Current News

Christopher Dutton, the former head of Green Mountain Power, has been named to lead the Vermont Telecommunications Authority (VTA). Governor Jim Douglas, Speaker Shap Smith and Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin announced the appointment today. The VTA was established by the Legislature in 2007 as part of Governor Douglas proposal to make Vermont the nation s first e-state. Its mission is to build infrastructure enabling affordable broadband and cellular service everywhere in the State. VTA is authorized to issue up to $40 million in revenue bonds to finance the infrastructure required.
I want to thank Chris for taking on this important task, said Governor Douglas. Under Chris leadership, I m confident that we will complete the VTA s vital mission of making broadband and cellular service available everywhere in the State; this is both a social and an economic imperative.

People's United Financial, Inc. (Nasdaq: PBCT) announced July 16, 2009, net income of $27.4 million, or $0.08 per share, for the second quarter of 2009, compared to $26.7 million, or $0.08 per share, for the first quarter of 2009, and $43.0 million, or $0.13 per share, for the second quarter of 2008. Second quarter 2009 earnings reflect continued margin pressure associated with the historically low interest rate environment and the company's asset sensitive balance sheet, and security gains that served to offset an FDIC special assessment charge.
For the second quarter of 2009, return on average tangible assets was 0.57 percent and return on average tangible stockholders' equity was 3.0 percent, compared to 0.57 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively, for the first quarter of 2009. At June 30, 2009, People's United Financial's tangible equity ratio stood at 18.7 percent.

Merchants Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank, announced July 16, 2009, that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of 28 cents per share, payable August 13, 2009, to shareholders of record as of July 30, 2009. Merchants plans to release earnings on or about July 29, 2009. In addition, Merchants announced that it was added to the broad-market Russell 3000 Index when Russell Investments reconstituted its comprehensive set of U.S. and global equity indexes on June 26, 2009.

Three community hospitals have formed the not-for-profit Vermont Hospital Shared Service Network (VEHSSN). The Presidents and Board of Trustees of Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Gifford Medical Center in Randolph and Porter Medical Center in Middlebury created VEHSSN to enhance collaboration and the development of shared services among the three not-for-profit, rural Community Access Hospitals as permitted by law.

The two economists charged with projecting state revenues told the Vermont Emergency Board today that barely more than two weeks into the new fiscal year revenue projections are already down $28 million. They agreed that this recession is the worst since the Great Depression nearly 80 years ago.

Do you owe back state taxes? The Vermont Tax Amnesty Program, or VTAP, offers a rare opportunity to pay those taxes and have the late payment penalty waived. The last amnesty program for Vermont taxes ran in 1990.
We understand in this current economic climate, many otherwise compliant taxpayers may have fallen behind in their payments. Since late payment penalties can be up to 25% of the tax amount, this could be a significant savings for some people and help them settle up their tax obligations, said Acting Commissioner of Taxes Ellen Tofferi.
From July 20 to August 31, 2009, people can pay the tax, interest and applicable fees and have the late payment penalty forgiven. Payment must be by check or in cash and VTAP applies to the taxes administered by the Vermont Department of Taxes.

A national rating firm has once again ranked Vermont as having the lowest home foreclosure rate in the nation, based on second quarter and year-to-date numbers. Vermont has both the fewest foreclosures over the first half of the year and the lowest rate as a percentage of housing units. Vermont's rate of foreclosure has actually improved this quarter against both the first quarter of this year and compared to the first six months of last year. For the first six months, Vermont's rate was one foreclosure for every 8,898 housing units. The worst states continue to be the Nevada (one in 16) , Arizona ( one in 30) and Florida (one in 33), as far as having the highest rate of foreclosure and Nevada, Arizona and Florida have the highest number of foreclosures. Vermont's rate was nearly six times lower than the next best state, North Dakota (one in 1,553).

The owner of the Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon and four other such plants has met with New York regulators to make a more attractive financial offer in its effort to spin off those reactors into a new company called Enexus. The new proposal, which the company said would reduce the debt of the new company by $1 billion, while increasing capitalization by $350 million, would likely require further federal and Vermont regulatory approval. The other plants are Pilgrim (Plymouth, MA), Indian Point 1&2 (New York), FitzPatrick (New York), and Palisades (Michigan).

J.D. Power and Associates has ranked Central Vermont Public Service second in the East for customer satisfaction among midsized utilities. In J.D. Power and Associates study results released today, CVPS also ranked second in the East Midsize segment for the corporate citizenship and communications factors. The company ranked above the regional average for midsized utilities in all J.D. Power and Associates factors, including customer service, billing & payment, communications, power quality & reliability, price and corporate citizenship.
Our employees work extremely hard to provide customers a high level of customer service and reliability, while caring for the environment and the communities we serve, all at a reasonable cost, President Bob Young said. That s an extremely challenging goal, one we will continue to focus on in the years ahead.

Union Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ UNB) today announced net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 was $1.23 million or $0.28 per share compared to $1.19 million or $0.27 per share for the same period in 2008. Net Income year to date was $2.50 million or $0.56 per share for 2009 compared to $2.60 million or $0.58 per share for 2008. Total Assets have grown $29.3 million, or 7.4%, to $424.9 million at June 30, 2009 from $395.6 at June 30, 2008 while total deposits have grown $27.1 million, or 8.5%, to $347.9 million at June 30, 2009 from $320.8 million at June 30, 2008. A quarterly cash dividend of $.25 per share was declared on July 15, 2009 to shareholders of record July 25, 2009, payable August 6, 2009.

FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NYSE: FRP) announced today a number of organizational changes. David Hauser, chairman and chief executive officer of FairPoint Communications, announced that effective immediately he is making several organizational changes in order to position the company to better tackle the integration issues of its systems in northern New England. Executive Vice President Jeff Allen of Essex Junction, Vermont, will now oversee all of FairPoint s Northern New England Operations.
Over the past two weeks I have met with FairPoint s leadership team to assess our situation, said Hauser. From these meetings one thing is very clear to me. We must direct our full attention to tackle the integration of our systems serving northern New England. These changes will help FairPoint more effectively address the systems issues and address them quickly.

US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and US Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) on Wednesday announced $683,388 in recovery funding for Barre, Vermont's Northern Power Systems. Northern Power was one of just 28 wind energy projects nationwide to receive nearly $13.8 million in Department of Energy funding intended for research, testing and analysis. The federal investment was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
In announcing the funding, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu noted that wind power capacity in the U.S. increased by 8,558 megawatts in 2008. A nationwide investment of $16 billion in 2008 made the U.S. the fastest-growing wind power market in the world for the fourth consecutive year.