Current News

Colchester, VTThe Vermont Council for Quality, partnering with the Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center, will hold their 2004 Fall Quality Conference on September 27, 2004 at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in South Burlington. The purpose of the conference is to bring together a cross section of Vermont organizations to discuss how to implement performance excellence and continuous improvement measures to enhance an organizations efficiency, profitability and success.
The conference will include panelists from Manufacturing, Health Care, Small Business and Education to share their success stories and lessons learned. The afternoon will spotlight best practices in Balanced Scorecard, Outcome Based Planning, Action Planning, and Information and Knowledge Management.

Electricians union reaches deal with Vermont Yankee
Entergy Vermont Yankee and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers reached an 11th hour deal August 19 over a new three-year contract. The tentative contract agreement coincided with a visit to Brattleboro from Rudolph Giuliani, who is now a security consultant working with Entergy Nuclear.

Electrical workers at the nuclear plant, located in Vernon, were set to go on strike if a new deal had not been reached. Managers at the plant were set to take over those jobs to keep the plant operational. The sticking point was over health care costs. IBEW workers had struck twice in the plants history, once in 1974 and again in 1979.

VERMONT UNEMPLOYMENT
Montpelier -- The Department of Employment and Training announced Thursday (August 19, 2004)
a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 3.4 percent for Vermont in
July.

GBIC WINS NORTHEASTERN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
BURLINGTON - The Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation (GBIC) has been
awarded a 2004 Northeastern Economic Development Award for Literature and
Promotions for its Summer 2004 "Highlights" newsletter.
GBIC "Highlights" is a quarterly newsletter sent out by the organization,
which is the regional development corporation for Chittenden County. The
summer 2004 issue, which was issued in time for GBIC's 50th Anniversary
and Annual Meeting in June 2004, contains articles on GBIC's involvement
with new stormwater legislation, the regional technical academy, and the
Chittenden County strategic economic development plan.
"Winning a NEDA award is a true honor because GBIC has been recognized by
our peers for our most current fulfillment piece," said Frank Cioffi,

Vermont Files Suit Against FDA Over Drug Reimportation
Montpelier, Vt. - The State of Vermont this afternoon (Thursday Augst 19, 2004) formally filed suit
against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in U.S. District Court in
Burlington, Vermont, becoming the first state in the nation to challenge
the FDA's legal arguments for blocking reimportation proposals.
"Vermont will not sit back and watch as the cost of health insurance and
prescription drugs continues to rise. Nor are we content to simply ignore
the law," Governor Douglas said. "Real leadership means challenging those
laws and policies you oppose, and working within our systems to change
them. It is our hope and expectation that Vermont's leadership will result
in a legal precedent that benefits every Vermonter, and every American."
Governor Douglas acknowledged that the cost of prescription drugs is but

CHROMA NOMINATED FOR A NATIONAL BUSINESS ETHICS AWARD
Chroma Technology, Corp of Rockingham has been nominated to receive a Business Ethics Award from Business Ethics Magazine.
The nationally-known magazine's mission is to "promote ethical business practices and serve the growing community of professionals striving to work and invest in responsible ways."
Employee-owned Chroma has been nominated in the category of "Living Economy," which seeks to reward companies that are "locally based, human scale, stakeholder-owned, democratically accountable, life-serving, and which seek fair profits rather than maximum profits," according to the award criteria.

The 5th Annual Breastfeeding Friendly Business Awards, sponsored by the Washington County Maternal Child Health Coalition, will take place Thursday August 19 at 4 PM in the lobby of the Central Vermont Hospital in Berlin. The awards will be presented by Kathryn Saunders, of Central Vermont Midwifery.
The awards are given to area businesses that support new mothers returning to work who wish to continue to breastfeed their babies. Vice President of Communications Vicky Tebbetts will accept the award on behalf of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Vermont Chamber President Duane Marsh stated: A happy baby is a happy Mom and a happy Mom is a better employee. Everybody wins when the employer can be flexible and allow its employees the privilege to continue breastfeeding as they return to work after the birth of a child.

FAIRLEE, Vt. Norwich University has received a gift of $1.1 million from Allen Doyle, a 1971 graduate who is a now a professional golfer on the PGA Champions Tour, and his wife Kate.
Fred Haynes '58, the vice-chairman of the Norwich University Board of Trustees announced the gift this evening at a banquet as part of the festivities for the Fifth Annual Allen Doyle Golf Classic, a charity golf tournament played at Lake Morey Country Club that benefits the Norwich University Blue Line Club and hockey team.

Jeffords Announces $2 Million in EDA Funding
For High-Speed Internet Link in Northern Vermont
WASHINGTON D.C. -- U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords, I-Vt.,
today announced that the U.S. Economic Development Administration will
award $2 million to support the North Link fiber optic network, a project
that will connect six northern Vermont counties to high-speed Internet
access. The counties include Caledonia; Essex; Franklin; Grand Isle;
Lamoille and Orleans.
The North Link project is the brainchild of the Economic
Development Council of Northern Vermont (EDCNV), working with Vermont
Electric Coop.
"Broadband access is so critical to our economy, and the
North Link project will allow these counties to operate on a level playing
field wth more densely populated, urban areas. It is truly an innovative

Vermonter Produces Top Radio Spot In National
Competition
(Montpelier, VT) An independent audio producer and
voice-over talent from Montpelier recently produced a
sixty- second radio commercial for Vanguard Records
that earned "Best Radio Spot" in a national
competition. The National Association of Radio
Merchandisers (N.A.R.M.) awarded the prize to
Vanguard Records for the commercial promoting their
artist Mindy Smith. The spot was produced and voiced
by Jody Petersen.
Petersen says "The N.A.R.M. award means a lot,
considering the competition. These are big time music
people judging the ads- Im just thrilled that
Vanguard hired me to produce a spot for an artist like
Mindy Smith." N.A.R.M. is a not for profit trade
association who's nearly 400 member companies
represent retailers, wholesalers, and distributors of
prerecorded music in the United States. Its mission is

Governor & Attorney General to Sue FDA Over Drug Reimportation
Montpelier, Vt. -- Governor Jim Douglas and Attorney General William
Sorrell announced August 10 that Vermont will file suit against the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) in U.S. District Court over the issue of
importing drugs from Canada. Vermont is the first state in the nation to
sue the FDA for blocking a responsible reimportation proposal.
Vermont had sought a waiver from the FDA authorizing a legal drug
reimportation plan. The goal of the pilot project was to demonstrate how
a plan could be safely implemented, and ultimately serve as a model for
other states to implement similar programs.
Douglas and Sorrell agreed the suit was necessary, saying the federal
government's grounds for denying the waiver request are illegitimate.
"Vermont presented a legal and responsible plan to import prescription

The John A. Russell Corporation Opens New York Facility
Rutland, Vermont- The John A. Russell Corporation recently opened a
specialty metal fabrication shop in Glens Falls, New York thus creating
Russell Industrial Services of New York, a wholly owned subsidiary.
With a staff of 15 talented fabricators Russell Industrial Services of New
York offers a full range of specialty metal fabrication services to
commercial construction clients as well as heavy industrial clients in
mining, paper, food processing, power generation, and general industry.
The John A. Russell Corporation, Vermont's oldest general contractor, has
been the innovative leader for construction and industrial services since
1934. Russell Construction Services offers Design/Build, Construction
Management and General Contracting services throughout the northeast.
Russell Industrial Services offers industrial repair, maintenance and