Current News

Stowe, VT - The United States Tennis Association has announced that the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Semifinal between the United States and Russia will be held at Topnotch Resort and Spa in Stowe, Vermont, July 14 15. The event is being organized in association with Grand Slam Tennis Tours.
"Grand Slam Tennis Tours (GSTT) has recently partnered with the USTA to become 'An Official Travel Partner of the USTA'," says Andrew Chmura, President of GSTT. "We are thrilled to bring Fed Cup competition to our home town of Stowe."
The Fed Cup is the world's largest international womens team competition. Two singles matches will take place on Saturday with two reverse singles and one doubles match on Sunday.
The USTA will construct a 3,000-seat stadium at Topnotch Resort and Spa. Based on previous Fed Cup Tie statistics, the presence of this event is expected to have significant economic impact for Stowe and surrounding areas.

NEW CEO APPOINTED AT CENTRAL VERMONT MEDICAL CENTER
Berlin, Vt - Trustees at Central Vermont Medical Center have announced the appointment of Judy Tarr of Damariscotta, Maine, as the new President and Chief Executive Officer. The appointment will be effective September 10, 2007, according to John Nicholls, Chair of the CVMC Board of Trustees. She will be replacing Daria V. Mason, who will be retiring at the end of June, after nearly thirty years of service at CVMC.

"I am pleased to report that the recruitment process was very inclusive and thorough. We reviewed an outstanding group of candidates from a national search and our decision was unanimous to offer the position to Judy Tarr," said Nicholls in making the announcement.

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT-Robert Gaydos, President of The Benefit Group of New England, has been appointed to the CIGNA National Producer Advisory Council.
The council which met in Hallandale, Florida from March 27-29, 2007 was created to obtain feedback from top national producers and prioritize initiatives set underway at CIGNA HealthCare. This council meets twice yearly in order to prioritize producer and customer business needs and to evaluate CIGNAs progress on addressing these priorities. Two main topics dominated the discussion in March; Consumer-Driven Health Care and Assessment & Wellness.
The appointment to the council is a two-year term. The council is made up of only twenty to thirty producers whom CIGNA recognizes as Preferred Producers. Their next meeting is scheduled for September of this year.

Computer Connection, a division of Datamann, Inc., located in Vermont, and Epoch Software Solutions, located in New Jersey, have announced their partnership for the sale and support of CounterPoint software.
CounterPoint is a retail management and point of sale software manufactured by Radiant Systems in Memphis, Tennessee, and is only available through authorized business partners.
Computer Connection will maintain its status as an authorized CounterPoint Business Partner, meeting the requirements set by Radiant Systems. Epoch Software Solutions will continue its business in the Mid-Atlantic region, while using Computer Connection for additional resources and as its bridge to Radiant Systems. Together, the two companies will pursue retail customers in the east coast and Mid-Atlantic regions, as well as nationally.

Cathedral Square Corporation, celebrating 30 years of service to Vermonters, is pleased to announce the appointment of Charles Smith, Marvin Klikunas, M.D. and Paul Van de Graaf to its Board of Directors. Cathedral Square welcomes the expertise each of the new directors brings to its Board.
Charles P. Smith is currently President and CEO of The Snelling Center for Government. Previously, he served in the Douglas Administration as Secretary to the Agency of Human Services and Secretary of Administration.
Dr. Klikunas is an Assistant Professor at UVM College of Medicine and specializes in geriatrics.
Paul Van de Graaf, Esq., is a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice, having served in this capacity for 20 years in Philadelphia and Vermont.

Today, Thursday, May 17 is the deadline to register for FREE for the Vermont Business and Industry EXPO 2007!If you have not yet registered, please don't miss your opportunity to do so for FREE.
After May 17, a $10 fee will be charged online and at the door.
This event will take place on May 23 and 24 at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in South Burlington. EXPO features Northern New England's largest business-to-business tradeshow with nearly 200 exhibitors, as well as an outstanding line up of special events. Check on line for a full listing of events http://www.vtexpo.com/seminars/
Don't miss all the great networking opportunities and educational seminars!
We at the Vermont Chamber hope you can join us at EXPO. Register now or visit www.vtexpo.com for a full listing of events.
Sincerely,Antonia OpitzEXPO Director

Conversation Among Masters Conference Spurs More than Conversation for Vermont Coaches Ready to Take Their Concept World Wide.
Two Vermont business coaches returned from the 'invitation only' Conversation Among Masters Conference held in Monterey, CA on April 29 through May 3, ready to carry the torch of coaching innovation world wide. The conference, meant to spur conversation among about 150 internationally recognized business and life coaching leaders, led to a cross-pollination of ideas and action in the areas of the future of coaching (according to a Price-Waterhouse study currently, a 1.5 billion dollar industry), the switch from traditional publishing to digital content, mastery, and more. Now, Vermont coaches Liz Dallas and Lea Belair have more than a vision about how to create their dream of World Wide Coaching Centers - they have a plan and people to collaborate with.

May 15, 2007

CVPS seeks 4.46 percent rate increase in
2008
RUTLAND, Vt. – Driven largely by increased transmission
and power costs and reliability improvements, Central Vermont Public Service
(NYSE-CV) today filed for a 4.46 percent rate increase to take effect next
February.

Under the
proposed change, a residential customer
using 500 kilowatt-hours per month would see an increase from $71.46 to $74.65.
Similar customers elsewhere in New England pay over $100.

“Our increased costs relate
in part to changes in wholesale power market prices and transmission costs,”
President Bob Young said. “We are
also spending more on customer service and reliability
improvements.”

Young said the company
increased its capital budget, largely for reliability improvements, from $18
million in 2006 to $26 million in 2007, and expects to maintain the higher

Welcome to National Tourism Week! This week the hospitality industry and communities across the nation celebrate travel to and within the United States.
Vermont Hospitality Council Vice President Vicky Tebbetts noted, "Vermont's hosts work around the clock to help make each visit to Vermont memorable. The travel and tourism industry provides substantial employment opportunities and generates considerable tax revenue for the state's general fund. Vermont hospitality workers are incredibly dedicated to Green Mountain State visitors and our robust tourism economy."
National Tourism Week, sponsored by the Travel Industry Association of America, increases awareness of the travel and tourism industry's economic, social, and cultural contributions to the United States.

The Vermont Guardian, which earlier this year became the state's only exclusively online newspaper, will cease publication this month.
The move comes three months after the Guardian dropped its print format as a way to cut costs and better reach its growing readership on the Internet. That move drew significantly more readers topping more than 8,000 readers per day (with more than 20,000 page views) and 150,000 readers per month.
"The reason we are closing our doors is simple," said Shay Totten, the paper's co-founder, editor, and publisher."While the move to online helped us bring our costs in line with our revenues, and to be more fleet-footed in how we respond to breaking news and analysis, I have been offered an opportunity that, for the benefit of my family, I cannot turn down and it means that the paper must cease publication at this time due to the enormous amount of time that I put into this publication every day."

On the evening of Tuesday, May 8, Champlain College announced the launch of an Accounting Excellence Scholarship Fund. The new endowment fund celebrates decades of teaching excellence by Champlains distinguished Accounting faculty.
The fund will annually support two Accounting students who demonstrate both academic merit and financial need. Alumni and community members have rallied in support of the fund, placing it well on its way to raising an initial goal of $100,000 for the permanent endowment.

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VERMONT - Coretomic Inc. announced today the launch of GreenUpBiz "Reducing Energy & Improving Corporate Competitiveness," a partnership between Coretomic, a global leader in eBiz software development, Champlain College, a private, professionally focused college in Vermont, and member US businesses to implement, educate and empower businesses to GreenUp with eBiz tools, processes, knowledge and teamwork.
Coretomic CEO David Castrucci said, "We believe the time is perfect for business to move processes out of the back office, off the road and onto the website.
This movement will dramatically improve the competitiveness of any business and will radically reduce energy consumption."
"We recognize that the only corporate physical space in the virtual world is the corporate website," Castrucci said. "This makes the corporate website the place where all business processes will eventually occur."