Current News

The Senate today voted 60 to 37 for an amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to provide an extra $350 million for milk price supports to increase government purchases of surplus dairy products.
Reducing supply will result in higher prices for dairy farmers desperate for help as they cope with the lowest prices in nearly four decades. The extra $350 million would provide farmers on average an estimated $1.50 extra per hundredweight, the industry's standard unit of measurement.
Family-based dairy agriculture is on the verge of collapse, Sanders told colleagues in a Senate floor speech. This is not a regional issue. This is a national issue. From the east coast to the west coast, what we are seeing is prices plummeting below the cost of production.

delSECUR CORPORATION, a Nevada Corporation based in South Burlington, Vermont (Pink Sheets: DLSC) announced today that its Board of Directors has accepted, subject to the approval of the majority of the shareholders entitled to vote, an agreement to purchase the Intellectual Property Assets of delSECUR CORPORATION. The consideration for such purchase will be in the form of a 49% interest in the shares of common stock of Q Tech Systems, Inc., an Ontario, Canada Corporation.

Marble Valley Regional Transit District (The Bus) and Stagecoach Transportation Services Inc. (STSI) of Randolph, Vermont are working in partnership to create a new public transportation route that will reestablish scheduled bus service between Rutland and White River Junction. In 2008, Vermont Transit discontinued scheduled service between Rutland and White River Junction.
The new route, if awarded funding by the State of Vermont Agency of Transportation, will begin in November and be named the Route 4 East Connection. The Route 4 Each Connection will travel Vermont Route 4 picking up and discharging passengers in Rutland, Killington, Bridgewater, Quechee, Woodstock, and White River Junction with local connections in the White River Junction area and into the Lebanon, West Lebanon areas of New Hampshire.
The Route 4 East Connection will offer connections to:

The State Alliance for e-Health (The Alliance) will meet for its semi-annual conference. Key topics are scheduled to include implementation of the Health Information Technology for the Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which is part of the Recovery Act of 2009, as well as quality improvement and health reform. The Alliance also will unveil its latest report Preparing to Implement HITECH: A State Guide for Electronic Health Information Exchange. Alliance members will hear from a number of experts, including Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health IT, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
WHAT: Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, co-chair, Vermont Governor Jim Douglas, co-chair, State Alliance for e-Health Members
WHEN: Friday, August 7, 2009 9:00am 4:00pm EDT
WHERE: Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center
870 Williston Road
Burlington, VT 05403

On August 3, 2009, the Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (NYSE: CV) Board of Directors approved the following resolutions for the issuance of common and preferred stock dividends. CVPS also announced that its second quarter earnings report will be released August 7.
RESOLVED: That out of reserved and unrestricted earnings of the Company a quarterly dividend at the rate of twenty-three cents ($.23) per share is hereby declared on the issued and outstanding shares of
Common Stock, $6 Par Value, payable November 13, 2009 to stockholders of record at the close of business November 3, 2009.

Rep. Peter Welch late last week voted against legislation that would subject Vermont family farmers, small businesses and artisan food producers to unreasonable fees. The Food Safety Enhancement Act (H.R. 2749) would prevent food-borne illnesses by increasing the number and scope of food inspections but would do so at the expense of small food producers. The bill unfairly subjects Vermont farmers, maple syrup producers and cheese-makers to the same $500 annual registration fee as large, multi-state agri-businesses.
Welch worked to amend the bill to create a sliding fee scale which would take into account the size of a business. While Welch was successful in reducing the fee from $1,000 to $500, he argued that the flat fee still unfairly penalizes small producers.

Governor Jim Douglas has announced the allocation of $1.7 million in tax credits for a dozen Vermont communities to assist in the renovation or repair of buildings in downtowns and village centers. Governor Douglas announced the projects approved by the Downtown Development Board for Downtown and Village Center State Tax Credits at a ceremony in Springfield the site of two approved projects.
These tax credits are especially important as we seek to rejuvenate Vermont s economy, Douglas said. The downtown tax credits support the redevelopment of older and historic buildings, and encourage the installation of sprinklers, elevators and other building upgrades.
In addition, public investments like these tax credits help spur job creation, both short and long-term, Douglas said.

In a clear sign that the recession may be easing, commercial and industrial investment in the second quarter fell 8.9 percent, according to the July 31 gross domestic product (GDP) report by the U.S. Department of Commerce. This represents a stark improvement over the first quarter nonresidential construction decline of 39 percent.

The US Department of Agriculture has lifted the floor price for dairy products, it was announced today. The decision comes two days after the Vermont senators and a coalition of more than two dozen senators from other dairy states met with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The prices will rise from $1.13 per pound for block cheese to $1.31; barrel cheese, from $1.10/lb. to $1.28; nonfat dry milk powder, from $0.80/lb. to $0.92. This has the potential to increase the price paid to farmers for milk by $1.25 to $1.50 per hundredweight.
The meeting and the multi-region coalition of senators were organized by Senator Leahy, the senior-most member of the Agriculture Committee, to seek a short-term hike in the price the federal government pays for milk and dairy products in the marketplace. Leahy and the coalition also followed through with an appeal to White House Budget Director Peter Orszag.

Green Mountain Power today asked the Vermont Public Service Board to authorize a 4.84 percent rate adjustment to go into effect on October 1, 2009, as part of its alternative regulation plan. The increase is primarily due to factors that affect all utilities in the region, such as the costs of reliability upgrades to the New England transmission grid.
"We continue to work hard to reduce every single controllable expense on behalf of our customers," said Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power President and Chief Executive Officer. "In fact, less than half a percent of the rate increase is due to changes in Green Mountain Power's operating costs that are under our direct control. During these challenging economic times, we know that any change in rates will be difficult for our customers, and in response we have taken extra steps to keep this increase as low as possible, including keeping payroll costs flat and cutting other operating expenses."

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced grants totaling $26.5 million to 25 states to implement or enhance the Re-employment and Eligibility Assessment (REA) Initiative for unemployment insurance (UI) recipients. Vermont will get $688,156.

"Unemployment insurance is a centerpiece of the social safety net, but it is only part of a process designed to help get workers back into good jobs," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "By expanding training and employment services, these grants will help prepare workers for employment in thriving regional industries, and give them a better opportunity to provide for their families."

Captive insurance professionals from throughout the United States and around the world will gather in Burlington, Vermont for the world's largest captive insurance conference, August 11 - 13, 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center and the UVM Davis Center. The event is the 24th Annual Conference hosted by the Vermont Captive Insurance Association.
Though more than half of the US states now have captive insurance laws on their books, Vermont continues to be the premier domicile in the United States and the third largest in the world. Captive insurance is a specialized form of self insurance. Among the close to 600 active captive insurance companies in Vermont, 44 of the Fortune 100 and 21 of the 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average are domiciled here. The industry is also responsible for more than 1400 jobs (direct and indirect) for Vermonters.