Current News

Lyndonville Savings Bank Increases Dividend&Again
LYNDONVILLE, VT-- Charles Bucknam, President of Lyndonville Savings Bank announced that the Bank will pay a dividend of $.12 per share on July 12, 2004 to stockholders of record June 23, 2004. This represents a 9.0% increase in the dividend and the fourth increase in the past year reflecting continued improvement in the banks earnings.
Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2004 (un-audited) amounted to $650,737 compared to $450,314 for the first six months of 2003 representing a 44.0% increase. The annualized return on average assets was 0.89 in the first half of 2004 compared to 0.66 for the same period in 2003.
Total assets were $149,857,012 as of June 30, 2004 compared to $138,606,035 as of June 30, 2003.

Merchants Bancshares, Inc. Announces 2004 Second Quarter Results
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt., July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Merchants
Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank,
today announced net income of $2.84 million, or diluted earnings of 45
cents per share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2004. This compares with
net income of $3.04 million, or diluted earnings per share of 49 cents for
the quarter ended June 30, 2003, and $2.82 million, or diluted earnings
per share of 45 cents for the first quarter of 2004. Total assets grew to
$1.03 billion from $970 million at December 31, 2003. The return on
average assets was 1.15% and the return on average equity was 12.96% for
the second quarter of 2004, compared to 1.39% and 14.38%, respectively,
for the second quarter of 2003. Merchants declared a dividend on July 15,

VEPC authorizes tax incentives
Brandons Visual Learning and Nexus Approved

Entergy Locates Spent Fuel Segments at Vermont Yankee
Entergy workers at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon located on July 13, 2004, the missing spent fuel rod segments in the plant's spent fuel pool. The two pieces were stored in a unique 40-inch aluminum cylinder, which is unlike a typical storage container but is similar to several other aluminum structures and tools in the pool.
Entergy VY Site Vice President Jay Thayer credited interviews with former employees and contractors, intense research of records and documents dating back more than 25 years, and video tapes of the pool that were recently taken.
Said Thayer, ''Our search team designed a detailed search plan that explored every possibility from three different angles. They looked visually with the cameras, they searched the documents, and they talked to people who were on the scene 25 years ago. The team deserves a tremendous amount of credit.

International Center for Captive Insurance Education (ICCIE) Hires
Executive Director
In another step toward its official launch, the governing board of ICCIE
(pronounced "I See") hired Mitch Cantor of Shelburne, Vermont as its first
Executive Director.
Mitch was chosen by ICCIE's Board of Directors from an exceptionally
talented pool of applicants to lead the effort. His background includes
extensive business and marketing experience, management of nonprofit
organizations as well as demonstrated grant-writing and fundraising
expertise. A proven administrator and entrepreneur, Cantor received both
his MBA and Masters in Public Policy from the University of Michigan.
Beginning in September, ICCIE will offer its first courses. The
curriculum contains five core courses, a series of electives and
teleconferences. Courses will be taught in person and on line by a

Gallagher, Flynn Launches Executive Compensation Survey
Gallagher, Flynn & Company has
started
a web-based executive compensation survey as an addition to their
successful New England Salary Survey. This survey will provide
information not currently available about competitive pay for senior
managers in Vermont and across New England.
"There is no good data that is easily available on executive
compensation in small private companies in Vermont and New England. We
will change that with this survey," said Frank Sadowski, partner in
charge of this survey. "We get many calls asking for this information.
With this survey, participants will have the information at their
fingertips whenever they need it.
The New England Salary Survey represents the next big step in providing
compensation information that companies need. It provides perpetually

Plans for Vermonts best and biggest food show, the annual Vermont Grocers
exposition have been announced for the weekend of September 10-12, 2004. This years
program will take place at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel & Conference Center.
The Expo, which will feature a wide array of products and services for all food and beverage
retailers, is already sold out. Seminars will include Teamwork and Responsible Alcohol and
Tobacco Sales Training, Award presentations will be presented at the Birthday party and
dinner on Saturday.
The weekend festivities will kick off with the ever-popular VGA Farrell Golf Outing at the
Champlain Country Club, which is expected to attract a sellout group of golfers. The Friday
night festivities will feature an opening dinner cruise aboard the Spirit of Ethan Allen III with
entertainment by "Elvis." "Triple Gold" will highlight the special Birthday celebration Dinner on

The Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) will play
a
key role in this year's New England Environmental Education Alliance
(NEEEA) Conference October 15-17, 2004 to be held at the beautiful Bread
Loaf Campus of M i ddlebury College in Ripton, VT. Marcia Whitney, VINS
Director of Statewide Education, is co-chair of the conference and
chairs the Fundraising/Sponsorship Committee and Lisa Purcell, VINS ELF
Program Director, chairs its Field Trip Committee. Other VINS staff serve
on committees as well.
This year's conference theme is "Opening Doors: Collaboration Strengthens
Our Voice to Build Sustainable Communities". The conference is co-hosted
by Vermont SWEEP (State-wide Environmental Education Programs) and
Middlebury College. Keynote speakers include Mayor Peter Clavelle of
Burlington, community leaders, city decision makers, educators and youth

Burlington to host largest Captive Insurance Conference in the World
The Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) will host the largest captive insurance conference in the world, August 10-12, 2004 in Burlington, Vermont. More than 1000 people from around the world and throughout the United States are expected to attend.
The Conference will be held at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center. Diving into Captives is the theme of the gathering and will feature keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Ballard, a renowned deep sea explorer and discoverer of the sunken R.M.S. Titanic.

Triple Peaks, LLC and American Skiing Company settle Steamboat suit
Triple Peaks, LLC and American Skiing Company have jointly announced (July 12, 2004) the settlement of the lawsuit regarding the termination of the proposed sale of the Steamboat Ski Resort to Triple Peaks, LLC. In return for a cash settlement, Triple Peaks has agreed to a full dismissal of all claims relating to the sale of the Steamboat Ski Resort.
"Reaching a settlement with Triple Peaks allows us to focus on the future success of Steamboat and America Skiing Company, while putting to rest any uncertainty surrounding the ownership of the Steamboat resort," said B.J. Fair, CEO of American Skiing Company.

Champlain College professor Ann DeMarle has been named an Apple Distinguished Educator. DeMarle directs the Multimedia & Graphic Design program and the new Electronic Game and Interactive Development program at Champlain.
The Apple Distinguished Educator program includes a select group of faculty members from North America and Europe who use Apple technology in creative and influential ways. According to a statement from Apple Computer, Inc., when new technologies are developed, these leading educators are the first to make effective use of technology to support learning objectives in the classroom. They also model effective administrative leadership and teacher professionalism.
As mentors, they are committed to engage, motivate, and inspire young minds, and they influence other educators by presenting their successes at key conferences and events, leading hands-on workshops, and getting actively involved at the local, state, and national levels.

Creative Labels of Vermont, located in Winooski, has been cited in the
feature editorial in the June 2004 edition of Package Printing as one of the
"top tag and label converters" in North America.
Creative Labels of Vermont is a fast growing twenty one year old Vermont
company. The company manufactures high quality labels for the food industry
and general manufacturing.