Current News

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a member of the veterans committee, today hailed President Barack Obama s signing of legislation establishing advanced funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the department s recent acceptance of the connection between Agent Orange and devastating diseases. President Obama signed legislation today providing health care funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) one year in advance to better plan and manage their facilities including the ability to hire and train the right number of staff to take care of our veterans.

Congressman Peter Welch and a coalition of House members announced a breakthrough Thursday morning in reforming the Medicare payment system to reward quality health care. At a Capitol Hill press conference, Welch and the other members outlined the deal, which will change the way Medicare pays health care providers for services from its current system focused on volume of care to a quality and value-based system. By making reimbursement rates more equitable, states like Vermont with higher quality and lower cost care are expected to benefit from the agreement.
“By rewarding quality – not quantity – of care, this agreement will save taxpayers billions of dollars and reduce costly, unnecessary procedures that fail to improve patient outcomes,” Welch said. “Reforming the current fee-for-service model is among the most critical elements of health care reform, and this breakthrough represents a significant step forward.”

Vermont Life magazine, the state publication that explores Vermont’s dynamic culture, has won three awards from an international association of regional publications. The magazine won a Silver medal in the Historic Feature category; a Bronze medal in the Most Improved Magazine category; and an Award of Merit in the General Feature category at the International Regional Magazine Association’s annual conference earlier this week in New Mexico.
“These awards really reflect on the dedication and hard work of the staff,” said Vermont Life Managing Editor Mary Hegarty Nowlan. “They have done a tremendous job in moving the publication forward, and the fact that we have been honored in the Most Improved category two years in a row shows that the changes we are making have been recognized by our peers.”

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) hailed a new Obama Administration initiative sought by Leahy that will free up some of the frozen liquidity of housing finance agencies like Vermont’s Housing Finance Agency (VHFA). State and local housing finance agencies (HFAs) like VHFA expand access to affordable housing by helping low and middle income borrowers to buy homes. They work with participating lenders to provide affordable long term fixed rate home loans. The credit and housing crisis froze access to tax exempt capital and liquidity markets for many of the HFAs, significantly limiting their ability to serve the citizens of their states and communities.

State Auditor Tom Salmon, CPA, said he has launched a survey of the 62 school supervisory unions in Vermont to determine the full range of shared services among schools that help improve services or instruction and may contain costs.
“Many schools are sharing services of one kind or another, from common bus and food service contracts, to computer specialists, language teachers or special education staff,” Salmon said, “but no one has a good handle on what everyone is doing. Our survey will help produce an inventory of possibilities,” he said.

Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) today reported third quarter 2009 as-reported earnings of $455.2 million, or $2.32 per share, compared with $470.3 million, or $2.41 per share, for third quarter 2008. On an operational basis, Entergy's third quarter 2009 earnings were $470.7 million, or $2.40 per share, compared with $487.3 million, or $2.50 per share, in third quarter 2008. Earnings for the quarter were down 3.2 percent. Year-to-date, earnings were down 12.6 percent on $8.2 billion in revenues, which was 18.3 percent lower than 2008. Entergy owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon. Consolidated Earnings - Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measures
Third Quarter and Year-to-Date 2009 vs. 2008
(Per share in U.S. $)
Third Quarter Year-to-Date
2009 2008 Change 2009 2008 Change

NBT Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Martin Dietrich announced that Matt Durkee has been hired as regional president of NBT Bank’s operations in Vermont. In this position, Durkee will develop and manage all of the bank’s activities in the state. The bank has opened a regional office at 150 Bank Street in Burlington, where Durkee and the team he is assembling will be based. Later this year, the bank plans to open a branch at the same location.

Clothing maker Woolrich has selected Pale Morning Media of Waitsfield as its strategic public relations partner effective immediately. Woolrich is the oldest outdoor clothing company in the world, having produced high-quality, high-performance outdoor apparel continuously since 1830. The tradition began with founder John Rich selling workwear to lumberjacks and sawmill workers out of a mule cart. Since then, Woolrich has grown into an internationally recognized outdoor brand with a custom collection of apparel, accessories and home furnishings.

Union Bankshares, Inc (Nasdaq:UNB) today announced net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 of $1.44 million or $0.32 per share compared to $1.17 million or $0.26 per share for the same period in 2008. Net Income year to date was $3.95 million or $0.88 per share for 2009 compared to $3.76 million or $0.84 per share for 2008.
Total Assets have grown $20.9 million, or 4.9%, to $443.9 million at September 30, 2009 from $423.1 million at September 30, 2008 while total deposits have grown $20.8 million, or 6.0%, to $369.4 million at September 30, 2009 from $348.6 million at September 30, 2008.

TD Bank, through the TD Charitable Foundation, recently donated a total of $29,000 to local organizations in Chittenden County as part of the bank’s commitment to giving back to the community.
The following organizations received a donation from the TD Charitable Foundation:
§ King Street Youth Center (KSYC), which promotes personal and social wellness through educational, recreational and social programs, creating responsible and productive children, youth and families. KSYC will use the funds from the TD Charitable Foundation to support the Teen Futures program encompassing leadership development, college preparation, academic support, job readiness training and seasonal employment.

Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee today announced the availability of $$204,289.94 in grants to enhance the competitiveness of Vermont’s specialty crops. The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program is funding through the 2008 federal Farm Bill to assist Vermont’s specialty crops, which includes fruits, vegetables, maple and honey and horticulture crops.
“Specialty crops are incredibly valuable to the state’s economy, environment and quality of life. These funds will be important to help support crop production in a variety of industries such as apples, the grape and wine industry, maple, honey, Christmas trees and others,” said Allbee. “We need to ensure that this industry remains viable and competitive, and these grants will provide an exceptional funding resource to explore new programs, technologies or other innovative approaches to advance this important sector of the state’s agricultural industry.”

The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September 2009 was 6.7 percent, down one tenth of a percent from the revised August rate and up 1.9 points from a year ago.
“Vermont’s unemployment rate changed very little in September at 6.7%,” said Patricia Moulton Powden, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor. “Although the rate is low as compared to other states in the region and the country, our labor market is not yet healthy. We continue to lose jobs. The main driver of the unemployment rate drop is the decline in labor force due to aging demographics and a large number of young workers returning to school.”
Job Growth