Current News

Governor Jim Douglas today said the Obama Administration has selected Vermont as one of eight states to participate in a demonstration project that is modeled after, and will strengthen, the groundbreaking Vermont Blueprint for Health.
As part of the demonstration project, the federal government will provide Medicare funding to better coordinate care, lower costs and improve health outcomes for patients, the Governor said. This is a first for the federal Medicare program. The total funding is about $21.8 million over three years. It is expected to impact 117,000 Vermonters by 2013.
‘This demonstration project, the Multi-payer Advanced Primary Care Practice, strengthens reforms already in place here as part of our Vermont Blueprint for Health and provides another example of how states can contain health care costs and improve quality,’ Governor Douglas said.

Vermont Aerospace Manufacturing, Inc, has announced that it has been sold to its employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). Company owners Don and Sheryl Cota decided to create the ESOP as a way to reward employees for their years of service and to insure that the business would stay in the area. The announcement was made at a celebration at the company’s headquarters in Lyndonville on November 9th. Guests included Senator Bernard Sanders and Don Jamison of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center.
‘This year marks Vermont Aerospace’s 30th year in business, and this was accomplished because of the dedication and hard work of our employees,’ says Don Cota, president of Vermont Aerospace. ‘Sheryl and I were looking for a way to provide our employees with stability, opportunity, and a vehicle that would allow sharing of company profits.’

Community Bancorp. (OTCBB:CMTV) and Community National Bank in Derby, Vermont, has announced the planned retirement of Chairman Richard C White from their Boards of Directors, effective January 1, 2011. Formerly its CEO, White was instrumental in the growth of the bank over the last 20 years and in setting up the holding company.
White joined the Bank on January 22, 1980, as a member of the Board of Directors. While on the Bank’s Board, he helped to oversee the Bank’s transition to a bank holding company structure, and has served on the Company’s Board since its founding. In addition to his service on the Boards of the Company and Bank, White served as a Vice President of the Company and the Bank, and became President and CEO of the Bank in 1986. He assumed the additional role of President of the Company and Chairman of the Boards of the Company and Bank upon Arthur Judd’s retirement on March, 1987.

Vermont Student Assistance Corporation offers two online presentations for prospective college students and their families to view in their comfort of their own homes.
How to Write an Effective Admissions Essay, available at www.vsacworkshopsonline.org, provides a brief overview of the components that are essential to producing a strong college application essay. The site also offers a variety of downloadable handouts, including a list of books on essay writing that can be borrowed from VSAC through local libraries in Vermont.

According to an economic study conducted by Art Woolf, PhD, an economist with Northern Economic Consulting, Inc, Vermont’s sales tax has inflicted ‘significant harm’ on towns along the Connecticut River corridor. The study, released today, was funded by a consortium of Vermont organizations including the Beverage Association of Vermont; Vermont Chamber of Commerce; Vermont Grocers’ Association; Vermont Retail Association; and the Vermont Wholesale Beverage Association.
The study concluded that the sales tax has dramatically changed the pattern of retailing and the location of retail activity in the counties that border the Connecticut River, leading to a significant loss of the retail market in the Vermont border counties.
Some of the study’s key findings:
· Before 1969 (when Vermont implemented its sales tax), per capita retail sales in the two regions were identical. Today, Vermont’s per capita sales are 60% of New Hampshire’s.

Secretary of Administration Neale F Lunderville announced today that Vermont’s October revenue figures were above the General Fund target, but were below for both the Transportation and Education funds. While the vital personal income tax was virtually flat during the month and for the year-to-date, corporate income taxes well exceeded targets. Meanwhile, a general sluggishness in motor vehicle purchases and fees and diesel fuel revenues reflect a general sluggishness in the economy.
General Fund

FairPoint customers around Vermont are getting a new voice mail system, one that offers improved features on a new next-generation voice mail platform.

FairPoint began rolling out the new voice mail this month, starting with Essex Junction customers. Bennington, Brattleboro and Rutland will be added this week and the transition to the new system will continue community by community over the next three weeks.

And, for the first time, Island Pond customers will soon have voice mail availability.

‘This new IP-based voice mail platform improves current features right off the bat and allows for future ‘bells and whistles,’‘ said Mike Smith, Vermont state president for FairPoint.

FairPoint customers will receive instructions for the new voice mail system by mail, which includes a user’s guide, followed by voice mail messages as the transition date approaches.

Vermont State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding as Secretary of Administration was the most surprising name among the small group of senior appointments announced by Governor-elect Peter Shumlin this afternoon at his transition office in Montpelier. The four others named were Bill Lofy as chief of staff, Alexandra MacLean as Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs, Beth Robinson as counsel and Susan Bartlett as special adviser. See biographies below.
While Spaulding was an early supporter of Shumlin’s and was often cited as a possible senior member of the governor-elect’s staff, there had been no acknowledgement by Spaulding that he was being considered. Spaulding stated at the press conference that he was content to keep his current job, but that when the governor-elect asked him to serve that that is what he felt he should do.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA Rural Development is providing loans and grants for 41 energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in Vermont under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The funding includes support for solar projects for businesses and anaerobic digesters for farms that will generate renewable energy. Maple producers will dramatically decrease energy costs with installation of new technology. A disused former train depot will be restored with full energy efficient improvements ready for new tenants.
‘These loans and grants will generate and save energy for Vermont’s farmers and businesses for many years to come, while promoting Obama Administration efforts to transition to a renewable energy economy,’ Vilsack said. ‘Farmers have significant opportunity to reduce their energy consumption or generate income by producing renewable energy that can be used by other consumers through USDA’s REAP program.’

US Department of Housing & Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan will deliver the keynote address at this week’s 2010 Vermont Statewide Housing Conference. He’s scheduled to speak between 9 and 10:15 a.m. Doors open at 8 a.m.
Sec. Donovan will be the highest ranking housing official ever to speak at the biennial event.
More than 450 people have pre-registered to attend the day-long conference, which is the state’s largest gathering of housing professionals. Pre-registrations have nearly filled the capacity of the venue, but organizers will accept walk-in registrations as space allows.
WHAT
2010 Vermont Statewide Housing Conference
WHEN
Thursday, Nov. 18, 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
Sec. Donovan scheduled to speak between 9 and 10:15 a.m.
WHERE
Hilton, 60 Battery St., Burlington
WHO
Shaun Donovan
Secretary, U.S. Dept of Housing & Urban Development (HUD)
Vermont Statewide Housing Conference

Governor Jim Douglas today announced the appointments of Robert P. Gerety, Jr. of White River Junction, Robert A. Mello of South Burlington and Timothy B. Tomasi of Montpelier to serve on the Superior Court.
‘These three individuals are respected among their peers and bring experience, commitment and a clear understanding of the law to the bench,’ said Governor Douglas. ‘I am pleased to make these appointments today and thank each for their service to Vermont.’
Robert P. Gerety, Jr. is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and Vermont Law School. He has been in private practice since clerking in Vermont Superior Court in the early 1980’s. Since 1996, Gerety has operated his own law practice in White River Junction and currently serves as the chair of the Vermont Judicial Conduct Board.

Governor Jim Douglas on Veterans Day dedicated the Vermont Global War on Terror Memorial during a Veterans Day ceremony. The memorial recognizes all Vermonters who have served in the current conflicts and lists the 40 military members with Vermont ties who have died in service to their state and nation.
‘Vermont has a long history of answering the call to arms to defend our nation, and this memorial recognizes those who volunteered and gave their lives in our defense,’ said Governor Douglas, who went on to highlight the wide support given to this project. ‘This dedication has been made possible by the determination and generosity of patriotic Vermonters.’