Current News

Fletcher Allen announced today it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to sell its outpatient renal dialysis centers to Fresenius Medical Care North America, a national provider of dialysis services with a clinical site in St Johnsbury, VT. The outpatient centers are located in South Burlington, St Albans, Berlin, Rutland and Newport and serve approximately 290 patients. The sale is subject to the State of Vermont's Certificate of Need (CON) review process. The price will be finalized when a binding purchase and sale agreement is complete, and it will be made public in the CON application.
Key details of the Letter of Intent include:

Mount Snow has announced its plan to open for skiing and riding on Thanksgiving Day. It will have lift serviced terrain for all ability levels including a full terrain park at Carinthia. In all four lifts will run servicing seven trails and two mountain faces.
As well Santa Claus is coming to town. . .more specifically he and Mrs. Claus will be at Mount Snow on November 27th to listen to the wishes of boys and girls. Part of the annual Mount Snow Thanksgiving weekend, Santa and the Mrs. make their way into the base area escorted by the West Dover Fire Department in their ladder truck.

Governor-elect Shumlin announced today that budget veteran Jim Reardon will continue as the Commissioner of Finance and Management. Commissioner Reardon is widely recognized for his ability to resolve longstanding financial reporting problems and for his abilities to develop agency budgets, goals, policies and work with the legislature on crafting the state budget. Reardon has served both Republican and Democratic governors in positions relating to the development and execution of budgets.
‘Commissioner Reardon knows the state budget better than anyone else I know,’ said Governor-elect Shumlin. ‘His ability to keep the state on a steady course in good times and in bad is invaluable and I am deeply grateful for his willingness to continue on in his role as Commissioner.’

Governor Jim Douglas today announced nearly $600,000 to help repair the fire-damaged building that houses Montpelier’s senior center, as well as to help develop 14 senior apartments on the site. That was one of several Vermont Community Development Program grants announced, which also included funds for two affordable housing groups to merge their operations.
During a ceremony at the 58 Barre Street structure, the Governor presented town officials with a check for $588,500 that will be used to help refurbish the building, which was heavily damaged in a December 2009 fire. ‘As Vermont’s senior population continues to grow, senior housing and programs like the Montpelier Senior Activity Center are critical to keeping older residents in their communities,’ Governor Douglas said. ‘This keeps them close to family, friends, services and support systems that can allow them to remain independent and active.’

The Vermont Department of Labor announced today the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October 2010 was 5.7 percent which is a decrease of one tenth of a percent from the previous month’s reported level of 5.8 percent. Vermont has the fifth lowest rate in the nation. New Hampshire is fourth at 5.4 percent. Vermont also added 700 jobs in one month and 1,900 jobs since October 2009.
Compared to a year ago, the October unemployment rate is lower by a full percentage point. Since the start of the calendar year, the Vermont seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has followed a downward trend. In January it was 6.7 percent, followed by February and March at 6.6 percent. Then the next three months each saw declines of two tenths of percent to put the state rate at 6.0 percent in June, where it stayed for three consecutive months until the September announcement of 5.8 percent.

Margolis, Healy & Associates (MH&A), of Richmond, a leading professional services firm specializing in higher education safety and security, today announced that it has received a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) 2010 Competitive Grant for Enhancing Law Enforcement and Crime Prevention. BJA received 42 applications and made six awards for a total of $3,194,243 in funding.
The BJA Grant Award of $399,800 will provide MH&A with funding to implement a project entitled, "Best Practices for Campus Crime Prevention: Developing Evidence Based Modern Crime Prevention Strategies for Institutions of Higher Education."
"We will use an inclusive, research-focused strategy to identify, evaluate, refine and replicate best and promising practices in modern evidence-based and age-appropriate crime prevention programming at institutions of higher education," said Dr. Gary J. Margolis, MH&A managing partner.

This winter many Vermonters who do not qualify or have not applied for heating assistance will find themselves in need of help. For more than twenty years, VFDA’s Neighbor-in-Need programs have helped those Vermonters who are often too proud to ask.
This year Vermont’s heating fuel dealers are continuing the proud tradition of giving back to their local community. Thanks to the generosity of the businesses and organizations listed below, the Split the Ticket program will provide more than 6,000 gallons of heating fuel this winter.
Vermont’s heating fuel dealers are mostly small, family-owned businesses that live in the same community where they work. They know about the military family that is struggling to make ends meet, or the senior citizen who is faced with an unexpected medical bill. Heating fuel dealers see the need first-hand and are often the first to respond in a crisis, especially when the family is unable to receive government assistance.

Vermont Trophy & Engraving of Colchester announced today that it is the feature article in the December edition of A & E magazine, the largest and most widely read trade magazine for awards, engraving and recognition professionals. The 4 page article showcases some of the company's work in photographs and discusses Vermont Trophy & Engraving's growth and success since its purchase by Steve and Margi Swett in 1996 when the focus was shifted to the business to business market.

Vermont Trophy and Engraving is a 51-year-old, woman-owned business in located in Colchester VT, which specializes in innovative awards of recognition, trophies and signage. The company engraves metal, plastic and glass, often using proprietary techniques. Vermont Trophy & Engraving is also area representatives for Matthews Bronze, the world leader in exterior grade metal signs.

Much like his first round of high-ranking appointments last week, Governor-elect Peter Shumlin announced key appointments to his cabinet today that contained a couple of surprises. The Governor-elect announced that Lawrence Miller will be the Secretary of Commerce and Community Development. Miller will work closely with Patricia Moulton-Powden who will be the Agency’s Deputy Secretary. Chuck Ross will be the Secretary of Agriculture and Annie Noonan will be the Commissioner of Labor. This team will work together closely with one shared mission, Shumlin said, job creation. Shumlin made these appointments a top priority in his transition as economic development and the creation of good paying jobs in Vermont will be his administration's primary focus.
Pictured from left: Pat Moulton-Powden, Lawrence Miller, Governor-elect Shumlin, Annie Noonan and Chuck Ross. Photo by Vermont Business Magazine.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) today announced that it will restate its previously issued financial statements for fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the first three quarters of fiscal year 2010 (including the quarterly data for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 and its selected financial data for the relevant periods), due to errors identified in these financial statements. The company itemized $11.5 million in errors. Net income for the periods in question was expected to be reduced up to $6.5 million, or $.05 per share.
Financial issues have dogged the company the last few months (STORY), resulting in several lawsuits. The late-day announcement had little effect on company stock, as it was down only less than a point. It started the day at $30.97 and was $30.26 when this story was filed at 4:30 pm Friday.

by James Dwinell. We interviewed Governor Howard Dean at the Hotel de Ville (aka City Hall) in Paris. We were in a deep window seat overlooking the Notre Dame Cathedral. The Hotel de Ville has been on this same location, though not the same building, since the 14th century. Dean works with a law firm in Washington and is a board member of the National Democrat Institute (NDI), an organization formed by President Reagan to promote democracy around the world. (There is also a Republican institute, IRI, the International Republican Institute.)
Howard Dean with Senator Leahy at the Democrats' Unity Rally August 25 in Burlington. Photo by Anne Galloway, vtdigger.com

Released today, the Vermont Attorney General’s Proposed Bias-Free Policing Policy recognizes the civil rights of all people within Vermont’s borders.
The proposed policy clearly states that law enforcement will treat all persons living in, visiting, or traveling through Vermont, equally, regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, or other personal criteria. ‘This policy was developed in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and community advocates from around the state and it reflects the most fundamental concept of our democracy ‘ that government, in this case police, shall treat all people equally,’ said Attorney General William Sorrell.
‘This is certainly not the Arizona approach. Rather, this is a policy that I believe Vermonters and law enforcement agencies should be proud of,’ stated Sorrell.