Current News

Senator Patrick Leahy joined representatives of the Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA), the Center for an Agricultural Economy (CAE), and local business and community leaders Wednesday afternoon in Hardwick to break ground on the Vermont Food Venture Center 2 – a non-profit kitchen incubator Leahy said would be a cornerstone in the State of Vermont’s efforts to promote agricultural innovation and the food-based economy.
The new $3.1 million facility is being developed by NVDA and Northern Enterprises. The Vermont Food Venture Center 2 will replace the Fairfax-based Vermont Food Venture Center, founded in 1996. The Center will offer affordable rental food production and packaging space to entrepreneurs interested in starting their own food-based businesses. The Center will also offer technical assistance to clients in the areas of food production, packaging and marketing.

Following Entergy Corporation’s (NYSE:ETR) major reorganization announced last month (STORY) by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J Wayne Leonard, Leo Denault, executive vice president and chief financial officer; Richard Smith, president, Entergy wholesale commodities business; and Rod West, executive vice president and chief administrative officer have named new leaders within their respective organizations effective immediately. These changes include beefing up the governmental relations office in its wholesale power business, which includes Vermont Yankee. Vermont Yankee's license expires in 2012 and it will need legislative approval (STORY) to extend the license another 20 years.
New leadership appointments include:
• Michele Lopiccolo, formerly vice president, investor relations, has been named vice president, planning and financial communications and will continue reporting to Denault.

After providing students and parents federal and private loans for years, the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) will go to the bond market within the next two weeks to raise finances for about $23 million in private student loans for the 2010-11 academic year.
Up until now, VSAC has offered students and parents both federal education loans and private loans to supplement federal borrowing. Because of federal legislation, as of July 1, federal loans are available only through the federal government, while private loans continue to be the domain of financial institutions and nonprofits like VSAC.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation learned today that the US Army Corps of Engineers determined that the Agency’s preferred alternative for the next phase of the Chittenden County Circumferential Highway (Circ) passes environmental muster. If all goes as planned, the construction on the Williston phase of the Circ could begin in 2013. VTrans did not say what the total cost might be.
The Corps of Engineers determined that the so-called Circ A/B Boulevard is the Least Environmentally Damaging Practicable Alternative (LEDPA) for the purpose of satisfying a key federal milestone known as the Section 404 Water Quality permit process. VTrans applied for this permit in 2007 in conjunction with the issuance of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which evaluated not only the Circ A/B Boulevard but other roadway alternatives as well.

The Vermont Gross State Product grew slightly in the first quarter of 2010 with a growth rate of 2.6 percent from the previous quarter, but fell 4.5 percent compared to a year ago.
Quarterly Gross State Product
§ Current Quarter. Vermont quarterly real gross state product in the first quarter, seasonally adjusted: $24.5 billion at constant 2005 prices.
§ Previous Quarter. Vermont quarterly real gross state product in the fourth quarter, seasonally adjusted: $24.3 billion at constant 2005 prices.
§ A Year Ago. Vermont quarterly gross state product in the first quarter of last year, seasonally adjusted: $23.4 billion at constant 2005 prices.
Growth in Quarterly Gross State Product

Average retail gasoline prices in Vermont have fallen 1.1 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.76/g yesterday. This compares with the national average that has fallen 5.9 cents per gallon in the last week to $2.72/g, according to gasoline price website VermontGasPrices.com.

Two leadership positions have been announced for IBM in Vermont. Janette K. Bombardier has been named senior location executive and Steven A. Wildermuth has been named vice president, semiconductor manufacturing and development, for the Vermont facility. They succeed John DiToro, vice president for semiconductor manufacturing and senior location executive, who retired from IBM on July 1, 2010. As the senior location executive, Bombardier is responsible for IBM’s external relations and internal site programs for the Vermont facility. She also leads the site’s facilities operations, which includes supporting IBM's Smarter Planet initiatives as an IBM “Center of Excellence” for water and energy management.

Vermont's mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates are still well below the national average and are some of the lowest in the nation. The May Mortgage Monitor report released today by Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of mortgage performance data and analytics, shows a 2.3 percent month-over-month increase in the nation's home loan delinquency rate to 9.2 percent in May 2010, and that early-stage delinquencies are increasing as normal seasonal improvements taper off. This report includes data as of May 31, 2010.
According to the Mortgage Monitor report, the percentage of mortgage loans in default beyond 90 days increased slightly, while both delinquency and foreclosure rates continue to remain relatively stable at historically high levels. There are currently more than 7.3 million loans currently in some stage of delinquency or REO.

Governor Jim Douglas today announced that Deputy Chief of Staff Heidi Tringe will be stepping down at the end of the month to pursue a new opportunity in the private sector. On August 1, she will join the government relations firm of MacLean, Meehan and Rice LLC.
“Heidi has been a critical member of my team and a key advisor during these challenging economic times,” said Governor Douglas. “Her expertise, enthusiasm and commitment to Vermont will be greatly missed, and I wish her all the best in her next endeavor.”
Tringe joined the Governor's senior staff in January 2008 as Special Assistant, following 2 years as Legislative Affairs and Communications Director at the Agency of Human Services. She was appointed Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs in 2009 and assumed her current position in January, 2010.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) says a new infusion of $1.6 million in federal funding that he has secured for Norwich University’s Center for Counterterrorism and Cyber Crime will continue the Center’s work in countering threats to the nation’s cyber networks. This funding is awarded under Homeland Security National Training Program (HSNTP). Leahy has sponsored funding for ongoing research and training work at the Center since he won designation of Norwich’s program as a national counterterrorism resource center nearly a decade ago.

Ledyard National Bank announced today that it has established a $50MM fund from which it will make loans to individuals and businesses in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Kathy Underwood, President and CEO of Ledyard stated, “We are committed to doing our part to contribute to the economic recovery of our region. We have a lot of money to lend to this cause and hope to distribute the $50 million by the end of 2010. I have every expectation that we will be very busy over the next six months.”
Dan Stannard, Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Officer added, “Ledyard is about providing the financial and human resources necessary to help our communities grow and prosper. We look forward to every opportunity that helps us develop new relationships or deepen ones that we’ve had for many years.”

by Robert Smith, Vermont Business Magazine Peter D Van Oot is an attorney with the northern New England law firm of Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC specializing in land use, environmental and corporate law, primarily from the firm’s Lebanon office. A graduate of Williams College and Georgetown University Law School, and a former legislative aide to US Senator Patrick J Leahy, Van Oot has been with DRM since 1987. At DRM, he established and helped to build the firm’s Brattleboro office. He chairs the firm’s Regulated Entities Group, which includes lawyers and legal professionals working in energy law, telecommunications, public utilities, health care, land use/environmental law and government and public affairs. Van Oot has served as lead permitting counsel for projects ranging from the High Points Estates residential project, the Grafton Village Cheese manufacturing and retail store and the recently permitted Commonwealth Dairy yogurt manufacturing facility in Brattleboro to the 1,000-unit Ginn Company development in Burke and the 24-lot Rocking Stone Farm residential project in Manchester, VT. He has served as lead counsel in most of Vermont’s Superfund Sites and advises a wide range of environmental and land use clients throughout Vermont and New Hampshire.