Current News

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.

Bennington, Vermont's Plasan, a global leader in the field of combat-proven survivability and armor solutions for vehicles, airborne platforms and personal protection, today announced the delivery of 750 armor kits for the US Army's MRAP All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV) as a subcontractor to Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Defense. Today's delivery meets the latest production milestone in the contract awarded by U.S. Department of Defense to produce 4,296 M-ATVs for deployment in Afghanistan.
Dan Ziv, President and CEO of Plasan, says: "We are proud of our continued success in meeting this ambitious production schedule. Plasan's employees in Bennington have a personal stake in protecting soldiers serving in Afghanistan. As the Vermont National Guard begins to mobilize for its largest deployment since World War II, Plasan's employees are doing their part to protect their friends and neighbors while they are serving abroad. At Plasan, the war fighter is our first priority."

Participating in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new firefighter training building at Vermont Technical College, Sen. Bernie Sanders called the facility a major step forward in assuring high-quality training for firefighters across the state. Sanders secured $406,962 for the project, which includes a specialized structure called a live-burn building. In a successful federal, state, and local partnership, the State of Vermont committed $440,000 to the project and the college provided $50,000 for the facility. The total price tag is $897,000.
The new training facility will give firefighters the opportunity to learn scenarios they will likely see when responding to live emergency situations, Sanders said. It will be centrally located and will greatly enhance the quality of training while reducing travel time and expenses incurred by many firefighters, especially volunteers.

Seventh Generation, the leading brand of nontoxic and environmentally safe household and personal care products, has chosen to partner with Carmichael Lynch following an extensive review. The Burlington, Vermont-based company is looking to Carmichael Lynch to help re-launch its brand to a broader market and solidify its position as the most trusted line of authentic, safe and environmentally responsible products for a healthy home. For more than two decades, Seventh Generation has been at the forefront of a cultural change in both consumer demand and business ethics. One of the country's first self-described socially responsible companies, Seventh Generation found much common ground with Carmichael Lynch.

The US Small Business Administration (SBA) is accepting nominations for the 2010 Vermont Small Business Awards. Each year, SBA showcases and recognizes successful and inspiring small business owners and business champions. The nomination process is simple. Nominators submit a one-page nomination letter, in any format, to the SBA Vermont District Office by October 31, 2009. Candidates who advance to the final selection stage will be asked to submit a more complete nomination packet. State winners are eligible to compete for regional and national honors.
An independent panel of judges will select award winners from every state, all of whom will be honored by their local SBA.
In Vermont, each winner is recognized at a spring gala event attended by SBA, the governor, state congressional staff, lenders, other members of the business community, and the media.
The SBA Vermont District Office is now accepting nominations for the following awards: