Current News

The total value of Vermont construction contracts this year through October were down 23 percent as federal funding for highway and bridge construction waned. But both residential and commercial spending showed modest gains after two years of sluggish building in each. Residential was up 16 percent for the year-to-date and commercial was up 12 percent. New Hampshire showed a similar rebound in residential and commercial construction.
Meanwhile, total US construction spending increased by 0.7 percent in October, driven largely by growing demand for power projects and public construction, the Associated General Contractors of America noted today in an analysis of new Census Bureau data. The new data, however, indicated continued weakness in many construction categories, including private nonresidential and single family construction, association officials observed.

Governor-elect Shumlin sent the following letter to Vermont school board members today regarding the tax rate recommended by the acting Tax Commissioner, Ellen Tofferi. The letter suggests that the current tax rate will continue for 2012 and that the one-time, $19 million federal contribution could be used to bridge the expected shortfall in funding over the next two years.
The Shumlin and Tofferi letters follow:
December 1, 2010
Dear School Board Member,
Thank you for your hard work to maintain the quality of our public schools and contain costs. I am deeply grateful for your commitment to Vermont’s children. It is due, in large part, to your hard work that our students have access to one of the best education systems in the country. As we both understand well, our state’s economic success and future relies on this quality. In addition, your work to keep FY2011 spending at a level rate is critical and greatly appreciated by all Vermonters.

Employees of IBM in Vermont collected more than four tons of food ‘ 8,110 pounds ‘ for food shelves in Vermont and New York. The food drive was part of IBM’s annual Employee Charitable Contribution Campaign, an employee-run fundraising event that offers employees the opportunity to contribute to non-profit charities. This year, IBM employees pledged $971,000 to support Vermont United Ways and other charitable organizations.
The food drive was one of several campaign activities that extended the employees’ contributions. To promote the program, employees held a ‘food sculpture’ contest, in which employee teams built displays out of the donated boxes and cans of food. Subjects included a full-size park bench, model rockets, a giant-size soup bowl and the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon character.
Food donations were distributed to the following organizations:
‘ Addison County Community Action, Middlebury, VT ‘ 540 pounds of food

At a time when 76-million Americans are sickened by food-borne illnesses each year, the Senate today voted 73 to 25 for legislation to strengthen food safety.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) responded to concerns by small farmers in Vermont, where there has been a significant increase in sustainable vegetable farms, and added a provision exempting small, low-risk, on-farm food processors from the new regulations aimed at large agribusinesses.
‘While this legislation gives the FDA new tools to protect American families from contaminated foods, we avoided placing unnecessary requirements on small farms in Vermont and elsewhere,’ said Sanders, a member of the Senate health committee. ‘We struck the right balance between the viability of small family farms that process foods and the safety of the nation’s food supply.’

Weekly unemployment claims continued their sharp rise last week continuing an upward trend over the last couple of months to reach a similar level to a year ago. For the week of November 27, 2010, there were 1,795 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance, an increase of 394 from the week before. Altogether 10,160 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 597 from a week ago and 1,685 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 2,172 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 213 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 624 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is a decrease of 72 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/.

With the launch of the new winter season, Stowe Mountain Lodge and Stowe Mountain Resort are poised for a grand re-opening. A multitude of new additions including the South Wing of Stowe Mountain Lodge, Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center, new menu launch in both of Stowe Mountain Lodge's dining options, KidSpa and additional meeting space will nearly simultaneously open in December 2010. Stowe Mountain Resort officially opened for the 2010/2011 winter season on November 24. The centerpiece of Stowe Mountain Resort is undoubtedly the four-diamond, ski-in ski-out Stowe Mountain Lodge located at the heart of the resort.
Stowe Mountain Lodge will open an additional 173 guest rooms on December 10, more the doubling the current capacity of the lodge and bringing the total room count to 312. The South Wing of Stowe Mountain Lodge will feature the same lavishly appointed accommodations as the 2-year old North Wing.

People's United Financial, Inc (Nasdaq: PBCT), which is based in Connecticut and is the largest bank in Vermont, announced today that it has completed its acquisitions of LSB Corporation, an $800 million bank holding company based in North Andover, Massachusetts, and Smithtown Bancorp, Inc, a $2.3 billion bank holding company based in Smithtown, New York. LSB Corporation's subsidiary, River Bank, has seven branches, five of which are just north of Boston and two of which are in southern New Hampshire. Smithtown Bancorp's subsidiary, Bank of Smithtown, has 30 branches on Long Island and one in New York City.

Mary M Lee has been appointed vice president and chief people officer of National Life Group.
The appointment, effective January 1, 2011, places Lee in charge of the department that oversees all people-related issues, including recruiting, organizational development and training, and total rewards for the roughly 900 employees who work at National Life Group.
‘Mary is a seasoned professional with a passion for developing and serving people,’ said CEO Mehran Assadi, who made the appointment. ‘She is talented and innovative, and brings deep experience to this critical position.’
Lee, who joined National Life in April 2008, has spent 25 years in human resources. She was a principal in the HR firm, Hallerlee Human Resources Consulting, LLC, and has held senior human resources positions at IDX Systems in South Burlington, Burton Snowboards in Burlington, and the Bank of Vermont.

A new slate of officers will serve in leadership positions on the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) Board of Directors. ‘VEDA is very fortunate to have a Board comprised of such talented, experienced, and dedicated Vermonters, and from among their ranks, a new Board Chair, Vice-Chair, and Treasurer have been elected,’ said VEDA’s Chief Executive Officer Jo Bradley. The newly elected VEDA Officers include:

Robert D. Britt, South Burlington ‘

Governor-elect Shumlin announced this afternoon that Doug Racine, the man whom he beat in a recount for the Democratic nomination last August, will be Vermont’s next Secretary of Human Services, Deputy Secretary and Commissioner of the Department for Children and Families. Doug Racine will be the Agency of Human Service’s next Secretary, Patrick Flood will continue in his role as Deputy Secretary and David Yacavone will serve as the Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families.
This is the second appointment Shumlin has made from among his rivals for governor. In his first round of appointments, state Senator Susan Bartlett was named as a special adviser. She will play a key role in writing the budget.

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets recently assessed penalties to two retail establishments for violating the Vermont scanner pricing law. The agency assessed the Price Chopper store in Derby a penalty of $3,750 and the Price Chopper store in Saint Johnsbury a penalty of $13,000.

AllEarth Renewables, Inc. of Williston, Vt., announced today that Andrew Savage will join the company's senior management team as Director of Communications and Public Affairs.

Savage is currently Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT) in Washington, DC. He previously directed communications and served as spokesperson for Welch, directed communications for President Barack Obama's successful presidential primary campaign in Utah, and earlier served as Aide to the Vermont Senate President Pro Tempore for Welch. Savage, 29 and a native of Calais, Vt., is a graduate of Middlebury College. He will begin with AllEarth in January.