Current News

Earlier this week, Inc. magazine recognized Dealer.com (www.dealer.com), ranking it 106th among the fastest-growing private advertising and marketing companies in the United States. Dealer.com, the global leader in online marketing solutions for the automotive industry, experienced three-year sales growth of 286% between 2006 and 2009. Overall, Dealer.com was ranked number 1,056 on the fourth annual Inc. 5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The Inc. 5000 list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy - America's independent-minded entrepreneurs.
"The leaders of the companies on this year's Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression," said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. "The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs."

The Nordic Educational Trust was created in 1988 by former Roundtable member, Ross Anderson and his wife, Gail, to provide scholarship grants and other financial aid to assist deserving students from Chittenden and Grand Isle counties in pursuing technical education at two-year post-secondary institutions. To date, the Trust has awarded over 40 need-based scholarships to Vermont students; support that is not predicated on previous academic performance, yet has in many cases provided the opportunity for life-altering educational experiences. Effective this summer, oversight and administration of the Trust and scholarship recipient selection, has been transferred to the Vermont Business Roundtable, in recognition of its long-standing focus on education as an economic development strategy.

Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) have announced $5.7 million in federal funding to help Vermont households utilize ‘smart meter’ systems and install solar thermal and solar hot water technologies.
The non-profit Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, which operates Efficiency Vermont, will administer a $700,000 project to complement smart grid technology being deployed across the state due to an earlier $69 million stimulus investment. This outreach project will install energy use monitors and provide information and access to technical support to help approximately 750 low-income households better understand their energy use and identify savings opportunities.

To continue to stay ahead of rising demand for wireless voice, 3G multimedia and Internet access in Chittenden County, Verizon Wireless has expanded its local network with a cell site in Williston.
Consumer Advantages

New cell site provides increased wireless voice and 3G data coverage for the Williston Village area and along I-89 between exits 11 and 12, as well as the surrounding area
Expanded 3G data coverage in Williston lets more customers using notebook computers or smartphones:

A looming disaster threatened by the combination of early-maturing apples and a hitch with visas for the guest workers to pick them has been averted, according to Senator Patrick Leahy and Vermont apple growers.
With apple crops ripening 10 days to 14 days early this year, at least 19 orchards in Vermont and New York, and many more throughout the Northeast, had encountered an extra form-filing step in the annual process of recruiting temporary workers from Jamaica. The added step – Request For Evidence (RFE) process requirements – comes in the aftermath of an 18-month investigation of the Jamaican Central Labour Organization.
The process of approving visas for seasonal workers, under the longstanding H-2A guest worker program, is handled by two federal agencies: the U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a unit of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation on Friday will reopen the I-89 northbound entrance ramp at Exit 8 in Montpelier. The exact time has not been fixed, but it likely will be sometime after the morning rush commute. But by the end of the day, VTrans anticipates having the ramp open. The ramp was not scheduled to be reopened until September 3, so opening the ramp tomorrow means it will open a week ahead of schedule.
The detour signs will remain up until after the ramp is opened, so there will be a very short time when the ramp is open but some detour signs are still in place. VTrans anticipates traffic patterns regarding the Interstate to be back to normal by the weekend.
Source: VTrans. 8.26.2010

Burke Mountain Ski Area received partial findings yesterday for their Act 250 Master Plan application, a detailed roadmap for future development at the resort. The findings are a culmination of several years of studies, assessments, and designs completed by Burke Mountain beginning in late 2005 which provide the State with an overview of the project and compliance with the environmental standards of the State of Vermont. The proposed project includes the development of up to; 1000 residential units, commercial space, 155 acres of additional ski terrain, 3 new ski lifts, snowmaking improvements, additional summer recreation facilities, and expanded infrastructure to support the project.

A major utility trade publication has listed Central Vermont Public Service (NYSE-CV) as one of the 25 most intelligent electric utilities ‘ just as the Vermont Public Service Board has approved the company’s CVPS SmartPowerâ ¢ plan.
Intelligent Utility, a publication of Energy Central, a leading utility information resource that produces numerous magazines, events, newsletters and direct marketing resources, named CVPS No. 16 on its annual list of the top 25 intelligent utilities. ‘The Intelligent Utility rating is another acknowledgement that our employees continue to do what is necessary to stay on the forefront of good utility operations for the benefit of customers and shareholders alike,’ CVPS President Bob Young said. ‘The PSB approval of our plan highlights that as well.’

Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin (D-Windham) says it looks like he's won, while state Senator Doug Racine (D-Chittenden), only 182 votes back, is not ready to concede in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor of Vermont. Even when the official results are posted it might not be over. Both Racine and Secretary of State Deb Markowitz are less than 2 percentage points behind Shumlin, which would allow either to call for a recount. According to Vermont Public Radio, with all precincts reporting, the unofficial results show Shumlin with 18,239 votes to Racine's 18,057. Markowitz is more than 600 votes back in third, with Matt Dunne of Hartland in fourth and state Senator Susan Bartlett (D-Lamoille) in fifth.

The US Army, Army Contracting Command, Joint Munitions and Lethality, in Picatinny, NJ, has awarded General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products an order valued at approximately $48 million to produce reactive armor side skirt tiles for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle System. Deliveries are expected to begin in February 2011 and be completed in September 2011. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).
The reactive armor system is composed of tiles that fasten to the exterior of a vehicle, allowing it to better withstand direct hits from a variety of anti-armor munitions.
Production work will be performed at the General Dynamics facility in McHenry, Miss., and the program will be managed from General Dynamics' Burlington Technology Center in Vermont. A strategic partner, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Ordnance and Protection Division, will share the production workload in Haifa, Israel.

At 11:00 a.m. Thursday, April 26, 2010, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will preside over a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in the Vermont State House in Montpelier, Vt. on the need to expand worker-owned businesses in the United States in order to create a more productive and democratic economy.

Saturday’s Last Mile Ride – Gifford Medical Center’s annual charity motorcycle ride – attracted more than 180 riders and raised approximately $40,000 for end-of-life care at the nonprofit Randolph medical center.
Started in 2006 by Gifford nurse and motorcyclist Lynda McDermott of Randolph, the ride has grown significantly in the five years since in both the number of riders it attracts and the money it raises.
This year’s ride took motorcyclists through about 100 miles of central Vermont countryside through Randolph, Northfield, Montpelier, Middlesex, the Mad River Valley, Rochester, Bethel and more. Orange County Sheriff Bill Bohnyak led the ride and combat veterans provided “road guard” services.