Current News

In an awards ceremony Wednesday evening, NRG Systems of Hinesburg and BioTek of Winooski were the big winners at the 2009 Best Places to Work event hosted by Vermont Business Magazine, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and the Vermont Society of Human Resource Management. The event was held at the Main Street Landing Film House in Burlington. The companies were honored based on the results of surveys given to each company's employees. The awards honored five large companies (Over 150 employees) and 10 small & medium sized companies (15 to 149 employees). NRG was named the top company to work for in the small/medium sized category and BioTek was named the large company winner. Of the many companies whose employees were surveyed by Best Companies Group from Pennsylvania, only these 15 were named the Best Places to Work in Vermont.
The recipients of this year s awards were:

Customers, shareholders and several Vermont businesses have contributed to a banner year for CVPS Shareheat, raising a record amount of money to help Vermonters avert heating crises.
With donations continuing to come in, more than $375,000 has been raised for the 2008-2009 heating season, raising the program total to nearly $3.2 million since its inception in 1987. The previous record was less than $250,000 in one year.
With heating prices skyrocketing, CVPS began its annual campaign with an unprecedented July kickoff, and committed $100,000 in shareholder funds to the program. A host of Vermont businesses were recruited as partners, which donated to the matching pool to leverage customer donations.
Altogether, $182,000 was available in the Shareheat matching pool, and customers have donated $193,000. Hundreds of Vermont families benefited.

The Vermont Senate today passed the FY09 Budget Adjustment bill with a 26-1 vote. The passage of this bill will ensure that Vermont continues to maintain vital state services. The bill also allows the state to draw down millions of dollars made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In addition to balancing the state budget, these dollars will put Vermonters to work and repair our crumbling roads and bridges.

The University of Vermont has announced that three new legislative trustees, a gubernatorial appointee, and a new student trustee are joining its board of trustees. The new legislative trustees, elected by the Vermont General Assembly to six-year terms, are Carolyn Branagan, Christopher Bray, and David Potter. Governor Douglas has appointed Mark Young, who previously served as a legislative trustee from 2002-2007, to a six-year term. The new student trustee, Adam Roof, was selected to serve a two-year term by the Associate Directors for the Appointment of The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College Student Trustees, Inc.
Leaving the board are legislative trustees Edwin Amidon, James Leddy, and Martha Heath, gubernatorial appointed trustee Robert Young, and student trustee Beth Rice.
All of the new trustees will participate in the board meeting scheduled for May 14 through 16.

A new company called ASK-intTAG will begin to manufacture electronically enhanced identification cards at the IBM facility in Essex Junction as early as this summer. A joint venture of ASK SA from France and WS Packaging from Green Bay, WI, the new company will compete in the growing market for enhanced driver s licenses, passports and other secure forms of identification. ASK already produces such products for the US market in France. It uses imbedded computer chips and tiny antennas for the radio transmission technology. WS offers the new firm large scale manufacturing capabilities.

Week Ending March 28, 2009 There were 1,179 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, an increase of 109 from the week before. Altogether 18,599 new and continuing claims were filed, 92 less than a week ago and 7,754 more than a year earlier. The Department also processed 1,955 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 13 less than a week ago. In addition, there were 1,140 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program which is an increase of 52 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/ Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc

Today, Ben & Jerry's lifted the lid on an April Fool's Day event aimed at raising consumer awareness of the government's recent approval of cloned milk and meat within the human food supply chain. In late-March Ben & Jerry's went undercover through the launch of Cyclone Dairy, a fictitious dairy company marketing milk made from 100% cloned cows, to gauge consumer reaction surrounding this issue. The make-believe company was launched via the Web site CycloneDairy.com and street sampling initiatives in Manhattan, with support from the Center for Food Safety, a nonprofit public interest organization based in Washington, D.C.
"April Fools! Ben & Jerry's is just kidding about Cyclone Dairy but we're serious about the need for a system to track cloned animals," said Walt Freese, Chief Euphoria Officer for Ben & Jerry's. "Americans should have the basic right to choose the foods they want to eat."

Governor Douglas today announced that the Department of Health and Human Services has released more than $2.7 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to support expanded services at eight community health centers across Vermont. The funds are part of a total $338 million investment in centers nation wide.
Community Health Centers were asked to submit plans explaining how the funds would be used. While proposals vary among grantees, strategies may include adding new providers, expanding hours of operations or expanding health services.

Ledyard Financial Group, Inc. (LFGP) announced today that its Board of Directors has voted to not participate in the U.S. Treasury Department s Capital Purchase Program (CPP). Ledyard was approved for funds, but after careful review of Ledyard s core businesses and capital position, the constraints and uncertainties of the CPP, and the overall strength of the Company, the Board of Directors decided to withdraw Ledyard s application.
The CPP is part of the Federal Government s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) approved by Congress to strengthen the banking system by providing healthy banks with additional capital. The Board of Directors as part of the Company s ongoing capital planning activities evaluates its need for capital to support Ledyard s community banking and wealth advisory services businesses. The Board concluded the most effective option available to Ledyard at this time is through the retention of earnings.

Members of a leading small business association today gathered at the State House to impress upon Governor Douglas and their legislators the difficulty they are having surviving in the current economic climate. Small business owners urged the governor and legislative leaders to focus on policies and programs that make Vermont a more business-friendly state for entrepreneurs and small employers.
Small businesses are the backbone of Vermont s economy, said Shawn Shouldice, Vermont state director of the National Federation of Independent Business. While much of the nation s attention is on Wall Street, it s important that our legislators here in Vermont understand that we re more concerned with what happens on Main Street.
NFIB/Vermont member Jim Eckhardt, president of Censor Security in Rutland, said surviving in the economic climate was difficult, but coping with higher taxes and more red tape from Montpelier would make things even worse.

Governor Douglas on Wednesday will announce that a major new manufacturer will be setting up operations at IBM s Essex facility and he will formally welcome them to Vermont. The announcement will be made at the IBM Microelectronics facility Presentation Center in Essex Junction at 3:30 pm.

The Vermont State Board of Education welcomed three new members to the Board at its March 17, 2009 meeting. State Board members are appointed by Governor Jim Douglas.
Don Collins, a resident of Swanton, most recently served six years on the Senate Education Committee in the Vermont Legislature, four years as chairman. He has taught mathematics and social studies the middle and high school level, and served as the director of guidance and curriculum at Lamoille Union High School. He served 28 years in administrative positions, including four years as the principal of Ferrisburgh Central School and 14 years as superintendent of the Franklin West Supervisory Union. He also served as director of Project Head Start in Northeastern Vermont and adjunct instructor at four Vermont colleges. He also served as a trustee of the Vermont State Colleges. He is currently chairman of the Swanton School Board. His term expires in 2015.