Current News

There were 713 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, a decrease of 138 from the week before. Altogether 7,181 new and continuing claims were filed, 148 less than a week ago and 1,861 more than a year earlier. In addition, the Department processed 2,310 claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008, an increase of 757 from last week.

To view the full report click here

Draker Laboratories (Draker) announces a series of partnerships and the securing of a significant investment today. These partnerships and investment greatly improves Draker's ability to grow the company's position in the renewable energy monitoring industry. This exciting development includes strategic alliances with Campbell Scientific and the Nathaniel Group as well as investments from FreshTracks Capital II L.P and the State of Vermont through its Clean Energy Development Fund. Draker is now on track to complete the development of a next generation renewable energy monitoring product that will be unveiled at the Solar Power 2008 conference in San Diego, CA this fall. We are excited about the strategic infrastructure Draker has assembled through this transaction, said AJ Rossman, founder and CEO of Draker, these partnerships allow Draker to better serve the commercial renewable energy sector through improved hardware, software and customer support

Food Industry Veteran Rick McKelvey Appointed President
of Putney Pasta

Vermont Congressional Delegation to Take Part in
Lyndon State College Ground Breaking
Lyndon Center, Vt. - Vermont Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders along with Representative Peter Welsh will all take part in ground breaking for the new academic and student activity building at the college August 12 at noon. The ceremony will take place in front of the Vail Center, followed by a reception in the Vail Student Center.
Space for student clubs and activities has been at a premium at Lyndon for a number of years, and, with growing enrollment recently, academic space has also been tight. This building project, approved by the Vermont State Colleges board of trustees last year, will provide instructional and faculty office space and space for academic programs that are increasing in size and technological complexity. Its multipurpose student activity space will meet a range of cultural, entertainment, academic and social needs for the Lyndon student body.

Search engine marketing company @Web Site Publicity, announced today the signing of a new client, 800response, a leading provider of vanity 800 phone numbers and call tracking solutions based in Burlington, VT. @Web Site Publicity will support the 800response website with search engine marketing strategies, specifically search engine optimization consulting. The goal is to make 800response's informative Web content and online services even more accessible to the businesses that use the major search engines to find the best resources to support their marketing initiatives.

New Jersey Edges New York for Nation's Highest State-Local Tax Burden
Washington, D.C., August 7, 2008 - New Jersey taxpayers bear the heaviest state-local tax burden in 2008, and Alaskans have the lightest tax burden, according to a new report from the Tax Foundation.

In Tax Foundation Special Report, No. 163, "State-Local Tax Burdens Dip As Income Growth Outpaces Tax Growth," senior economist Gerald Prante computes each state's combined state-local tax burden, accounting for taxes paid out of state.

The nation as a whole paid 9.7% of its income in state-local taxes, down from 9.9% in 2007 primarily because income grew faster than tax collections between 2007 and 2008.

CVPS provides $50,000 grant for solar project

BURLINGTON, Vt (August 6, 2008)&America's oldest and most renowned flour company, King Arthur Flour, has named Kelliher Samets Volk as its agency of record, according to Tim Volk, president of the independent advertising agency. The account, previously handled by Digital Flannel in Woodstock, Vermont, was awarded after a quiet national review of agencies. Billings for the account were not revealed.

Based in Norwich, Vermont, King Arthur Flour has been making naturally pure flour for more than 200 years. Each of their numerous types of unbleached flour is milled from premium wheat, and the results are lauded by baking professionals around the country. The company is also famous for its catalogue, award-winning cookbooks, and baking education classes.

We are thrilled to be working with such a strong food brand, said Mr. Volk. Their national reputation, dedication to quality, and socially responsible business model inspires us to create great work.

Vermont falls in Forbes' "The Best States for Business" rank

Vermont fell to 36th in the Forbes "The Best States for Business" rankings. Last year Vermont was 32nd. Once again, Virginia was first and West Virginia was last. Vermont tied with Massachusetts, one place ahead of New York. New Hampshire was the highest New England state, falling six spots to 20.
Vermont ranked highest in "Quality of Life" (10) and "Labor" (12) and lowest in "Growth Prospects" (44) and "Business Costs" (43). The other two categories were "Regulatory Environment" (33) and "Business Climate" (31).

The table with state ranks can be found at Forbes Rank.

Governor Douglas and CONEG Urge President to Release Contingency LIHEAP Funds Immediately
Waterbury (August 5, 2008) - The Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG), chaired by Governor Jim Douglas, today urged the President to release the remaining $120 million in contingency funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
The Governors had also voiced their support for Senator Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) efforts to provide an additional $2.73 billion in FY2008 funding for LIHEAP in regular program and contingency funding; and now say the prompt release of the remaining contingency funding is critical to ensuring states-particularly those in the Northeast-can adequately prepare for the fall heating season.

$1.5 MILLION AWARDED FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRAM
Montpelier, Vermont - The Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) has awarded the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) a two-year contract to administer the Vermont Small-Scale Renewable Energy Program following a competitive bidding process, the Douglas administration announced.
Governor Douglas said nearly $1.5 million will be available to Vermonters to support photovoltaic, solar hot water, wind installations and hydropower stations.
"This important program is helping us to further diversify our energy portfolio and reduce the need for more expensive oil and other fossil fuels by helping individuals, businesses, farms, schools, and municipalities install solar, wind or hydropower systems," Governor Douglas said. "And we've put an emphasis on helping schools, local governments and low-income multi-family housing buildings reduce their energy costs using these innovative renewable sources."

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. Reports Fiscal 2008 Third Quarter Results

- Success of Keurig single-cup brewing system and K-Cups drives strong sales and earnings growth -

WATERBURY, Vt.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., (NASDAQ: GMCR) has announced its fiscal 2008 third quarter results for the thirteen weeks ended June 28, 2008.

Net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were up 43.3% to $118.1 million as compared to $82.4 million reported in the third quarter of fiscal 2007. During the third quarter of fiscal 2008, approximately 153,000 Keurig brewers were shipped, up 61% from the 95,000 Keurig brewers shipped during the third quarter of fiscal 2007. The Green Mountain Coffee segment shipped over 134 million K-Cup portion packs, which was 49% more than the year-ago quarter.