Current News

Weekly unemployment claims fell last week, offsetting somewhat a recent surge in claims. For the week of December 4, 2010, there were 1,371 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance, a decrease of 424 from the week before. Altogether 11,345 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 1,185 from a week ago and 2,114 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 2,533 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 361 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 682 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 58 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at:http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc

In their first conversation since November 2, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Vermont Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie talked by phone late Wednesday about the future of Quebec and Vermont relations, as Vermont’s Governor-elect Peter Shumlin prepares to take office on January 6, 2011.
Shumlin has asked Dubie to act as his liaison to Quebec.
Dubie said, ‘Premier Charest and I covered all areas of collaboration between Vermont and Quebec: energy, homeland security, Lake Champlain and Lake Memphramagog, cultural exchange, commerce, road and rail transportation, and more.’
It has been nearly eight years since Dubie attended Charest’s 2003 swearing-in ceremony in Quebec City, as the only invited American elected official.

Hoping to ensure crisis heating funds are available to assist low-income Vermonters this winter, People’s United Bank has donated $15,000 to the CVPS Shareheat Fund.
The People’s United Bank donation will go into a pool of funds that will be used to match customer donations to the heating assistance program. Customer donations, along with the matching dollars, are distributed to five community action agencies across the state to assist those in need.
‘People’s United Bank’s generosity will help protect families across our service territory,’ CVPS President Bob Young said. ‘Combined with CVPS’s donation and grants from other Vermont businesses, the matching pool now totals $145,000.’

The following is a statement issued by Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss in regards to Burlington Telecom, following a meeting with the Public Service Board. BT's chief creditor is seeking to repossess some of the municipal telecommunications company's hard assets. BT also owes the city $16.9 million. The circumstances of that financing are being investigated at the state and federal levels.
Mayor Kiss: "At today’s status conference the City had the opportunity to explain its plans for the future of Burlington Telecom to the Public Service Board in Montpelier. It should be made clear that the City is not in default on its Lease-Purchase agreement with CitiCapital. Any and all rental payments the City is obligated to make under the agreement have been made.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine. At the height of last Wednesday’s surprise windstorm, Green Mountain Power’s call center was hobbled by a coincidental telecommunications network problem that affected some 4,000 calls into the utility’s headquarters in Colchester. Customers calling in to report a power outage could hear GMP’s customer service representatives, but the reps could not hear the customers.
‘Things were getting a little tense around here,’ said Brian Otley, who is in charge of Technical Operations for GMP. He said the call center was prepared for customer calls as the storm developed during the afternoon, but the first warning came in the form of raised voices in the call center. As calls started to come in around 6 pm to report outages, the reps first started talking loudly to customers. Because every rep was doing this, the noise level escalated.
‘They could hear us, we could not hear them,’ Otley said.

Over the past decade Vermont has spent tens of millions of dollars in state tax revenue to subsidize businesses ‘ state and local tax breaks, cash grants, government-financed infrastructure, and other help in exchange for job creation. Yet a government watchdog organization says taxpayers do not know much about what they’ve gotten for their money.
A new report released today by Good Jobs First, a non-profit, non-partisan research center based in Washington, DC, seeks to increase the transparency of business subsidies in Vermont and throughout the country.
‘This report is especially important now as Vermont’s elected officials are making tough choices about state spending and revenues,’ said Public Assets Institute President Paul Cillo. ‘There needs to be better public accountability about business subsidies so that Vermonters can know what they’re getting for their money and whether the money might be better spent on other things.’

After being named on almost every list as one of the top ski resorts the East, North America and the World, Stowe Mountain Resort debuts new amenities and programs unequaled in the resort industry. This season Stowe debuts new additions to the resort almost 20 years in the making. With a contemporary focus on value and convenience, Stowe has set new standards for mountain recreation and home ownership.
Here’s a sample of what’s new at Stowe Mountain Resort:
HGTV Dream Home

Quality Management Support, Inc, a full service quality and business management consulting firm, announces that it has opened offices in Cornwall, Vermont. The newly established Vermont office will allow QMS to expand its services in the Northeast. The company will maintain its existing offices in Metairie, LA.
QMS, in its consultation with clients, specifically addresses the ISO 9000, ISO 14000, ISO 17025, API Q1, TS 16949 and AS9100 Q quality system standards, the Food Industry Standards: HACCP, AIB and NSF Cook & Thurber, Lean Manufacturing and Best Business Practices. QMS provides integrated web-based management systems which support best business practices. Additionally, Quality Management Support offers a multitude of quality system training programs.
Source: QMS. Cornwall, VT ‘ December 8, 2010 - www.QualityManagementSupport.com

The Michael Dunn property in Derby is now part of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The 458-acre parcel, on the shore of Lake Memphremagog along the state’s border with Canada, was donated to the US Fish and Wildlife Service according to the terms of the Michael Dunn Trust and is now legally owned by the federal government. Closing for the property took place today in Newport.
The property, with a mile of lake front, will be managed as the Eagle Point Wildlife Management Area of the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge, based in Swanton, through a cooperative agreement with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. The agreement is expected to be signed in the near future.

Vermont’s State Historic Sites posted a one-and-a-half percent increase in attendance for the 2010 season, with officials crediting more family-oriented events and improved promotion.
A total of 66,900 people visited the state’s 10 historic sites during the 2010 season, which ran from May to October, up 1,012 from last year’s 65,888 visitors.
The increase would have been even bigger had the state not been forced to close one site due to construction activity; when adjusted for that, the total attendance at the remaining sites was up six percent.
‘We had a number of interactive and innovative special events at the sites ‘ like the star-gazing at the Hubbardton Battlefield ‘ that really appealed to families,’ said John Dumville, historic sites operations chief at the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. ‘And we also expanded our efforts to publicize them, including radio ads in partnership with the Tourism Department and on Facebook.’

A new survey conducted recently by Harris Interactive for The Vermont Country Store shows what classic toys and candy people remember most when they were young. Of the 2,104 adults age 18 or older who were surveyed online, more than a third (39%) responded that chocolate bars were their top candy choice when they were a child. Also, more than a quarter of the respondents (29%) noted that a doll or stuffed animal was their favorite childhood toy.
‘In the current era of electronics and always wanting ‘the next best thing,’ it’s nice to travel back in time and remember when life was simpler and products were more memorable,’ said Cabot Orton, proprietor of The Vermont Country Store. ‘Toys and candy especially are the iconic childhood products that many people recall easily as adults. This survey gives us great insight into those products that make people feel nostalgic and reminiscent of their youth.’

DEW Construction Corp was among five companies awarded an Associated General Contractors of Vermont (AGC-VT) Best Builders Award for Outstanding Quality of Work and Effort at the AGC-VT Annual Meeting held at the Sheraton Hotel on December 7, 2010.
DEW received recognition under the New Construction category for using Innovative Construction Technologies on the Tram Haus Lodge project at Jay Peak Resort in Jay, VT. The Tram Haus Lodge is a five ‘story, 57-suite hotel that offers a mix of studio, 1 and 2 bedroom units along with a bar and restaurant with seating for up to 180, a fitness studio and spa, coffee shop and bakery, a small retail store and a rental and repair shop. The project also includes an underground heated parking garage for hotel guests.