not yet approved budget bills for the coming year, initial allocations from the agency were about 40 percent less than last year’s levels.

The Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) provided today information on the status of the Federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation 2008 (EUC 08) program.
While discussions in Congress continue, Congress has still not acted on authorizing new entitlement under the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC08) program. EUC08 has two tiers for which Vermont currently qualifies. Tier 1 provides up to 20 weeks and Tier 2 provides up to 14 weeks of additional benefits. While individuals are still receiving EUC payments under their current Tier, absent Congress taking action, Vermont is not authorized to establish new EUC Tier entitlement. Qualifying new unemployment claimants will still be able to collect regular unemployment benefits of up to 26 weeks.
At this time, the lack of an extension is currently impacting approximately 140 claimants per week who either have or soon will exhaust their regular benefits (26 weeks).

BURLINGTON, VT -- The Champlain College United Way Campaign has raised $31,000 and increased its employee participation rate from 40 to 50 percent this year during its United Way of Chittenden County annual Community Campaign.

The campus-wide fund-raising effort employed a variety of social media, blog posts and special events to get the word out to faculty and staff about the need to support United Way and its 60 programs and 30 member agencies. This year's theme, "We Can't Just Leave It to Beaver," played on the notion that the campaign's keyperson was the college's mascot ‘ Chauncey T. Beaver. See the Champlain College United Way blog at http://champlainunitedway.blogspot.com/

The King Street Center welcomed a surprise gift of $2,500 from FairPoint Communications last week which will be used to enhance the current food offerings to the pre-school, after-school and teen programs at the Center. Michael Smith, Vermont State President, Eric LaChance, Account Executive, Peter Constant, Business Sales Manager, and Sabina Haskell, Public Relations Manager from FairPoint Communications visited the King Street Center to deliver the gift directly to Executive Director, Vicky Smith. FairPoint Communications is also four-year sponsor of the King Street Center Bob Aldrich Memorial Golf Tournament.
Pictured from left to right: Peter Constant, Business Sales Manager,
Michael Smith, Vermont State President, Vicky Smith, Executive
Director of the King Street Center, and Eric LaChance, Account
Executive.

Secretary of State-Elect Jim Condos has selected Brian Leven of Stowe to be the new deputy secretary of state. Leven has spent the last 12 years as an attorney for the Vermont Legislative Council. During that time he has served as counsel for the House and Senate Committees on Government Operations and the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules. These three committees are important committees for legislation pertaining to activities and operations of the secretary of state’s office.
In 2002, he staffed the Senate Reapportionment committee which was responsible for redistricting of House and Senate districts after the 2000 US Census. Reapportionment will again be taken up this biennium with completion of the 2010 Census. And, this past year, he served as counsel to the Government Accountability Committee which is monitoring the progress of Challenges for Change.

eCorp English has announced it will be relocating its global headquarters and IT development center to Middlebury, Vermont in January, creating a projected 35 jobs by the end of 2011 and over 100 by 2013. The company provides online English-language training to the personnel of global corporations including Google, Alcatel Lucent, UPS, HSBC and AXA. The move was made possible in large part due to a coordinated effort involving a wide spectrum of public and private entities in Vermont including Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA), Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET), VT Dept. of Economic, Housing and Community Development, Addison County Economic Development Corporation and Middlebury College. The company received approval of an Initial Application under the Vermont Economic Progress Council’s Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) program in August 2010.