Current News

Senator Patrick Leahy, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee announced today major federal funding for MicroStrain and Triosyn, both of Williston, for a total of $3.2 million. MicroStrain produces sensors used to provide crucial data on the safety of US Navy aircraft. MicroStrain has doubled its employment since 2007, from 25 to now 50 employees. The new $2.4 million Department of Defense contract for the company to will allow it to continue to develop independently powered wireless sensors to help the Navy monitor wear and tear on its helicopters.
Since 2006, Leahy has secured $8.1 million worth of contracts for the firm to develop a system of state-of-the-art sensors, power systems and processing equipment that will help the Navy reduce repair costs, reduce the number of equipment-related failures and ensure the safety of those flying the aircraft. MicroStrain recently moved to a new building in Williston

In an effort to help the region's struggling dairy farmers, students at the University of Vermont have agreed to forgo a price reduction on retail milk they would have received due to plummeting milk prices, passing the 10-cent difference on to the 1,025 dairy farms in the state and 1,791 across New England.
Inspired by the fair trade concept, the innovative initiative, which starts on Nov. 17, is part of the Keep Local Farms program, designed to provide a way for consumers to contribute money directly to dairy farmers so they receive a sustainable price for their milk. Despite spending about $1.80 to produce a gallon of milk, farmers are receiving only $1.10 in return, resulting in an annual loss of $100,000 or about $120 per cow for the average size Vermont dairy farm of 130 cows.

An independent review of Vermont Housing Finance Agency's single-family home loan portfolio shows property values increased by 24 percent compared to values at time of purchase. The median increase in individual home values in VHFA's portfolio was 14 percent.
"During this recession we've heard a lot about homes dropping in value, but properties in VHFA's portfolio are doing well. This is evidence of the fiscal strength of the Agency," said Executive Director Sarah Carpenter. "This is the first time the Agency has commissioned a report such as this, and the results were stronger than expected."
VHFA commissioned First American CoreLogic Inc. (FACL), a national leader in automated valuation models, to perform the review, which was completed in July, near the end of VHFA's fiscal year. FACL is a division of First American Co., a Fortune 500 company based in Santa Ana, Calif.

The Addison County Chamber of Commerce has learned that the Fort Ticonderoga Ferry will continue operation. There will be no interruption of service as had been reported by several media outlets. The owners of the ferry and the states of New York and Vermont reached an agreement over the weekend so that the ferry will continue to provide service to passengers commuting between Ticonderoga, NY and Shoreham, VT, through December weather permitting, and will continue to be free to passengers.
All other transportation services (ferries and bus routes) for New York and Vermont commuters remain unchanged with the following exceptions:

Route 108 through Smugglers' Notch, which has been closed since late last week, will not reopen until spring. For those who may not know, the Agency of Transportation annually closes this road for the winter. Mother Nature will determine when in the spring it will reopen.
Source: VTrans.

Vermont Agency of Transportation Secretary David Dill on Thursday, November 12 joined transportation administrators from the six New England states in to advance the goal of regional cooperation and coordination to achieve the mutual goal of enhancing “mobility options” for the people of the Northeast. All six New England states have submitted Stimulus grant applications under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for high-speed or intercity commuter rail funding. On Thursday, the administrators expressed cautious optimism about their chances of success with these applications, while recognizing the extremely competitive nature of the program.
The meeting, which was held in Connecticut, was a follow-up to a meeting of the Northeast Association of State Transportation Officials (NASTO) in Boston where a “vision” for the region covering high-speed and intercity passenger rail, as well as freight rail, was developed and ultimately unveiled in August.

Governor Jim Douglas today announced $500,000 in funding will be available for the 2010 Recreation Trails Program. Vermont’s Recreational Trails Program is a matching grant program of the federal Highway Administration for the acquisition, development, rehabilitation and maintenance of trails, and trail-related facilities, for non-motorized, motorized, multiple-use or compatible recreational trail use.
"These grants provide opportunities for Vermonters to spend more time outdoors on our trails and they encourage outdoor activity and healthy living,” said Governor Douglas. “By improving access to public lands and waters, these grants also support both local tourism and recreation businesses.”
The deadline for grant applications to the Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation is January 15, 2010. All applications are reviewed and ranked by a five-member citizens’ committee based on established criteria.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR) announced today that the Company has acquired Timothy’s Coffees of the World, Inc from an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. for a cash purchase price of approximately $157 million, in US dollars, subject to adjustment.
The acquisition includes the Timothy’s World Coffee brand and wholesale business (but does not include retail operations), and will be maintained as a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, with operations integrated into GMCR’s Specialty Coffee Business Unit. GMCR anticipates the acquisition will be accretive to its earnings per share in fiscal year 2010.

In preparation for the program’s 10th anniversary next year, Hampton Hotels’ Save-A-Landmark program is asking Vermont residents to visit www.hamptonlandmarks.com to help select which “All-American Landmark” in their state will be refurbished in 2010. The candidates are the Ethan Allen Homestead in Burlington; the St Johnsbury Athenaeum; and the American Precision Museum in Windsor. Since the program began in 2000, Hampton Hotels and Save-A-Landmark have been dedicated to preserving America’s historical, fun and cultural landmarks that reside along our country’s treasured highways.
Save-A-Landmark was created after Hampton Hotels discovered that more than 90 percent of Americans believed it was important to preserve

MyWebGrocer and ShopRite supermarkets have teamed up to launch a pioneering new Apple iPhone and iTouch Application called ShopRite Weekly Specials. The new App, which is free and available now through Apple’s iTunes App Store, is the first App that is dedicated to weekly grocery specials on an iPhone. ShopRite’s user-friendly App is intuitive and makes shopping more accessible – whenever, wherever.

There were 1,299 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, an increase of 161 from the week before, as filings followed a trend begun in September. Altogether 10,234 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 123 from a week ago and 2,367 more than a year earlier. The Department also processed 4,698 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 96 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 1,257 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 37 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc

The two state economists told the Vermont Emergency Board today that state tax revenues were coming in pretty much as expected. While that is relatively good news, Jeff Carr, representing the governor’s office, and Tom Kavet, representing the Legislature, indicated that the budget’s previsouly lowered expectations were more responsible for the results than any expansion in the economy.
"The big change is that there's not a big change (in revenue expectations)," Kavet said. Carr likened the economy to a patient in a hospital who is in stable condition after a traumatic health condition, to which Kavet added that the federal stimulus money the government poured into the US economy earlier this year is like a life-support system.