Current News

The State’s Emergency Board met today in Montpelier and approved a plan proposed by Governor Douglas and Treasurer Spaulding to make $135 million of low interest bonding authority available statewide for economic development projects through the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA). The bonds which are issued will be revenue bonds, and so the state’s credit rating is not affected by this issuance. Neither the federal nor state government nor VEDA provides any kind of credit guarantee for these bonds so the projects and applicants must be able to satisfy investors that they will be repaid. In general, bond funding must be used to acquire or construct new depreciable assets. VEDA will underwrite applications and assist borrowers in placing their bonds. All bonds must be issued by December 31, 2010 and the maximum bond issuance for any one project is $25 million.

For the Week of 10/10/2009. There were 900 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, an increase of 97 from the week before. Altogether 9,332 new and continuing claims were filed, the same as a week ago and 3,276 more than a year earlier. The Department also processed 4,661 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 46 more than a week ago. In addition, there were 1,017 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is an increase of 52 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

Stefan Balaz, PhD, Chair and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences’ Vermont Campus, has been awarded a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health in the amount of $1,350,000. Dr Balaz and his team will develop an approach that will model how chemicals are transported and accumulate in biological membranes, helping researchers predict how new drug candidates are likely to behave in the body.
The results of the research will be combined with modeling of protein binding and incorporated into software, tentatively called cell-QSAR. Once the software is available, researchers will need only sketch the drug’s structure to understand the rate at which it will be transported through the membranes of the body. The transport rate is critical to determining whether a drug will be distributed throughout the body or if it is more likely to remain close to the location where it was administered.

The Vermont Agency of Transportation today opened Route 108 through Smugglers Notch. It will remain open until Mother Nature forces us to close it again. The Vermont Agency of Transportation had closed Route 108 through Smugglers' Notch because of icy conditions. VTrans annually closes this segment of Route 108 for the winter.

The Institute of Green Professionals (IGP) honored five individuals for their "extraordinary, outstanding and meritorious contributions to the sustainability sphere." The Honorary Fellow designation (Hon. FIGP) was awarded to Adam Werbach; architect R. Nicholas Loope, FAIA; Eric A. Woodroof, Ph.D.; Vermonter Mark W. McElroy, Ph.D.; and Dr. Diana Balmori. According to IGP's President, Grant W. Austin, the Institute is a "global education and credentialing membership group for professionals and academics in sustainable development, specifically architects, engineers, land planners, landscape architects, appraisers, IAQ experts, CSR specialists, accountants and attorneys."

Only one state outperformed Vermont in eighth-grade math and only two states outperformed Vermont in fourth-grade math on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), according to results released by the US Department of Education today.
Highlights for Vermont results include:
· Vermont students were only outperformed by students in New Hampshire and Massachusetts on the fourth-grade exam.
· Vermont students were only outperformed by students in Massachusetts on the eighth-grade exam.
· Vermont was one of only five states or jurisdictions to show growth in scores in both grade levels, and all three New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) participants were included in that group of five (Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire). The other two were Nevada and the District of Columbia.

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) has announced that its PAYware Transact has been selected as the PCI-compliant payment engine for the Vermont Systems (VSI) RecTrac facilities management system that is deployed worldwide to US Army and Navy recreational facilities.
VSI, of Essex Junction, VT, provides software for managing recreation and parks operations for municipal, county, state and federal military governmental entities. Its global deployment to Army and Navy facilities supports a wide range of activities, from court and locker reservations to childcare, with comprehensive reporting and financial management capabilities.

Citizens Bank and City Market partnered with the Burlington Free Press for the fourth consecutive year in a food drive at participating schools known as Kids CAN Help. The food drive was designed to help raise awareness among school children that hunger is a year-round struggle for many families in our communities, especially with rising food and fuel prices.
The campaign running Oct. 12-16, encourages children at 26 participating schools to compete to collect the most food. The school that collects the most non-perishable items will be thanked in a special ceremony at the school. Last year, students at the Robinson School in Starksboro were the winner, collecting 1,014 lbs. of food, which averaged over 7 lbs. of food per student! The total amount of food collected from all the schools, Citizens Bank branches, City Market and the Burlington Free Press was 8,894 lbs.

Burlington, Vermont, is one of the top 10 places to find a "green job," according to a new study. Green Dream Jobs and green workforce development consultant Jim Cassio released data that shows the top green job titles posted by employers and in which cities over the past year - during the recession.

Although a plethora of studies show the potential for green jobs going forward, many note the dearth of data on current green jobs in the U.S. economy. Green Dream Jobs, online since 1996, collects concrete historical and current data on the job titles employers are actually looking to fill.

ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, at the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington, today welcomed US Senator Patrick Leahy, philanthropist Lois McClure, and other dignitaries, donors and supporters, for the launch of The Little Fund: Honoring George E Little’s Vision for ECHO’s Strategic Innovation and Growth. The comprehensive fundraising initiative will spawn capital improvements, new exhibits, and interactive spaces critical to ECHO’s mission.

The Upper Valley Haven, Inc in White River Junction has been awarded $250,000 by The Kresge Foundation as part of its effort to offset the effects of the recession. Feeding the hungry, assisting those least able to pursue a college degree, and advancing energy efficiency in low-income communities exemplify The Kresge Foundation's desire to improve the long-term life circumstances of the poor and, in response to the nation's severe economic contraction, bring some immediate relief to those in greatest need.
At their September board meeting the Trustees of the foundation approved 208 awards totaling $43,698,088 for nonprofit organizations in 26 states, the District of Columbia and South Africa in the areas of human services, education, environment, arts and culture, health and community development.

The Putney School, a college preparatory boarding high school in southern Vermont, cut the ribbon Saturday on its 16,800 square foot net-zero energy field house that will produce as much energy as it uses over the course of a year.There are only a handful of net-zero energy buildings in the United States—The Putney School Field House is the nation’s first net-zero energy secondary school building and Vermont’s first commercial net-zero energy building. Of the project’s $6 million budget, $5.1 million was spent on building construction.
“We want to show the world that net-zero energy technology for public buildings exists right now,” says Putney School Director Emily Jones. “It’s time to move net-zero energy buildings from the theoretical realm into reality.”