Current News
by tim
The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board announced today grant awards made by the Farm Viability Program to five meat, poultry and grain processing businesses totaling $65,000. Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee said, “With producers all over Vermont raising more grain, poultry and meat in response to the increasing demand for local foods, processing facilities are stretched to the limit. These grants will enable businesses in Westfield, Sharon, Bridport, West Glover and Morrisville to purchase equipment, expand facilities and increase capacity, enhancing the processing infrastructure of Vermont’s food system.”
by tim
This year s competition for the highly anticipated Deane C Davis Outstanding Business of the Year Award was impressive. Many Vermont businesses who applied for this prestigious award were worthy but only three could be named as finalists. This year s finalists are BioTek Instruments, Inc of Winooski, The Foley Family of Companies of Rutland, and Small Dog Electronics of Waitsfield. All three businesses exemplify the standards by which the Deane C Davis Outstanding Business Award nominees are judged. The award is presented by Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.
by tim
Rock of Ages Corporation (NASDAQ:ROAC) announced today that the net loss for the first quarter of 2010 narrowed to $2,092,000, or $.28 per share, compared to a net loss of $2,774,000, or $.37 per share, for the first quarter of 2009. Revenue increased 26% to $7,511,000 from $5,938,000 for the first quarter of last year. "We have always reported a loss in the first quarter due to the seasonal nature of our business. This year's sharply reduced first quarter loss was primarily the result of the substantially improved performance of our manufacturing operations, as well as continued reductions in overhead costs," said Chief Executive Officer Donald Labonte.
Rock of Ages announced earlier this week that it had received an unsolicited offer from Swenson Granite of New Hampshire to purchase the company and take it private. Kurt Swenson is chairman of both companies.
by tim
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc has announced that it has acquired Diedrich Coffee, Inc. (NASDAQ: DDRX) for $35 per share of common stock in cash, pursuant to a cash tender offer and a “short form” merger, in a transaction with a total value of approximately $300 million.
GMCR’s tender offer for all outstanding shares of Diedrich Coffee common stock expired at midnight, Eastern Time, on Monday, May 10, 2010. As of the tender offer’s expiration time, approximately 5,446,334 shares had been tendered and not properly withdrawn pursuant to the tender offer, which represented approximately 95.06% of the outstanding shares as of the tender offer’s expiration date. GMCR and the wholly owned subsidiary through which it conducted the tender offer, Pebbles Acquisition Sub, Inc. (“Purchaser”), accepted for payment all shares that were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn, and paid for these shares in accordance with the tender offer’s terms.
by tim
National Life Group announced today a biomass energy project that will meet 90 percent of the heating needs of its Montpelier campus while reducing the company's annual carbon footprint by 45 percent. The $2 million project, scheduled to be completed in late summer, is expected to cut National Life’s annual usage of heating oil from 210,000 gallons to about 30,000 gallons. The company’s $500,000 annual heating bill will be cut roughly in half.
National Life’s 500,000-square-foot headquarters is one of the largest commercial buildings in Vermont.
“This project will reduce our reliance on foreign oil, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and will create jobs in our region by supporting our forest products industry,” said Mehran Assadi, president and CEO of National Life Group.
by og
A statewide survey conducted for Vermont Business Magazine by a Stowe-based consulting firm identifies tax rates as the number one factor that could cause companies to leave Vermont. Conversely, there was consensus among survey respondents that Vermont's quality of life acts as a powerful incentive for businesses to settle and stay here.
WATCH Video clip from WCAX of Arno Group's Dan Smith and VBM's Tim McQuiston discussing some of the survey's findings with anchor Kristin Kelly.
The Arno Group asked more than 3,000 Vermont businesses in February to complete a 37-question survey. The consultants received 254 responses, largely from companies with fewer than 20 employees. Manufacturers and professional service providers accounted for more than half the respondents.
by og
Vermont Business Magazine and The Arno Group, LLC partnered to take a pulse of the Vermont business community. On February 10, 2010, we sent a survey to 3,100 businesses throughout Vermont and received 254 responses.
The survey is made up of thirty-seven questions. Some of the questions try to quantify what factors drive Vermont businesses to be here and succeed and as well which business factors frustrate cause pain to businesses in Vermont. We did not ask about every possible business factor, but instead listed a sample of issues which confront businesses everywhere, such as health care, labor costs and taxes. In addition, we asked questions aiming to quantify how much pain certain factor costs cause businesses and how much that pain would need to be reduced to make the pain go away. We review that data below.
by tim
Vermont Governor Jim Douglas this morning announced that the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) will conduct a record amount of paving this construction season. VTrans will invest more than $100 million on paving this season for the first time in its history. Governor Douglas made the announcement in Sheldon, where VTrans is paving nearly 10 miles of Route 105 between Sheldon and Enosburg.
“I am proud of the increased investment we’ve made in our transportation infrastructure in recent years,” the Governor said. “This year’s paving budget is a great example of our commitment. VTrans’ paving expenditure for the 2010 construction season will total about $120 million – a record sum as no other paving season has ever topped $100 million.”
by tim
Attorney General Andrew M Cuomo today announced that his office is dedicating $500,000 to create a new grant program to help local farmers fight water pollution in Lake Champlain. The funds, from a settlement that Cuomo secured in a court-ordered settlement with American Electric Power, will assist farmers in the southern Champlain Valley to further improve operations and reduce stormwater discharges of nutrients from their land. Cuomo enlisted the help of Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell in finding a way for farmers in Vermont and New York to reduce pollutants along the southern stretches of the lake.
by tim
ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, has been recognized as “Best Aquarium” 2010 Editors’ Choice in Yankee Magazine’s Travel Guide to New England, on newsstands now. This designation is awarded by Yankee’s editors and contributors, who name select restaurants, lodgings, and attractions in New England to the exclusive list. Recipients range from the rustic to the refined, but all are noteworthy and memorable destinations. For 34 years, Yankee Magazine’s Travel Guide to New England has been the most widely distributed and best-selling guide to the six-state region, providing readers with a comprehensive vacation-planning tool and daily reference.
ECHO’s designation was accompanied by the following Yankee Editor’s Choice quote:
“Frogs and whale skeletons, shipwrecks and sea monsters — there’s something to stir any imagination at this exceedingly well-done exploration of the ecology and culture of Lake Champlain.”
by tim
Alderman's Toyota has expanded their service center, built a used car center and a new state of the art car wash in Rutland Town.
Pictured, left to right:
Marleen Cenate, Heritage Family Credit Union/RRCC 1st Treasurer
John Valente, Ryan, Smith & Carbine, Ltd./RRCC Board President
Pierre Masuy, OMYA, Inc./RRCC Board of Directors
Alvin Figiel, NBF Architects
Kate Alderman, Alderman's Toyota
Stacy Alderman, Alderman's Toyota
Phil Alderman, Alderman's Toyota
Chris Cento, Boston Regional Manager, Toyota
Jim Hall, Rutland Town Select Board
Stanley Rhodes, Chair, Rutland Town Select Board
Tom Donahue, Executive Vice President/CEO Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce
by tim
The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) on Wednesday, May 12 will close the ramp connecting Interstate 89 South to Interstate 91 North. The ramp is being closed so that routine repairs can be conducted to a bridge that is part of the ramp. The closure, which will also affect how traffic from Route 4 accesses I-91 North, is expected to last three weeks.
Motorists heading to I-91 North from either I-89 South or Route 4 East will be detoured along Route 4 East and eventually to Route 5 South where motorists will connect to I-91 North at Exit 11. Motorists are encouraged to leave extra time to reach their destination.
The ramp closure will not affect traffic traveling south along I-89 seeking to connect to I-91 South.
Source: VTrans. 5.11.2010