Current News

Congressman Peter Welch and Vermont country store owner Kathy Miller urged the House Committee on Financial Services Thursday to crack down on unfair credit card swipe fees paid by small businesses. At a hearing to debate Welch’s Credit Card Interchange Fees Act (HR 2382), Welch and Miller asked the committee to consider the plight of small retailers forced to pay close to two percent of every purchase in swipe fees to credit card companies and big banks. Miller, who owns the Elmore Store in Elmore, Vermont, said the unfair and abusive practices mean she and her husband Warren often lose money on small purchases.

The US Labor Department has issued a ruling that will result in an additional $1.45 million in back wages for federal contract workers in St Albans and Essex Junction. The ruling affects 237 contract workers employed by CSC at the Vermont Service Center of the US Department of Homeland Security US Citizenship and Immigration Services from November of 2005 to December of 2007. The settlement comes on the heels of last week s labor victory involving more than $1.5 million in back wages to 272 Vermont Service Center workers employed by SI International during the same time period. Altogether, more than 500 workers will receive more than $3 million in back wages as a result of the two settlements.

Lawrence Reed is the founder and for twenty years President of Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy, long considered the most influential free-market state think tank in the nation. His address October 15, part of the ongoing Sheraton Economic Series, will focus on how the ideas of individual liberty, private property, limited government and competitive free enterprise can be packaged to promote increased economic opportunity and prosperity for Vermonters.
Reed is now President of the Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington-on-Hudson NY. In the past twenty years, he has authored over 1,000 newspaper columns and articles, 200 radio commentaries, dozens of articles in magazines and journals in the U. S. and abroad, as well as five books. His articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today, among many others. Reed’s most recent book is Striking the Root: Essays on Liberty.

Tasha Wallis, Executive Director of the Vermont Retail Association (VRA), announced today the second annual VRA Retailer of the Year Award.(ROYs). “The overwhelmingly positive response to last year’s ROYs made it clear that Vermont’s retail industry believed in the value of recognizing outstanding excellence among its members,” said Wallis. “In addition, retailers employ more Vermonters than any other business sector except health care, with more than 40,000 working in retail--16% of the entire work force. That makes it especially appropriate to highlight the ‘best of the best’ each year.”

For the third year in a row, the Sustainable Endowments Institute has ranked the University of Vermont among the top schools nationally for green practices and policies, giving the school an overall grade of A- in its just released College Sustainability Report Card. Also receiving an A-, the highest grade given by the institute, were twenty-six other schools including Harvard University, Middlebury College, Brown University, and the University of New Hampshire.
The institute graded the 300 U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities with the largest endowments (plus 32 others that applied) in nine categories and then awarded an overall grade. Its aim is to show a correlation between an institution’s green practices and its investment decisions.

Attached is the press release and Vermont scorecard from a new health care study being released today by The Commonwealth Fund. It is the second version of their State Scorecard, which ranks states on 38 indicators in the areas of access, prevention/treatment quality, avoidable hospital use and costs, healthy lives, and equity, and Vermont is ranked #1.

3BL Media , the experts in corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability and cause marketing communications, today announced that it has begun production and distribution of "theCSRminute," a daily video digest focusing on corporate social responsibility. Produced by 3BL Media in high-definition, the segments cover important events, initiatives, issues, trends, campaigns, awards, and breaking news.

Receiving thousands of views each week, theCSRminute can be viewed athttp://3blmedia.com/theCSRminute, as well as on the 3BL Media CSR Network - the largest network of CSR channels on the Internet. TheCSRminute was also recently launched as an RSS feed that allows anyone to put it on their site.

Rae Ann Knopf of St Johnsbury was confirmed as Vermont’s Deputy Commissioner of Education by the State Board of Education in a special meeting today. Knopf, who most recently served as the Assistant Director for Student Support and Safe and Healthy Schools, also serves as the department’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) coordinator.
“We on the State Board of Education are excited about Rae Ann Knopf's appointment as Deputy Commissioner,” said Board Chair Fayneese Miller. “I have had the pleasure of watching her expertly steward the department and our education partners through the complexities of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I personally look forward to working with her and the commissioner as we continue our work on the transformation of education in Vermont. ”

Seven more Vermont counties have been awarded economic stimulus funding for energy efficiency and conservation projects through a block grant program created in legislation authored by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). County-specific block grants were awarded to Windham County for $130,800, Orange County for $115,800, Windsor County for $193,300, Washington County for $254,600, Chittenden County for $195,400, Rutland County for $189,700, and Addison County for $153,700. Block grants were awarded in September to Caledonia, Franklin, and Orleans Counties. The State of Vermont and its cities and towns also were awarded $10.3 million in March under the same program.

Verizon Wireless is investing in Orleans County, Vermont to stay ahead of rising demand for wireless voice, 3G multimedia and Internet access. Regionally the company has invested more than $2.5 billion into its New England network over the past nine years, including more than $105 million during the first six months of 2009.
Consumer Advantages

Cell site provides increased wireless voice and 3G data coverage along I-91 between exits 25 and 26 and surrounding area
Expanded 3G data coverage allows customers using notebook computers or smartphones the ability to:

Browse the web faster with quicker page loading times
Quickly download and play music
Watch streaming video
Send emails with attachments
Download and play 3D games
Video conference with contacts
Rapidly share files

Comcast, Vermont’s leading provider of entertainment, information and communications, today announced the beginning of a massive 170-mile extension of its fiber-optic network in Vermont that will mark the introduction of broadband for consumers and local businesses in South Hero, Grand Isle and North Hero.
Local Comcast representatives met with the Lake Champlain Islands Chamber of Commerce and Front Porch Forum at the Grand Isle Lake House last Wednesday night to discuss the details of the company’s project. When this broadband expansion is completed later this year, residents and local businesses in these three communities will gain access to Comcast’s cable television, high-speed Internet and digital voice services.

Governor Jim Douglas today announced the appointment of Cambridge resident Adam Howard as State Representative for Lamoille-4 House District. Howard will represent Cambridge, Belvidere and Waterville in Lamoille County, replacing 27-year Legislative veteran Richard Westman who resigned his seat this summer to become Vermont s Tax Commissioner.
I m pleased to announce my appointment of Adam as State Representative, said Governor Douglas. His business experience and volunteer work make him uniquely qualified to serve at this critical time.
It's an honor to be selected by Governor Douglas to represent the people of Cambridge, Belvidere and Waterville, said Howard. I look forward to bringing by experience in both traditional and creative economies to Montpelier at a time when private sector job creation is so key to our recovery.