Current News

Vermont Secretary of Administration Neale Lunderville announced today that Vermont’s September tax revenue figures were above targets for the General Fund and Education Fund, but were slightly below target for the Transportation Fund.
General FundSeptember is the third month of fiscal year (FY) 2011. General Fund revenues totaled $117.72 million for September 2010, and were +$8.75 million or +8.03% above the $108.97 million consensus revenue forecast for the month. Year-to-date General Fund performance of $281.65 million was +$12.44 million, or +4.62% ahead of year to date target of $269.21 million. This +$12.44 million overage is almost fully attributable to a one-time bank franchise receipt in August and likely one-time corporate income tax receipts this month as discussed below.
The current forecast does not project a return to fiscal year 2008 revenue levels until fiscal year 2013.

Moody’s Investor Services has completed separate reviews of the Burlington International Airport (BTV) and Burlington Electric Department (BED) and has announced a downgrade of the credit rating for each department. BTV’s rating moved from Baa3 to Ba1. BED’s rating moved from A3 to Baa2. The Moody’s analysis acknowledges progress that has been made to address issues in each department as well as the fundamental strength of Burlington’s economy. Moody’s also cites as a contributing factor the City’s overall credit status and current negative outlook.
City officials are optimistic about addressing Moody’s concerns, with action steps already in place to continue making financial improvements. On top of progress made this year, both BED and BTV forecast continued financial improvements in the short and long-term.

Twelve new Vermont jobs are on hold following an appeal in Maine of that state’s decision to change its lottery vendor to the same firm that handles Vermont. The Kennebec Journal is reporting today that Scientific Games of Gardiner, Me, has appealed the decision by the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations to award the new contract to SG’s international competitor, Intralot. Intralot, based in Greece, won the Vermont contract in 2009. That decision by the Vermont Lottery to go with Intralot was also appealed by SG, which, as in Maine, was the previous contractor.
The Kennebec Journal story said the Intralot decision was made in early October. It said that Intralot planned to transfer 12 positions to its Vermont data center in East Montpelier. The two companies handle the technical and management side of the lotteries. In Maine, SG also prints the lottery cards, but that contract expires next year.

The Boys & Girls Club of Burlington is pleased to
announce a $5,000 grant award from the Citizen’s Bank Foundation to
partially fund the career readiness and life skills program, KnowHow2Go. In
it’s fourth year, the KnowHow2Go Program introduces middle school and
high school youth to the college process and possible career choices in
order to encourage and prepare them to pursue higher education options.
The program is a series of educational sessions designed to inform members
about good study habits; setting goals; guiding students to high school
course selection that leads them to a higher education path. Additionally
participants learn the basics of handling personal finances and accessing
college loans; attend college and business visits, and receive homework
assistance and extensive mentoring support.
Brigitte Ritchie, Citizens Bank Vice President for Public Affairs and

Frank Trombetta of Midway Oil has opened Poultney and Fair Haven’s first Irving Oil gas stations, expanding the regional brand to the community. They are located at 267 Main Street in Poultney and 38 Main Street in Fair Haven.
‘Midway Oil is a locally owned, family operated Vermont business that has served the community since 1925,’ said Trombetta. ‘Irving Oil’s reputation of being a family-owned company with a deep community commitment fell in line with our values and motivated us to join the brand. Their growth in Vermont has been particularly impressive. We are excited to expand the Irving brand here and are looking forward to continuing to serve the members of our community.’
Midway Oil is owned by the Trombetta and Merone families. The company supplies fuel for 53 gas stations and owns 20 locations in Vermont and upstate New York.

Stratton Mountain Resort saw its first snow covering this morning after flurries last night stuck to some of its trails for the first time this season.

Source: Stratton 10.15.2010 www.Stratton.com.

For the second time this year, Chittenden Solid Waste Department staff will suit up and sort trash gathered from around Chittenden County for four days during the week of October 18. A sort done in May 2010 found that recyclables comprised 16.8 percent of trash, down from 19.3 percent in 2006.
Similar to the Burlington City Hall sort that took place on October 14, staff will measure the amount of recyclables and compostables that are ending up languishing in a landfill when they could have been recycled into new products, or composted into valuable soil amendments.

Attorney General William H. Sorrell is urgently warning Vermonters to be suspicious of any request to send money by wire transfer. Vermonters are currently being targeted for a variety of financial frauds including bogus sweepstakes and lotteries, phony rentals, and calls and emails from scammers posing as friends or relatives. ‘Our office has received reports from Vermont consumers targeted by these wire transfer scams, totaling over $35,000 in losses in the past two weeks alone. If someone contacts you and asks you to wire money for any reason, don’t do it without first calling my office at 800-649-2424.’

SKI Magazine released results from its 2011 Reader Resort Survey naming Sugarbush Resort as the #1 resort in the east for terrain variety. Sugarbush came out on top in a category in which the resort is committed to having a stronghold.
"This ranking really pleases me for several reasons," says owner and president Win Smith. "It underscores the fact that Sugarbush is a place where you can not only learn to ski, but where you can continue skiing throughout your life. You won't ever get bored here."
Sugarbush's #1 ranking in terrain variety is followed by a #2 ranking for overall satisfaction, and a #3 for service. The 1-2-3 punch marks a new high for the resort, which has experienced a steady increase in the survey results over the last ten years.

Layoffs - Budget Cuts - Downsizing.
Every day there seems to be another news story covering the fallout from the current economic downturn.
Today's economy has created an increasingly challenging environment for human resource administrators. If you are the person responsible for the HR functions of your organization, you may know that there are federal and state employment laws that can help you maneuver through these difficult times - but how familiar are you with them?

The Workforce Development Center at Champlain College, in collaboration with HRSentry, is offering a series of online workshops that can answer your questions and give you the skills needed to successfully handle the human resources issues you face every day.

Workshops are delivered 100% online, giving you access to the resources and knowledge you need 24/7, on a schedule that works for you.

Governor Jim Douglas yesterday departed for Japan on the first leg of a 12-day EB-5 trade mission to Asia to help Vermont employers attract foreign investment and create jobs. The EB-5 program is a federal investment program run by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The goal of the program is to incent investment and create American jobs by setting aside a pool of green cards for qualified foreign investors that invest capital into approved EB-5 projects. The Vermont EB-5 Regional Center is run through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and has raised over $100 million in new capital for companies and projects.
Governor Douglas and the delegation will be traveling to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Vietnam between October 14 and October 26.
Source: Governor's office. 10.13.2010

Larry Sudbay, President and Chief Executive Officer of SymQuest Group, Inc, announced today that SymQuest’s fifteenth annual golf tournament raised $5,000 for Spectrum Youth and Family Services. The tournament was held at the Vermont National Country Club, South Burlington, Vermont, on Monday, October 4.
‘Support like this is so critical to our mission of offering innovative best practice programs and services for youth and their families in need in this area,’ said Mark Redmond, Executive Director, Spectrum Youth and Family Services. ‘We are very grateful for SymQuest’s recognition of the work that we perform and for the funding generated from this memorable event.’