Current News

The Vermont Agency of Transportation on April 14, 2010 will close a portion of Route 7A in Bennington. The closure, which will last approximately four weeks, is necessary to perform structural repairs and widening of Bridge 1 just north of the intersection with Route 67A, commonly referred to as Northside Drive.
During construction, VTrans will replace a deteriorated bridge rail as well as rehabilitate the existing bridge deck and widen the travel portion of the bridge from 19 feet 8 inches to 24 feet. The final product will be a new, wider, bare concrete bridge deck with fascia mounted rail designed to last for years to come.
Berard Street, a town highway adjacent to the project, will also be closed during this period. Traffic will be re-routed to Phyllis Lane. The detour will constitute less than a half mile, and motorists are advised to allow for extra time to reach their destination.

Heritage Aviation will unveil its brand new, 79,000- square-foot, eco-friendly Fixed Base Operation (FBO) at the Burlington International Airport (BTV) during a celebration to be held on May 20, 2010. The company is proud to offer a full-service facility with 24/7 service at this important international gateway. At the event, sister company Heritage Flight, will celebrate 25 years of providing charter flight services.

Vermont continues to ahve one of the lowest foreclosures rates in the country, but the national rate is still at a record high, though it appears to be finally leveling off. The latest Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS), a leading provider of mortgage performance data and analytics, shows that the total number of delinquent loans was 21.3 percent higher than the same period last year. Although the data showed a small 1.45 percent seasonal decline in delinquencies from January 2010 to February 2010 month-end, the national delinquency rate still stood at 10.2 percent. The report is based on data as of February 2010 month-end.

The Brewers Association of Denver, CO has announced the winners of the World Beer Cup 2010, a global beer competition that evaluates beers from around the world and recognizes the most outstanding beers being produced in the world, and has singled out three Vermont breweries for excellence.
The Alchemist Pub & Brewery of Waterbury received a Gold medal in the Gluten-Free Beer category for their Celia Saison.
Harpoon Brewery of Windsor, VT and Boston, MA, was awarded the Silver medal in the American Style Wheat Beer with Yeast category for the flagship of their UFO brands, UFO Hefeweizen.
Lawson s Finest Liquids of Warren, VT won a Bronze medal in the Specialty Beer category for Maple Tripple.
Celia Saison A Belgian-inspired gluten free Saison made with sorghum, orange peel, coriander, and Amarillo hops ~ 5.4% a/v

Christopher L Dutton was named president and chief executive officer of Vermont Electric Power Company this morning following a vote by Vermont Electric Power Company s board of directors.

Chris Dutton brings a wealth of Vermont utility CEO experience, is recognized across the state as an innovative and thoughtful leader, and is the perfect person to lead VELCO into its next stages of development, said Robert Clarke, Chairman of the VELCO Board.

Dutton, 61, assumes the position effective immediately and succeeds John J. Donleavy who resigned April 10th. VELCO is the state s provider of electric transmission service. Dutton has served on the VELCO Board of Directors since 1997.

On Wednesday, April 7, Chris Francis, owner of Ye Olde England Inn, was named the 2010 Vermont Travel Person of the Year at the Vermont Travel Industry Conference held at the Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa in Stowe, Vermont.
Francis began his career in the travel industry the summer of 1983, when he purchased the Ye Olde England Inn while on vacation with his wife Lynn. They had traveled to the states from England to catch the Americas Cup Races in Newport, Rhode Island. After, Chris and Lynn made their way up to Stowe, Vermont. It was during this visit that Chris decided he would like to own an inn and pub there, was interested in the lodging property San Souci and made an offer using his credit card. On the way back to England, he was notified that the offer was accepted and on November 4th, 1983 the Ye Olde England Inn officially opened.

(Vermont Business Magazine) Secretary of Administration Neale F Lunderville announced today that all three state of Vermont revenue figures - General Fund, Transportation Fund and Education Fund - all exceeded forecasts for the month of March. General Fund revenues exceeded expectations by 21 percent, or nearly $13 million for a total of $75 million. The principal factor was personal income tax net, which was 37 percent higher than expected. Transportation was up nearly $1 million, or 5 percent, gasoline and vehicle purchase taxes were up significantly. The Education tax was up $560,000 or 5.3 percent.

e-Vermont is a new $4 million initiative to help rural Vermont towns take full advantage of the Internet and advance a wide variety of local needs including economic development, school innovation, job creation, downtown marketing, community engagement, and e-commerce. Two dozen communities statewide will be selected to work with the new e-Vermont Partnership in a comprehensive effort combining online services, training, access, awareness, and planning. However, applications are due by April 30 to be considered among the 12 communities for Round One.
By reaching the bedrocks of Vermont communities—schools, businesses, municipal government, libraries, health and social services groups—e-Vermont will promote new collaborative efforts for identifying and implementing previously untapped resources and help our towns fully realize the potential of the digital age.

(Vermont Business Magazine) The Senate passed S288, the so-called jobs bill, that will use federal stimulus funds in an effort to put Vermonters back to work and encourage small business investment. An amendment to the bill restores the Vermont Seal of Quality program. The Seal is intended to assure consumers that the product, such as maple syrup or dairy products, is a purely Vermont product. The Agency wanted to end the program because they do not have the resources to enforce the strict regulations, and without that guarantee the program is neither valid nor effective.

To continue to stay ahead of rising demand for 3G wireless applications and Internet access in Windham County, Vermont, Verizon Wireless has enhanced its local network. Since 2000, the company has invested $2.6 billion into its New England network, including $192 million in 2009, and recently earned recognition from J.D. Power and Associates for “Highest Call Quality Performance among Wireless Cell Phone Users in the Northeast”.

Recent upgrades to existing 3G cell sites provide increased 3G data capacity at:

Magic Mountain Ski Area in Londonderry
Mount Snow Ski Resort in West Dover
Stratton Mountain Ski Resort in Stratton

Source: Verizon Wireless. LONDONDERRY, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--4.9.2010

At a press conference held today at the Vermont State House, four Vermont senators urged the Legislature to consider the “Consensus Economic and Fiscal Impact Analyses Associated with the Future of the Vermont Yankee Power Plant” prepared by Tom Kavet of Kavet Rockler & Associates, LLC and Jeff Carr of Economic & Policy Resources, Inc. The analyses, based on information from numerous economic and energy experts, finds relicensing Vermont Yankee and adopting a strong renewable energy policy will yield “the largest average positive employment and other economic impacts, with immediate job gains, no job losses and lower long term power bills.”

Senator Bernie Sanders today meet with Rutland County officials to discuss the appropriation of almost $700,000 in federal funds for energy efficiency projects in communities throughout the county. In addition, the senator announced over $60,000 in federal funding for six area senior centers.
The energy efficiency funding comes from the federal stimulus program and is being distributed through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program that was created by legislation Sanders authored.