Current News

VEOC Board of Directors Elects New Leadership
Burlington, Vermont (November 24, 2008) The Vermont Employee Ownership Center's Board of Directors has elected new officers for the coming year.
Paul Millman is the newly elected Board President. Millman is the president and co-founder of Chroma Technology Corporation (Rockingham, Vt.) and has served on the VEOC board since 2002, previously as Board Vice President. He brings a wealth of knowledge of Vermont's business community and has worked tirelessly to promote employee ownership.
"I am excited to take on the important job of steering the Vermont Employee Ownership Center over the next year," said Millman. "I look forward to working with the VEOC board, staff, and the entire business community to increase the number of Vermont employee-owned companies," he said.

WINOOSKI FALLS NAMED WINNER OF THE
2008 LIVABLE COMMUNITIES AWARD
BURLINGTON, VT - The Winooski Falls project and its developers HallKeen, The Braverman Company and New Boston Fund will receive the 2008 Livable Communities Award for forward thinking in the field of home and community design. The Livable Communities Award, cosponsored by AARP and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), honors builders, developers and remodelers that create attractive, well-designed homes and communities, which are safe, comfortable and accessible for people of all ages and abilities. This year, HallKeen, The Braverman Company and New Boston Fund is one of four winners nationally.

BED to Hold Off on Rate Increase
Burlington Electric Department, which had received approval from the Electric Commission to seek up to a 5.9 percent rate increase, has agreed to withdraw the request at this time.

Chittenden Bank Delivers $20,000 Check to CVPS Shareheat
Rutland, Vermont In a continuing effort to assist Vermonters in need during these tough economic times, Chittenden Bank recently donated $20,000 to the CVPS Shareheat Fund. For over 20 years, Shareheat has provided emergency home heating assistance to residents within the Central Vermont Public Service (CVPS) territory. This resource is used primarily when low-income Vermonters find themselves ineligible for other programs, beyond their eligibility, or applying for assistance for the first time.
Funds for Shareheat are raised from the general public and matched dollar for dollar by CVPS shareholders. In July CVPS kicked off its annual Shareheat campaign five months earlier than usual. CVPS pledged $100,000 in matching funds for incoming donations, and combined with the Shareheat Business Partnership Program that amount has increased to $185,000 for this heating season.

KELLY BRUSH FOUNDATION AWARDS SKI RACING SAFETY GRANTS

STOWE AND ASPEN SKI CLUBS AMONG RECIPIENTS
BURLINGTON, Vermont (Nov. 24, 2008) Just as ski resorts are opening for the season, the Kelly Brush Foundation kicked off its 2008/2009 Ski Racing Safety is No Accident Campaign with the announcement of over $20,000 in grants to ski racing clubs and programs across the country. The grants are part of a campaign to promote and improve ski racing safety.

Among the recipients are some of the most prestigious racing programs in the nation including the Mount Mansfield Ski Club at Stowe Mountain Resort in Vermont and the Aspen Valley Ski Club at Aspen in Colorado. Each club won a $10,000 grant earmarked for enhancing safety on the trails where their young racers train and race.

Vermont delegation seeks to stimulate economy with transportation waiver

Vermont Receives nearly $800,000 in Byway Grants
MONTPELIER (November 24, 2008)- The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) announced today that three Vermont byways have received $797,000 in federal grants to help promote some of the Green Mountain State's most celebrated roadways.
The grants come at a particularly opportune time as this fall Vermont joined most of the other states across the country and began actively marketing its five designated byways.
"Byways are created and maintained at the local level, and they provide a community or state region with a vehicle to tell their story to visitors." said John LaBarge, Vermont's program manager for byways. "The local residents decide what stories about their regions to share with visitors. In the process, many of them discover even more about how special their home really is."

Wark Appointed Communications Director
Montpelier, Vt. -- Governor Jim Douglas has announced the appointment of Stephen Wark as his director of communications.
"It is a pleasure to welcome Steve to the senior staff," Governor Douglas said. "His breadth of experience, communications skills and life-long commitment to public service will be a valuable asset and bring a unique perspective to the important work ahead of us."
Wark, 45, of Colchester, is currently the director of consumer affairs and public service with the Department of Public Service, as well as the director of the Governor's Fuel and Food Partnership. He is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of the University of Vermont, Champlain College and Vermont Technical College. He served for twenty years with the Burlington Police Department, and retired in 2006 as deputy chief. He and his wife Wendy have two daughters, Caitlin and Amanda.

Waterbury, VT (November 21, 2008) - Secretary of Human Services Rob Hofmann Announces the Appointment of Susan W. Besio, Ph.D., as Director of the Office of Vermont Health Access.
Newly appointed Secretary of Human Services Robert D. Hofmann announced today the appointment of Susan W. Besio, Ph.D., as the new Director of the Office of Vermont Health Access (OVHA), effective December 8, 2008. She replaces Joshua Slen, Director at OVHA since August 2003, who is leaving state government.

Nicholas A. Fiore, P.E. was hired as the new project engineer at Engineering Ventures, Inc.'s Lebanon, NH office. Fiore brings experience in civil engineering, project management, site design and transportation solution, among other areas.

Meghan McCarthy recieved a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Tufts University, with a minor in Architecture. She brings experience in both structural and civil/site engineering.

Engineering Ventures, Inc. is an experienced consulting engineering firm operating in Vermont, New Hampshire and the surrounding area.

Job counts up slightly in October, jobless rate unchanged at 5.2%
Montpelier (November 21, 2008) -- The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October 2008 was 5.2% percent, unchanged from the revised September rate and up 1.3 points from a year ago.
"Though our employment and job numbers looked relatively good in October we believe that the impact is temporary," said Patricia Moulton Powden, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Labor. "The increases we saw in seasonally adjusted employment and jobs may have been due to our surveys capturing a favorable foliage season. Never-the-less we welcome the stability in our unemployment rate in an environment where our national rate grew four-tenths of a point."
Job Growth

SVMC Introduces HDTV Technology for Tests that Find Cancer, Other Disease
BENNINGTON - If you've seen the difference high-definition television makes in your living room, you can imagine what a difference it makes in diagnosis. Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) now has a new state-of-the art tool: high-definition endoscopes that help doctors diagnose disease in the gastrointestinal tract and lungs.
Not only that. Even before they had high-definition equipment, surgeons at SVMC had a better track record at detecting colon problems than their counterparts.
Endoscopy is used to diagnose and treat diseases, including colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death among Vermont men and women. It can be prevented with colonoscopy.