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Most of Vermonts Legislature and many in its media and the general intelligentsia do not really believe our state faces a serious crisis regarding our tax burden or economy; lets look at the facts.

As leader of Vermont Tax Revolt found at www.VermontTaxRevolt.org this recently formed grassroots organization is composed of nonpartisan-seeking citizens who are concerned not only with Vermonts weighty tax burdens, but with what we see as ominous signs of worse things to come. As our web site voluminously lists, lets look at some of those more troubling danger signals should give pause and reflection to all Vermonters.

On September 29, the Robert A. Skiff Alumni Award went to Sarah Soule, the director of admissions and college counseling at Vermont Commons School; the C. Bader Brouilette Alumni Award to Marie Ambusk, financial reporting accountant/principal at GE Healthcare Integrated Information Technology Solutions; the Vermont Alumni Award to Tim Kavanagh of WCAX-TV and Late Night Saturday; the Roger A. Perry Alumni Award to Courtney McAuliffe of New England Kurn Hattin Homes; and the Presidents Alumni Award to Peter Bruhn and Peter Jewett, operators of GoTradingPost.com.
Champlain College President David Finney and many Champlain alumni and friends participated in the celebration aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen.

Sept. 8-9, members of the union from Sherwin Electric and Central Vermont Public Service journeyed to Athens, Vt., to volunteer for ABC-TVs Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The award-winning program was in the small Windham County town all week refurbishing the home of the Vitale Family. IBEW electricians worked hand-in-hand with a crew led by Brandon-based general contractor the McKernon Group.
"We interacted very well with the whole team down there," said Sherwin Electric's Marcel Cote. "It was impressive to see the amount of work that goes into a project like this. Without a doubt, our folks were honored to assist a Vermont family in need."

Matt Lash recently joined the staff of the South Burlington-based labor union as the director of marketing and business development. He comes to Local 300 after two years at the Barre Partnership, a nonprofit committed to revitalizing the Granite City's downtown. A graduate of St. Michael's College, Lash holds a bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication with a minor in political science.
"I am proud to come on board at Local 300. Given my interests, this opportunity is very intriguing to me both personally and professionally," Lash said. "In addition to my appreciation for thriving businesses, I have always believed in fair compensation for a hard day's work - a notion the IBEW is wholeheartedly devoted to."

Planning a trip for students means to pack excitement, adventure and joy all in one bag. Organizing student group travel is a work of responsibility that needs to done while taking care of the youth taste. There are dozens of logistics that need to be organized, whether you're booking it through a student tour company, or going it alone. And since now over 40% of all student groups don't use a professional tour operator or travel agency to book their travel, owing to the restrictions and hassles often added by these organizers.

Exterus Technology for Business in Shelburne is pleased to announce that H. Wright Caswell was recently recognized by Xerox Corporation as one of the top sales agents in North America.
Out of more than 3,200 sales agents and Xerox employees in the United States and Canada, Wright was one of just 18 chosen to compete in the Xerox North American Demorama competition in Orlando, Florida. After demonstrating the latest technology on one of the company's newest, most advanced systems, Xerox executives placed him fourth best demo in North America. Wright was one of just three sales representatives chosen to compete two years in a row. Last year's contest was held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Come meet Wright at the 1st Annual Exterus Fall Expo 2007 on November 27 at the Hilton Hotel in Burlington, Vermont! Visit www.exterusbusiness.com for to register for the Expo or for more information on our products and services.

For Immediate Release Contact: Kathy Parry (802) 371-3205
October 8, 2007
NATIONALLY-RECOGNIZED SPEAKERS DESCRIBE TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMING HEALTH CARE AT FREE CONFERENCE WEDNESDAY
Burlington -- A free conference Wednesday featuring national and state authorities on health care will focus on the evolving impact of consumer choice and information technology on the delivery and cost of health care.
The conference is the eighth in a highly-acclaimed series of health care symposiums sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont that are designed to advance the publics understanding of major issues facing the states health care system.

Yandow Dousevicz Construction Corporation, located in South Burlington, Vermont, has changed its name to Dousevicz, Inc. The name better reflects the companies expanding real estate development division. The company, founded in 1990, has developed some of the State's most recognized properties including; The Westlake complex in Burlington, VT, Hawks Nest Senior Housing in St Albans, Eagle Crest and Falcon Manor Senior Housing in Williston, Autumn Knoll Condominium Development in Essex, and the Bay Creek Neighborhood in Colchester. Dousevicz Inc is in the process of developing a 150+ unit residential and 50,000 sq feet of commercial mixed-used complex in Essex, known as Town Meadow. The company is also persuing permitting for future residential and commercial projects in St Albans, South Burlington, and Essex Junction.
The company is also actively involved with various construction management projects throughout Chittenden County.

Manchester, Vermont October 1, 2007 Paul T. Carroccio, President and CEO of TPW Management, recently joined the skilled group of community association managers who have earned the Association Management Specialist (AMS) designation from Community Associations Institute (CAI). Carroccio is one of more than 2,500 managers nationwide who have earned this level of professional recognition in the community association field.
The President and CEO of TPW Management, Inc., Carroccio now joins Paul W. Carroccio, Vice President and COO, and Dan Riley, TPW Southern Vermont Portfolio Manager, in obtaining the AMS designation. TPW Management also has 8 employees with the Certified Manager of Community Associations (CMCA) designation. The company manages over 20 community associations statewide, with offices in Burlington, Manchester, Stratton, Okemo and Killington.

BURLINGTON, Vt.--Champlain College's Workforce Development Center and EpikOne, an online marketing consultancy in Williston, will deliver two days of customized training this fall to State of Vermont employees from 13 different departments whose responsibilities range from tourism and economic development to vocational rehabilitation and fish and wildlife.
On the Champlain College campus on October 5 and November 2, the state employees will explore podcasting, blogging, online visibility, search engine optimization (SEO), Web ads, YouTube, and social networking.
In almost every state outreach and marketing effort, we are seeing the Internet grow in importance and use. We all agreed that we need to be better informed on how to take advantage of these new tools, said Christine Werneke, the State of Vermont's chief marketing officer. Champlain's Workforce Development Center and EpikOne developed a customized training to specifically meet the State's needs.

Lewiston, September 28, 2007 Wells River Savings Bank, a Vermont-based financial institution, has recently selected FISC, one of Maines largest financial institution service providers, to process their image statements. Wells River Savings Bank has been providing personal and business banking products and services to the Upper Connecticut River Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire for more than 100 years.
With FISCs image statement service, iStatement", Wells River customers will now receive picture images of their checks in their statements. By returning images of the checks in place of the original paper checks, clients realize cost savings while still providing the detail check information that many customers demand. FISC has been offering image statement processing for more than a decade to financial institutions throughout Maine and into New Hampshire. Wells River Savings Bank represents FISCs first client based in Vermont.

BURLINGTON, Vt.Dr. Victor Stone was recently appointed interim director of the MBA program in the Division of Business at Champlain College. The Champlain MBA is an online graduate program with a focus on integrating what professionals are doing at work with the MBA courses that they take.
Stone has 25 years experience in a variety of management and senior management roles in supply chain management, business operations, plans and controls, pricing and competitive analysis, business transformation, IT implementation, and strategy development with International Business Machines, Corp. Microelectronics Division. He has been an instructor with Champlain Colleges graduate programs since their inceptions.