Current News

The Smithsonian’s National Design Museum has selected an "Eco-Machine" created by John Todd, professor of ecological design at the University of Vermont, as one of the winners of its National Design Triennial.Built at the Omega Center for Sustainable Living, in Rhinebeck, New York, Todd's Eco-Machine is an advanced waste-water treatment system that mimics nature, using an integrated series of tanks filled with microbes, algae, plants and even fish to clean water and break down sludge.Part of the new exhibition, "Why Design Now?" Todd's Eco-Machine, with 125 other winning projects, was selected by the curators as one "the most innovative, forward thinking designs at the center of contemporary culture in the previous three years."The exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum http://www.cooperhewitt.org in New York City, May 14, 2010 and will be on view through January 9, 2011.Todd's Eco-Machine exem

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture is very pleased to announce the beginning of a new benefit for Dairy Producers and their Families: FARM FIRST (FFP). The FARM FIRST Program was developed and is operated by the Invest Employee Assistance Program (EAP) in collaboration with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, the University of Vermont Extension, and the VT Farm Health Task Force. FARM FIRST now partners with dairy producers to provide information and counseling services that are tailored to their unique and changing needs.
FARM FIRST is intended to improve mental health and productivity among farmers and family members on Vermont’s dairy farms. The first of its kind in the country, FARM FIRST takes the valuable Midwest farmer hotline model to a new level with the addition of statewide licensed clinical staff prepared to confidentially assist with any concern. Farmers’ concerns currently being addressed include:

Wednesday, May 12, 2010. "When we returned to Montpelier in January for the second half of this biennium, there was little doubt that this would be the most challenging year in recent memory.
As our state and nation slowly emerge from the deepest and longest recession since the Second World War, our most critical task is to restart the engine of our economy and set Vermont on a sustainable fiscal path.
The urgency of our efforts is heightened by the knowledge that many of our friends and neighbors are working longer hours for lower wages and that others are out of work altogether.
The economic upheaval Vermonters have experienced has contributed to serious troubles in our state s fiscal situation. But despite these challenges, we can feel good about the work done here, under the Golden Dome, in 2010.

Gifford Medical Center in Randolph has received two national honors.
The Randolph medical center has been honored for excellence in marketing with a 2010 Aster Award and named among the nation s 100 Best Places to Work in Health Care by Becker s ASC Review/Becker s Hospital Review.
Aster Award
The Aster Award came for Gifford s 2009 Annual Report. The report, reflecting on the Randolph hospital s decade of financial growth, was a bronze winner in the category for hospitals with fewer than 75 beds.
The Aster Awards, one of the largest national competitions of its kind, is hosted by Marketing Healthcare Today Magazine and Creative Images, Inc. This elite program recognizes outstanding health care professionals for excellence in their marketing efforts for the calendar year 2009.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”