Current News

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.

The Vermont State Colleges this week announced the selection of two finalists for the position of president of Vermont Technical College. The names of the candidates were sent to the Board of Trustees by its presidential search committee following interviews with four candidates during the week of November 15. The two finalists sent to the Board of Trustees are Dr Kathleen Nelson, former president and President Emeritus of Lake Superior College in Duluth, Minnesota; and Dr Philip Conroy, Vice President for Enrollment and Marketing at Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts.
The trustees will interview the finalists and consider a selection at their regular meeting on December 9th.

Governor-elect Shumlin today announced his "transportation team." Brian Searles will be the Agency of Transportation’s next Secretary; Sue Minter will serve as Deputy Secretary. Searles, former Transportation Secretary under Governor Dean, currently is director of Burlington International Airport. He has led the airport during several rounds of infrastructure improvements and increases in passenger boardings.

CitiCapital, the lead creditor for Burlington Telecom, the municipal telecommunications company, and the City of Burlington have failed to rework a financing deal on tens of millions of dollars in debt. CitiCapital will repossess the equipment as a result. However, before that happens the Vermont Public Service Board must approve any action that would significantly affect service. In the meantime, service will continue uninterrupted to BT customers. Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss issued the following statement Wednesday regarding Burlington Telecom’s negotiations with CitiCapital.
‘The City of Burlington has been in negotiations with CitiCapital to restructure its lease since early this year. The cornerstone of these negotiations has been a plan to utilize the positive cash flow Burlington Telecom is producing from regular operations to support a lease amendment. However, CitiCapital has been unwilling to make an accommodation the City could support.