Current News

The inventor of the world's first seat video and imaging apparatus, CruiseCam International, Inc. (Pink Sheets: CCMC), impressed companies that manage the largest fleets in North America, which attended the annual Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) conference last month. Companies use captive insurance as an alternative to traditional insurance to reduce costs, enhance risk management, gain greater control over their insurance and directly access the reinsurance market. The VCIA conferees recognized the liability advantages of CruiseCam's fully operational commercial vehicle seat with its latest generation Gemini near High Definition Digital Video Recording System compared to windshield camera systems.

Northern Power Systems, Inc (www.northernpower.com), based in Barre, Vermont, a next-generation wind turbine company and manufacturer of the Northwind 100, today has announced its expanded presence in Europe. To strengthen its commitment and better support its customers, Northern Power Systems has appointed Reinout Oussoren as European Managing Director and has opened its European headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.
Mr. Oussoren brings more than 20 years of commercial and operational leadership experience to Northern Power, most recently with GE
Energy. He will manage strategy, business development, sales, applications engineering and a growing network of premier development partners.

In ceremonies including the Board of Trustees, Saint Michael's College will dedicate the $2 million Antonio and Rita Pomerleau Alumni Center on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 12:30 p.m. in the new center, located on Route 15, but entered from Lime Kiln Road, in Colchester. The multi-use building is the first deliberately environmentally friendly, 21st Century structure on the Saint Michael’s campus. Made possible through the generosity of The Tony B. and Rita M. Pomerleau Foundation and over 1,000 alumni contributions, the Alumni Center is a multi-use facility housing alumni and development offices and public meeting spaces.
“This building will be a tangible way to keep our alumni close to the college,” said President John J. Neuhauser.

The Associated General Contractors of Vermont (AGC/VT) named Cathy Voyer of Morrisville to lead the 150 member organization today. A former member of the Vermont House of Representatives, Voyer has worked for Governor Douglas in the Agency of Human Services managing legislative, housing and transportation issues. Voyer's experience both in the State House and with partner organizations throughout the state will be valuable to contractors as they face the twin challenges declining building cycle and increased federal stimulus funds.
"Cathy Voyer brings leadership, experience and energy to AGC which is exactly what is needed for contractors in Vermont during this economic cycle," said Don Wells, President of DEW Construction and Chair of the Board of Directors of AGC/VT.

The Vermont Downtown Development Board today announced that the City of Montpelier has been awarded Growth Center Designation. In action taken Monday by the Vermont Downtown Development Board, the designation comes after several months of discussion between Montpelier, the Downtown Board and its advisory group. Growth Centers were enabled by the legislature in 2005 to encourage communities to plan for denser and mixed use development in areas surrounding the state s downtowns and village centers.
I am very pleased that Montpelier has received this designation, which will help support the City in its planning efforts, Governor Jim Douglas. This is why I signed the Growth Center bill, to encourage communities to create more compact and dense mixed use development in appropriate areas.

Congressman Peter Welch on Tuesday introduced legislation to protect dairy farmers by closing a trade loophole that allows for the unlimited importation of a form of dried milk product. Welch s bill, the Milk Import Tariff Equity Act, will update existing trade regulations to include milk protein concentrate (MPC) and treat it like all other imported dairy products. In the past decade, MPC imports have more than doubled, undermining the market for domestic powdered milk and driving down the price Vermont s dairy farmers are paid for their milk.
As international dairy producers have flooded the American market with milk protein concentrate, Vermont s dairy farmers have paid the price. By circumventing trade agreements, these producers have contributed to the plummeting price of milk and caused many Vermont farmers to go out of business, Welch said. This legislation will simply level the playing field and ensure that all dairy producers play by the same rules.

Foliage is reaching peak color this week in sections of the Northeast Kingdom and Lamoille County, and most areas of the state will be displaying multiple stages of colorful foliage over the next several days. State foresters say most sections of Essex, Orleans, Caledonia and Lamoille counties in northeastern and north central Vermont are showing vibrant fall colors that are near or at peak.
“At this point we are now seeing – and will see this weekend – peak colors in many areas of the Northeast Kingdom and Lamoille County,” said Orleans and Lamoille County Forester Raymond Toolan. “Good color will be found on pretty much any road from Stowe to Quebec.”
With cooler temperatures in the forecast, the foliage progression will continue to accelerate around Vermont over the next several days. Higher elevations across the state offer excellent opportunities for foliage viewing, and the hillsides are showing brilliant shades of red, orange and yellow.

US Senator Patrick Leahy and the Preservation Trust of Vermont announced that five historic downtown buildings will receive federal funds to help spur village redevelopment. Historic buildings in Putney, Readsboro, Poultney, Richmond and Shoreham will get restoration work using a $425,000 federal grant Leahy secured for the Preservation Trust of Vermont s Village Revitalization Initiative.
These historic buildings are at the very heart of the identity and economy of our communities, said Leahy. These grants do more than ensure the stability and aesthetics of a building, they also open these buildings to the public and help to keep our villages healthy.

Vermont State Colleges, Community Capital of Vermont, Inc., and Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation (CVEDC) representatives celebrated with community leaders and small businesses at the Shops at Millstone Hill in Websterville (Barre Town), VT, today. Rhonda Shippee, Acting State Director for USDA Rural Development along with Congressional Representatives, presented each recipient with a ceremonial check to celebrate the 2009 Rural Business Grant Enterprise and Opportunity Grant awards totaling $422,725.
These grants will spur business growth and strengthen existing businesses throughout most of the state. said Shippee. The business development services these organizations will provide to over 100 small businesses will help create and sustain jobs, which is critical as we strive towards economic recovery.

The Addison County Chamber of Commerce awarded Monument Farms Dairy, located in Weybridge, Vermont, its Business of the Year award which was presented at the Chamber s Annual Meeting held on September 10th. Recipient for the Chamber s Citizen of the Year award, Buster Brush, was also named at the dinner held at the Inn at Middlebury College s Bread Loaf campus.
The Business of the Year award is given to a business located in Addison County that has shown a significant improvement in the development of their business, positively impacting the economy on a local, regional or international level. According to Andy Mayer, Chamber President, Monument Farms Dairy is a local business that Addison County can be proud of and they well-represent the local dairy community. Their milk products are outstanding and their impact on the environment is limited because they grow the corn locally, employ local workers, and produce and distribute their products locally.

FairPoint Communications, Inc (NYSE: FRP) announced today that it is in discussions with certain of the lenders under its bank credit facility regarding a permanent debt restructuring. The Company also announced that as part of those discussions, it has entered into a forbearance agreement with lenders that collectively hold more than 50 percent of the loans and commitments outstanding under the credit facility. The forbearance agreement contemplates that the Company may forgo principal and interest payments under its credit facility as well as payments under its interest rate swap agreements, totaling approximately $42.0 million, due on September 30, 2009, and is likely to fail to comply with the interest coverage ratio and leverage ratio covenants contained in the credit facility for the period ending September 30, 2009.

More than half of federal transportation spending in fiscal year (FY) 2008 was directed to programs that contain subsidies, according to Subsidyscope, an initiative of Pew's Economic Policy Group. The analysis comes from a new comprehensive online database on all spending on subsidy programs in the transportation sector. While Vermont received the lowest total amount, it ranked seventh in per capita funding, which was the highest in the Northeast.
The project collected and aggregated data from USAspending.gov and other sources and built a searchable database of federal transportation spending; users can query by grant recipient, state, government program and many other parameters. The database includes information from 2000-2008.