Current News
by tim
Berlin, Vt. - Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) has announced that complementary and alternative health care (CAM) services are now available to its members and their families through the health plans BlueExtras affinity discount program.
The states oldest and largest health insurer has teamed with American WholeHealth Networks, Inc. to add CAM and wellness services such as massage/bodywork, acupuncture, chiropractic services, nutritional counseling, mind/body therapies, spas, fitness centers, and other wellness services.
BCBSVT members simply visit a participating practitioner or facility in American WholeHealth Networks extensive network to receive significant discounts on their CAM care. This newest addition to the BlueExtras program also offers members savings on the newsstand rates of popular health and wellness magazines and discounts on vitamins and supplements.
by tim
RURAL DEVELOPMENT INVESTS IN VERMONT
USDA Rural Development for Vermont announced that during FY 2004
$50,236,513 was invested in Vermont loans and grants. Rural
Businesses in Vermont received almost $6.5 million in direct and
guaranteed loans from RD affecting approximately 254 jobs. Other
examples include $767,854 in grants to organizations striving to
improve the economic conditions of rural Vermont. Three agricultural
entities received a total of $165,737 in Value Added Market
Development Grants. More info? visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/vt
.
by tim
Winter brings exhilarating experiences and delicious comforts to Vermont. Theres no better way to participate in the season than a well-planned visit to the Green Mountain State with the Vermont Chamber 2005 Vermont Winter Guide and the Ski Vermont & Winter Activities Map.
The dynamic combination of the Guide and the Map points the way to Vermonts hot spots, on and off the slopes. At the end of the day, theres nothing like slipping into an outdoor hot tub while relaxing at a Vermont country inn, legendary for hometown charm and hospitality.
Need help choosing? The listings in the Vermont Winter Guide will help you find your B & B, country inn, resort, or hotel. Over highways and back roads, to resorts and beyond, the Ski Vermont & Winter Activities Map will bring you there. And if lodging near a ski resort is key, the Map points to the best.
by tim
BURLINGTON, Vt.--Champlain College Marketing Professor James E. McKee has been named a Professional Certified Marketer by the American Marketing Association. The professional certificate is highly regarded as an indicator of strong knowledge and performance in the marketing field.
Actively involved in the community, McKee has been coordinating The Kelley Marketing Group, a group of volunteers which provides marketing advice to nonprofit organizations in Vermont. Its beneficiaries include hundreds of organizations which run the gamut from The Vermont National Guard to the American Civil Liberties Union.
McKee is a resident of Colchester, Vt., who has taught for 27 years at Champlain College. He teaches marketing and advertising courses at the career-oriented, four-year college. McKee has a B.A. from St. Lawrence University and an M.B.A. from S.U.N.Y. Buffalo.
by tim
On the opening day of the biennium, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce is pleased to publish its 2005 Priorities for Job Creation and Retention.
Set a course to make health care more affordable, accessible, and financially stable:
Ï Involve both the private and public sectors.
Ï Eliminate cost shifting.
Ï Stimulate healthy life styles and heightened personal responsibility.
Ï Embrace market-driven methodologies that drive down costs.
Give Vermont job providers greater opportunity to maintain and create quality jobs:
Ï Exercise fiscal restraint in setting spending and revenue targets.
Ï Refuse to enact new mandates.
Ï Oppose raising taxes or approving new ones.
Ï Reduce the burden of high workers compensation costs on workers and employers.
Ï Require new social programs to be funded by currently available revenues.
Fund economic development programs that encourage economic vitality:
by tim
ForesTrade Inc. and the PPKGO Mobilize Relief Efforts in Aceh, Sumatra
Donations Channeled Through Coffee Kids and Café Femenino Foundation
January 3, 2005 - With a local presence already on the ground at the time
of the December 26 earthquake-tsunami disaster, local partners of Vermont
specialty importer ForesTrade Inc. were able to quickly mobilize relief
efforts in Aceh, Sumatra. The PPKGO (Gayo Organic Coffee Farmers
Association) Fair Trade coffee cooperative quickly responded in
substantial ways; providing shelter and refuge to people in the Takengon
Highlands left homeless from the earthquake and distributing food,
blankets and clothing to people in immediate need. The group has also
sent convoys to the devastated capital of Banda Aceh, where a number of
their children were being educated.
The response from ForesTrade's customers, investors, colleagues, financial
by tim
STORMWATER RULING CHALLENGED
GBIC Files Motion To Stay Water Resources Board Decision
MONTPELIER - The Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation (GBIC), along
with co-appellants Pomerleau Properties and Martin's Foods of South
Burlington, has filed a motion to stay the October 14th NPDES decision of
the Water Resources Board (WRB). The motion is an effort to protect
property owners in impaired watersheds from lawsuits in federal court
while the appeal of the Board's decision is pending before the state
Supreme Court.
A stay of the decision pending the outcome of the appeal will allow the
Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to renew its efforts to implement Act
140, the stormwater solution enacted almost unanimously by the legislature
last year. Act 140 was the product of months of work by the legislature
and a large group of collaborators that included representatives from
by tim
Dillon Named New Deputy Secretary Of Agency of Commerce and Community
Development
MONTPELIER -- Lu Ann Dillon of South Burlington has been appointed
the new Deputy Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community
Development. Dillon takes over the post from Dawn Terrill, who left in
November to become Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
Since 1994, Dillon has been the Senior Vice President of Bell & Company
Management Consultants in Easton, Maryland. As Bell's lead consultant, she
managed consulting projects for a variety of Fortune 50 companies,
principally in the defense and aerospace industries. She also managed
projects at Bell's hospital and utilities clients. Earlier in her career,
Dillon founded LAD Ltd., a retail and wholesale men's and women's
professional clothing business in downtown Burlington that she managed
by tim
Carol-Lynn Saliba named Executive Vice President,
Director of Retail Banking for Citizens Bank in NH and VT
MANCHESTER, NH -- Citizens Bank New Hampshire has announced that
Carol-Lynn Saliba has been promoted to Executive Vice President, Director
of Retail Banking. In her new position she is responsible for the branch
network in New Hampshire and Vermont, including community business lending
and consumer banking. Her team supports the branches in all aspects of
sales, customer service, and training. Most recently, Saliba was senior
vice president, director of retail sales and service for Citizens Bank New
Hampshire, where she was responsible for all sales management support for
the traditional branch network, including overseeing sales training,
promotions, incentives, and sales results. Saliba joined Citizens Bank in
2000 as Vice President of Retail Sales. Prior to joining Citizens, she was
by tim
Union Bank Announces New Hires
Union Bank, headquartered in Morrisville, VT, is pleased to announce the
following new hires:
Brad Prior - Deposit Operations Manager
Mr. Prior comes to Union Bank following a career at Chittenden Bank,
where he served as a Project Coordinator in their loan servicing area. In
his new position at Union Bank, Brad is responsible for managing deposit
operations activities to insure a high level of service for the bank's
customers. Mr. Prior earned an MBA from the University of Vermont in 1993.
Sharyn Kane - Training Manager
Ms. Kane comes to Union Bank following a successful career in Human
Resources. In her new position at Union Bank, Sharyn is responsible for
implementing a comprehensive bank training program. She currently serves
on the Board of Incorporators at Northwestern Medical Hospital and is
by tim
Champlain College Taps NYU's David Finney to Become Next President
Burlington -- Dr. David F. Finney has been selected by Champlain
College's board of trustees to become the college's seventh president. Dr.
Finney has accepted the board's invitation and will succeed retiring
Champlain president Dr. Roger H. Perry on July 1, 2005.
Dr. Finney is currently Dean of New York University's School of
Continuing and Professional Studies in New York City. One of the
largest schools of continuing education in the country, SCPS annually
enrolls 45,000 undergraduate, graduate and continuing education students
in more than 5,000 courses in professional, academic and enrichment
programs. During his 20-year career at NYU, Dr. Finney has held the top
management positions in several traditional undergraduate areas, including
admissions, financial aid, enrollment services, advertising and
publications.
by tim
Mt. Mansfield Union High School Teacher Wins $1,000
NASDAQ National Teaching Award
Laurel Ann Butler of Colchester, a teacher at Mt. Mansfield Union High
School in Jericho, was one of five regional semi-finalists in the annual
NASDAQ Teaching Awards competition. The $1,000 award was announced by the
National Council on Economic Education and the NASDAQ Stock Market
Educational Foundation.
Butler was one of 25 teachers nationwide and five in the northeast to
receive a total of $70,000 in prizes from the competition. The awards are
based on "best practices" lesson plans that can be easily replicated in
other classrooms across the country. Her lesson, Creative Dreams with
Enterprising Themes, was judged based on the following criteria:
· Innovation and originality;
· The degree to which the activities of the lesson engaged the students;
· Correctness of economic content;