Current News

The Vermont Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the highly anticipated 2010 Top Ten Summer and Fall Events. The 2010 award recipients display a wide variety of unique Vermont activities that will provide something fun for everyone in all corners of the Green Mountain State. The winners in chronological order include:
Vermont Maple Festival: Celebrate the Official Flavor of Vermont
St. Albans, April 30 to May 2, see website for hours & admission (much is free).

Speaker Shap Smith and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin, today reiterated that it will be incredibly difficult for the Vermont General Assembly to act in 2010 on the question of continued operation of Vermont Yankee unless a power purchase agreement between Vermont utilities and Entergy is filed with the Vermont Public Service Board before November 1, 2009. In addition, the legislative leaders again noted that before the General Assembly acts there needs to be a requirement in place for Entergy to have enough assets to pay for restoration of the site upon the closing of Vermont Yankee.
It would be irresponsible for the General Assembly to make a decision regarding the continued operation of the Vermont Yankee plant without a full understanding of the economic impact that it will have on Vermonters during these touch economic times, said Senator Shumlin.

The Vermont Medical Society (VMS) last weekend adopted policy resolutions that will lead to the organization tackling a number of key health care issues in the upcoming year, including reducing the rising costs of health care and preventing childhood obesity. The resolutions were approved by VMS members during the organization's 196th annual meeting held at the Basin Harbor Club in Vergennes, Vt.

The supply of oilheat in the Northeast is approximately 17 percent higher than last year and the strongest it has been in the last five years, according to EIA. Retail heating oil prices in the Northeast have dropped about 40 percent, according to EIA. In Vermont, prices have dropped approximately 42 percent, according to the Vermont Dept of Public Service.
The Winter Fuels Outlook is available at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/steo/pub/oct09.pdf
The Vermont September Fuel Price Report is available at http://publicservice.vermont.gov/pub/vt-fuel-price-report.html

The Vermont State Treasurer’s Office is hosting screenings of a new national documentary, “Tricks of the Trade: Outsmarting Investment Fraud” at several theaters across the state. Vermont is the first state in the nation to screen the hour-long documentary. All screenings are free and open to the public. The documentary is scheduled to play on October 8 in St. Johnsbury at the Star Theatre; October 15 in Rutland at the Plaza Movieplex 9; and October 20 at the Savoy Theatre in Montpelier. The documentary also will be shown on October 27 at the Zampieri State Office Building in Burlington. All showings are at 11:30 a.m.

Gardener's Supply and Sovernet Communications are pleased to announce the signing of a multi-year, multi-location agreement for telecommunication services.
"We are excited to team up with Sovernet, another local company, for all of our telecom needs. Sovernet brought us a creative solution that not only meets our telephone and data needs today, but has the flexibility to meet them well into the future," said Jim Feinson, President, Gardener's Supply.
Jay Bellows, Director of Sales for Sovernet Communications said, "We are pleased to be able to provide Gardener's Supply the services their business and customers demand, and look forward to working closely together in the upcoming years. Gardener's choice of Sovernet's new Hosted PBX Suite for their voice disaster recovery needs, reaffirms our continued commitment to the development and expansion of our product offerings in Vermont and Northern New England."

Governor Jim Douglas today announced the appointment of David R. Fenster as Addison County State s Attorney. David is replacing John T Quinn who retired last month. Fenster has been in private law practice in with the firm Barr, Sternberg, Moss, Lawrence, Silver, Saltonstall & Fenster, PC, in Bennington, Vermont since July of 2005. Before joining the firm he was Deputy State s Attorney with the Bennington State s Attorney s office for more than eleven years. Fenster was educated at the University of Vermont where he received a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology and a minor in Psychology. He received his JD degree Cum Laude from Cardozo School of Law in New York, NY.

Foliage in the Green Mountains is near or at peak color this week, and the leaves will continue to brighten in the lower valleys over the next several days into Columbus Day Weekend. Fall color that is near or at peak can be found in many areas of Vermont, especially in the Green Mountains and in higher elevations throughout the state. Meanwhile, lower elevations and the foothills are showing mid-stage color with pockets that are close to peak.
“Peak color is rolling over the Green Mountains from the eastern slopes to the western ridge,” says Tom Olson, a foliage spotter for Rutland and southern Addison counties. “Trees, particularly soft maples, along rivers and marshy areas are displaying bright reds and oranges.”

US Senator Patrick Leahy, US Senator Bernie Sanders, Congressman Peter Welch and Governor Jim Douglas Tuesday welcomed the announcement by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the US Department of Commerce, that Vermont has been awarded Vermont a $1.2 million broadband mapping grant. Vermont s grant is one of the first four American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband grants to reach the states for broadband mapping, aggregation and infrastructure.

At the Essex home of Lindsey and Matt Wignall, Rep. Peter Welch on Tuesday called for a year-long extension of a tax credit that allowed the Wignalls and hundreds of thousands of other middle class families to buy their first home. Welch outlined his support for the First-time Homebuyer Credit Extension Act (H.R. 1993), which would extend a popular and successful program that provides an $8,000 tax credit to families buying their first home. The program has been credited with stabilizing the housing market, creating construction jobs and helping countless families achieve homeownership.
Welch called for the extension alongside the Wignall family and Dustin Partlow and Sierra Ouellette – a Burlington couple hoping to take advantage of the credit before it expires November 30. Like families across the country, Partlow and Ouellette are worried they will be unable to afford a new home without the credit.

Corporate Responsibility Officer Magazine named Lawrence J. Blanford, President and CEO of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR), 2009 Responsible CEO of the Year in the Mid-Cap category. The Mid-Cap category includes medium-sized, public companies (sales between $100 million and $2 billion). Mr. Blanford will accept the award tonight at the publication s annual summit in Chicago.
I am honored to receive this award on behalf of all GMCR employees, said Mr. Blanford. Our Company s purpose is to change the way the world views business, and demonstrate that profitability goes hand-in-hand with social and environmental responsibility. It s a great tribute to see our efforts recognized by an organization that celebrates these ideals.

American Safety Insurance announced the formation of American Safety Assurance (Vermont), Inc, a Vermont- domiciled segregated account captive facility to complement the Bermuda-based captive owned by the parent company, American Safety Insurance Holdings, Ltd (NYSE:ASI).
Both the Vermont- and Bermuda-based captives are segregated cell facilities, meaning that the collateral or premium collected from an insured to secure the insurance obligation associated with a policy is held in an account that is legally separated from other insureds accounts. This provides protection to each insured from the losses or expenses incurred by other unrelated insureds.