Current News

Interested Vermont residents and businesses are about to have a limited opportunity to purchase new issue State of Vermont bonds. The State Treasurer’s Office recommends that anyone interested in buying some of the $25 million in soon-to-be available bonds contact a registered broker/dealer well in advance of the November 16 sale date. Previous bond offerings targeted to Vermont investors have sometimes had three times as many orders for the bonds as there were bonds available.

Financial analysts reported Monday night that South Burlington’s pension funding shortfall is still over $8 million, but noted solid gains in attempts to shore up the plan’s finances.
According to an annual update for the City Council by Tracy Braun of Peoples United Retirement Services and Annie Voldman of Annie Voldman, a consulting actuary, the unfunded part of the municipal retirement fund dropped approximately $800,000 below last year’s $8.9 million shortfall.
During the past decade, elected officials seemingly weren’t aware of the fund’s downward slide until they were revealed by new City Manager Sandy Miller. Paying the unfunded part of the plan through a low-interest bond was a strategy introduced during the council’s discussions.

Burlington Telecom didn’t make a $480,000 payment due last Sunday to CitiCapital, which included $386,000 in interest. However, Mayor Bob Kiss said Monday that there are ongoing negotiations with the lender.
Burlington hired the financial advisory firm Dorman and Fawcett to negotiate with CitiCapital on the repayment terms for the $33.5 million loan the New York-based lender made to BT in August 2007.
BT hasn’t made any interest and principal payments on the loan this year, which totals approximately $1.5 million in missed payments, according to Chief Administrative Officer Jonathan Leopold. Leopold mentioned that the city entered into a forbearance agreement with CitiCapital on July 1 that expired September 30 but was extended for an additional 30 days and expired on Sunday.

Corporate Responsibility Magazine named Lawrence J. Blanford, President and CEO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), as its 2010 Responsible CEO of the Year in the Mid-Cap category. It is the second consecutive year Blanford has received this honor.
‘On behalf of all our extraordinary GMCR employees, I am honored to again receive this recognition,’ said Mr. Blanford. ‘Our company’s purpose ‘ to create the ultimate coffee experience in every life we touch ‘ lives and breathes in daily efforts and commitment of our employees. It is through them that GMCR has been able to demonstrate that social and environmental responsibility and profitability go hand-in-hand and we are hopeful that our work can inspire others.’The Mid-Cap category includes medium-sized, public companies (sales between $100 million and $1.999 billion). Mr. Blanford accepted the award last night at ceremonies at the CR Officer Summit at the historic Union League Club of Chicago.

Financial irregularities have just recently been discovered within the offices of the Hardwick Electric Department, it announced today, which may exceed $1 million over a period of more than 10 years. A full investigation is being conducted by the Department and other governmental agencies. Immediate action has been taken by the Department to protect assets, conduct an audit and evaluate all legal remedies to recoup missing funds. One employee has been removed from her position and administrative action will commence to formally terminate that employee.
The Commissioners have retained the services of Valsangiacomo, Detora McQuesten, a Barre law firm, to assist in all matters.

Entergy Corporation announced today that a process is under way to explore the potential sale of Vermont Yankee, its 605-megawatt nuclear plant in Vernon, Vermont.
The sale process is being conducted on a confidential basis and no additional details will be released at this time, an Entergy statement said. While no decision has been made to sell the plant, the company expects interest from multiple parties. Entergy shares were up more than a point this morning to $75.70.

By Chris Graff. Peter Shumlin wins in the end. Just barely.
He did it in the primary. An unusual and expensive decision to run statewide television ads pushed him across the finish line ahead of Doug Racine. Just barely, leading to the first statewide primary election recount in the state’s history.
He did it in the general election, trading the lead with Brian Dubie throughout election night but ended up ahead, just barely.
His double narrow wins is a first in Vermont history. Never have we had a governor who so narrowly won the primary and then narrowly won the general election.
So how did he win in the end?

The J Warren and Lois McClure Foundation, a supporting organization of the Vermont Community Foundation, has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Community College of Vermont to expand access to CCV’s Introduction to College Studies (ICS) course. Last year the Foundation supported course delivery and transportation to ICS classes for students in rural parts of the state. This fall, the J. Warren and Lois McClure Foundation awarded additional funding to expand delivery of the program in regions where access to college is a significant barrier for students.

Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder and former CEO of Seventh Generation, has been removed as director of the company and his employment has been terminated, according to a spokesperson for the company. The story was first reported by www.greenbiz.com.
Chrystie Heimert told Vermont Business Magazine that the board of directors announced the decision regarding Hollender on October 26. The closely held company is employee owned. Heimert said Hollander and his wife, Sheila, who will remain as an employee and on the board, are still major shareholders in company. Hollender had helped start the company 20 years ago, took it public, then engineered a plan to return it to a private, employee-owned company.

Senate President Peter Shumlin, a Democrat from Putney, was elected governor by a narrow margin after a long, expensive and occasionally contentious race against the Republican Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie of Essex.
‘I am extraordinarily humbled and grateful,’ Shumlin told supporters at a rally just after noon in Burlington. ‘We have hard work to do.’
Dubie called Shumlin around 9:30 this morning to concede the race.

The Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce held their 112th Annual Meeting on November 1st. Dan DiBattista, Plant Manager, Rutland GE-Aviation and his employees were named the 2010 Business Persons of the Year. In his remarks Executive Vice President Tom Donahue noted ‘GE Rutland recently added a 27,000 (square) foot expansion to Plant 2 and have invested $60 million into this plant within the last four years,’ Donahue said, ‘and will be investing another $10 million in the next year with a substantial portion of that total investment in machinery and equipment.’ Donahue also highlighted the benefits of having GE-Aviation in Rutland, GE's commitment to the region, contributions to the community and the superior leadership of Dan DiBattista.

Driven by reliability and transmission improvements and increasing power costs, Central Vermont Public Service has asked the Vermont Public Service Board to authorize an 8.34 percent rate increase under the company’s alternative regulation plan. The change would leave the company’s rates among the lowest of the major utilities in New England. It would take effect with bills rendered starting Jan. 1, 2011.
The bill for a residential customer who uses 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month would rise from $78.11 to $84.54, a difference of $6.43. By comparison, the same customer would pay as much as $121.80 elsewhere in New England, according to the Edison Electric Institute.