Current News

Gardener’s Supply, the Burlington, Vermont-based garden products retailer, became 100 percent employee-owned as of Monday. Founder and majority owner Will Raap began selling shares to employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP) in 1987. An ESOP allows all employees to earn stock and share in company profits.
Selling Gardener’s Supply to the employees keeps the business in Vermont, and gives employees the opportunity to become owners of a business they helped build, something Will Raap felt was critical when he started the company in 1983.
“I’m delighted the work we started 27 years ago will continue. Our founding mission statement was to ‘spread the joys and rewards of gardening’, said Raap. “Gardening is even more relevant today than it was when we started.”

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) today announced that the Lake Champlain Bridge demolition has been rescheduled to Monday, December 28, 2009 at 10 am. due to ice formation on Lake Champlain and severely cold temperatures which have significantly delayed work to prepare the bridge for demolition.
Safety issues associated with the bitter cold and high winds, as well as icing around the bridge have caused the delay, according to NYSDOT’s blast subcontractor Advanced Explosives Demolition (AED). Therefore, the bridge will not be sufficiently prepared for demolition on the originally scheduled date, December 23.

Burlington, Vermont, attorney Robert D Rachlin, senior director of the law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, celebrated his 50th anniversary this month with the law firm that bears his name. He was honored at the firm’s annual holiday dinner, held at the Stoweflake Resort and Conference Center.
Rachlin holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a law degree from the University of Chicago Law School. Over the decades, he has represented the state of Vermont in achieving one of the largest state court verdicts in Vermont history and has attained, in a trade secret misappropriation suit, the largest federal award in Vermont history.
He successfully represented the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in establishing U.S. license primacy over licenses granted by the International Olympic Committee, considered by the USOC to be a major stride in the protection of its control over Olympic-related designations.

A fully-integrated electronic medical record and enterprise-wide computer system will be installed at Northwestern Medical Center following approval of the hospital’s application for a Certificate of Need (CON). Paulette Thabault, the Commissioner of the Banking, Insurance, Securities, and Health Care Administration, approved the application on December 17 following a unanimous vote to recommend NMC’s project by the Public Oversight Commission on December 2.
“With an integrated clinical record, information can be shared by all who are involved in the care of a patient, at any time and in any location,” said Sandy Robinson, NMC’s Chief Nursing Officer and Director of Clinical Services. “We can ‘build in’ our standards of care and improve our ability to provide exceptional care for our patients.”

Green Mountain Capital LP, a Vermont Small Business Investment Company founded 16 years ago as part of the Dean administration's efforts to stimulate investment in Vermont's small businesses, announced that it will be winding down in 2010 after making a year-end 2009 cash distribution to its partners. With this distribution, the investors will have received more than double the capital they contributed to the Fund. Over the course of its operations, GMC created and/or saved more than 700 jobs in Vermont and provided $13 million in essential financing to 14 Vermont companies plus 14 other firms in northern New England.

The USDA Department of Labor is currently reviewing a rule concerning Temporary Agricultural Employment of H-2A workers in the United States. In response, Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee, in collaboration with his counterparts in numerous Northeastern states, has submitted written testimony to urge the Department of Labor to review the proposed regulations so that dairy farmers are not excluded from utilizing the benefits of the H-2A program. Senator Leahy has also strongly urged the Department of Labor to exercise its discretion under the special procedures provision to allow dairy farmers to be eligible for the H-2A program.

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) announces the election of six new board members and an amendment to the bylaws to include at-large board members.
Three board members were elected for three-year terms. Russ Bennett is the owner and founder of Northland Design & Construction, Inc., a residential design-build company focusing on energy efficiency. Mark Curran is an owner and founder of Black River Produce, a wholesale produce distributer employing over 150 people. Mary Powell is president and CEO of Green Mountain Power (GMP), a utility which transmits, distributes and sells electricity to more than 200,000 people and businesses in Vermont. Due to prior commitments, Powell is joining the board in September.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) announced that a recent public survey showed an overwhelming majority of people favor the Modified Network Tied Arch Bridge concept as a replacement to the existing Lake Champlain Bridge. Transportation officials are expected to make the final decision on a new bridge design in January.
More than 3,500 people cast their vote either by Internet or by attending a series of public meetings held on December 12 and hosted by the Bridge’s Public Advisory Committee or PAC. The results and pictures of all the concepts are below.
Additionally, the PAC issued a final recommendation for its preferred design for the replacement of the Lake Champlain Bridge. The PAC agreed with the public survey results, and also recommended replacing the existing structure with a Modified Network Tied Arch Bridge.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) today announced that, for safety reasons, Route 125 in Addison has been selected as the Vermont public viewing area for the demolition of the Lake Champlain Bridge. The demolition is scheduled for Wednesday, December 23, 2009 and is tentatively set for 10 a.m. This time, however, could change if circumstances arise that necessitate rescheduling. Access to the public viewing site will be controlled by turning parts of Route 125 and Route 17 into one-way streets.
Heading west along Route 125, the road will become one way (heading west) in the area of Lake Street. One-way traffic will be maintained as Route 125 heads toward Lake Champlain and connects with Route 17 at the bridge. Route 17 will also be just one way (headed east) from the bridge until the area around the West Addison General Store, also known as WAGS.

A holiday season charitable initiative that drew accolades last year for distributing thousands of pairs of warm socks to needy Vermont youngsters will reach even more children this year, organizers announced today. Governor James Douglas joined representatives of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont and Cabot Hosiery Mills, Inc. at a Northfield sock factory today to announce that eleven thousand pairs of top quality merino wool socks will be distributed to needy children this year, a thousand more pairs than last year, thanks to the joint efforts of a charitable foundation affiliated with Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Cabot, and the state’s community action agencies and homeless shelters.

FairPoint Communications has named Vermont native Michael K Smith as Vermont State President. He will be responsible for regulatory matters, governmental relations, and economic development for Vermont.

After being closed all day Friday and Saturday, the Ticonderoga Ferry operated Sunday without incident. As a result, the ferry company plans to operate Monday on its regular schedule, 6 am to 8 pm. Of course, this is lake condition and weather dependent. For the latest information, people should check the ferry company's website for the latest information. The website is http://www.middlebury.net/tiferry/