Current News

The Vermont Chamber of Commerce Business Education Partnership and the Vermont Mentoring Partnership are joining efforts on Monday, November 15, 2004, to present the Seventh Annual Mentors Make a Difference Conference at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in Burlington (8:30 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.). The Conference is open to adults and youth 13 years of age or older.
The Conference attracts hundreds of youth and adult participants, offering 20 workshops serving Vermont youth and service providers from the mentoring community. Through a dynamic program designed for youth and adults alike, Vermonts mentoring community will attend workshops to share ideas and strategies, improve and promote mentor programs, and strengthen team-building skills while exploring life principles.

Wyeth Announces the Sale of its Georgia, Vermont
Manufacturing Facility to Affiliate of PBM Products
Madison, N.J., November 4, 2004 - Wyeth (NYSE:WYE) has announced that a definitive agreement has been signed with an affiliate of PBM Products Inc. for the sale of its Georgia, Vermont, infant nutrition manufacturing facility.

Guy Page of Cambridge has founded Vermont Newsclips, the only Vermont-based company that provides comprehensive clipping of about 70 Vermont media outlets. Other services include free media consulting and media contact information. Current clients of Vermont Newsclips include advocacy organizations, state agencies, colleges, and lobbyists. Page, the former publisher of the Colchester Chronicle, has worked in Vermont journalism, public relations and advocacy for 25 years. To contact Vermont Newsclips call 644-5066 or email [email protected].

At its October Annual Meeting, members of the Vermont Attractions Association (VAA) named Vermont Chamber Vice President of Travel and Tourism Chris Fogg as their new President.
Vermont Attractions Chairman of the Board Gary Neil of Quechee Gorge Village noted, We are looking forward to working with Chris. He brings to the post of President a wealth of marketing experience as well as a fresh perspective.
Fogg has been the Vermont Chamber Vice President of Travel and Tourism for nearly two years. Formerly the Director of Marketing for the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, Fogg possesses extensive sales and marketing experience working with the Vermont Convention Bureau, the Burlington Free Press, and Sage Hotels Inc. in Boston.

Mobile Technology Helps Clinicians Reduce Medical Errors and Prescription Drug Costs
BCBS of Vermont Drug Benefit Information Now Available
Through Handheld PDAs and the Internet
Berlin, VT and San Mateo, CA Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont announced today that physicians and other health care professionals throughout Vermont now have convenient access to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont prescription drug benefit information via the latest mobile technology.
Providers will have access to Blue Cross and Blue Shields list of covered drugs through the Epocrates hand-held drug reference applications designed for the Palm OS and Pocket PC platforms and through the Epocrates Rx OnlineTM reference available for Internet-connected desktop computers. All Epocrates products are easily downloadable via the Internet and are currently used by over one in four U.S. physicians, over 165,000 in all.

Hanover, NH, November 3, 2004 Efficiency Vermont has certified The Upper Valley Haven as having met all of the requirements for an Energystar labeled building. The facility, located on Route 5 in White River Junction, VT, received 86.7 points out of a possible 100 points, earning the 5 Star designation. The attention to detail, the high performance insulation system, and good mechanical and lighting choices led to this high achievement, said Cathy Reynolds of Efficiency Vermont. UK Architects of Hanover, NH, designed the building. Hunter Ulf, Principal of UK Architects, responded to the certification by saying, it was very important that this facility was designed to provide cost-effective operations throughout its life, and energy efficiency is a big factor in achieving this.

BURLINGTON, VT-Joseph M. Finnigan, President/CEO of Vermont Federal Credit Union was recently named to an Advisory Panel for CUNA Mutual Group.
The Advisory Panel is made up of 30-40 CEOs from mid to large sized Credit Unions from around the country. The groups role is informal and will provide direction to CUNA Mutual on topics, trends, products and solutions.

CUNA Mutual Group is the leading provider of financial services to credit unions and their members worldwide, offering lending, protection, financial, employee and member solutions through strategic partnerships, technological innovations and multiple service channels.

Buy a Snowflake and Help Beat Cancer!
Fayston Illustrator Sarah Dillard is one of nearly 200 childrens book illustrators who have created original works of art on snowflakes, for Roberts Snow: for Cancers Cure, a unique fundraiser on behalf of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute for cancer research. Snowflakes will be auctioned on-line from November 2 to December 12.
Roberts Snow: for Cancers Cure was created by childrens book author/illustrator Grace Lin.
Using the news of her husbands cancer as a catalyst, Lin called on her colleagues to donate their time and skills to help raise money for cancer research. An impressive list of childrens illustrators including Chris Van Allsburg (The Polar Express), Marc Brown (Arthur) and Mary Grand Pre (Harry Potter) have created exclusive images on wooden snowflakes. Auction information and all of the snowflakes can be found at http://www.robertssnow.com.

GREEN MOUNTAIN POWER FILES COST OF SERVICE STUDY FOR
1.9 PERCENT RATE INCREASE
COLCHESTER -- Green Mountain Power (NYSE: GMP) has filed its
cost-of-service study supporting the implementation of a January 2005 rate
increase of 1.9 percent, pursuant to a plan previously approved by the
Vermont Public Service Board (VPSB). This will be the first increase for
Green Mountain Power customers in four years.
"Our success in controlling costs and managing the business well has meant
that our customers have not had an increase in rates since January 2001.
During those four years, the consumers' price index has risen 9.1 percent
and electricity prices across the nation have gone up 10.6 percent. While
it would be preferable to continue without an increase, we're pleased that
we have been able to limit the increase to 1.9 percent while continuing to

GMP ANNOUNCES THIRD QUARTER EARNINGS
COLCHESTER -- Green Mountain Power Corporation (NYSE: GMP) has announced consolidated earnings of $0.65 per share of common stock, diluted, for the third quarter of 2004 compared with earnings of $0.59 per share of common stock, diluted, for the same period in 2003. Year to date earnings for 2004 are $1.70 per share, diluted, compared with earnings of $1.60 per share for the first nine months of 2003.
Earnings improved in the third quarter of 2004 primarily as a result of the realization of certain tax benefits resulting from the 2002 sale of Vermont Yankee that were partially offset by a decline in retail revenues. "We are pleased to report improved results despite cooler summer temperatures that adversely impacted retail electricity sales," said Christopher L. Dutton, President and Chief Executive Officer. "We continue to expect earnings between $2.05 and $2.15 per share for 2004."

GLC Communications, a Fayston based telecommunications service provider company is now offering www.ConferLynx.com on-demand audio conferencing services.
www.ConferLynx.com enables businesses to more efficiently control a reservationless audio conference via the web.
ConferLynx delivers real-time caller-ID, outbound calling, attendee muting, and sub-conferences.
The GLC Communications system utilizes the world market leader audio conferencing bridge from Spectel. Most of the moderator conference controls available from the web interface are duplicated using telephone keys. After each conference call an email is sent to the account owner. Complete call records are updated every 20 minutes

Howard Printing Earns Neenah Award
BRATTLEBORO -- Howard Printing, Inc., a commercial offset printing company founded in Brattleboro in 1991, was recently recognized by Neenah Paper for outstanding quality on a printed design piece.
Neenah selected Howard Printing as the East Coast Silver Award winner in the Letterhead Contest. The award-winning entry was Retreat Healthcare letterhead.
Neenah Paper, founded in 1873, is a world class manufacturer of premium writing, text, cover, specialty and private watermark papers. Its parent company is Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
Retreat Healthcare, a client of Howard Printing since 1998, is a not-for-profit, regional specialty psychiatric hospital and addictions treatment center in Brattleboro. Originally founded in 1834, Retreat Healthcare provides a full range of diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitation services for individuals of all ages and their families.