Current News

Sheree W. Mitchell, who opened her first Columbus, Georgia-based day care center from scratch with the help of a U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loan in 1989, and has grown her business into a $5 million per year enterprise, was named National Small Business Person of the Year during ceremonies today at SBA Expo '04, the agency's three-day conference celebrating National Small Business Week.
"One of the beautiful things about small business is that a go-go entrepreneur like Sheree Mitchell can see an opportunity and seize it, and build a successful enterprise from scratch," SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto said. "It's not always getting into what's hot, or what's new and technologically innovative; sometimes it's recognizing a niche that isn't being served. Small business success happens when entrepreneurs like Ms. Mitchell identify a need and fill that need with a great product or service."

Vermonters should get more involved in determining Vermont’s energy future, and Green Mountain Power (NYSE:GMP) will lead an effort to help its customers, shareholders and the public do that, Christopher L. Dutton, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Mountain Power, said Thursday.
Speaking at Green Mountain Power’s annual meeting, Mr. Dutton said that Vermont will need to start soon to make energy choices for the next two decades.
“In making these choices we have to keep our eye focused on the following imperatives: First, affordable energy at competitive prices; second, reliance on diverse fuel sources that reduce price risks for all Vermonters; and third, reliance on fuel sources that keep our environmental impact as low as feasible, with special attention on air emissions,” Mr. Dutton said.

Health care delivered close to home is vitally important, especially when the patient is a child. But how do community pediatric practices adapt to offer the best care when faced with a child who has complex and often, multiple health needs? Reporting in this month's issue of Pediatrics, Dartmouth researchers outline a process designed to help any practice become a state of the art "medical home" for such children.
Assessing the effectiveness of a model program they developed, Dartmouth Medical School researchers Dr. W. Carl Cooley, adjunct associate professor in pediatrics, and Jeanne McAllister, research associate in pediatrics, review the experience of four practices in Vermont and New Hampshire who used their program to identify and implement changes to improve the care they deliver to children with special health care needs.

VANPO is pleased to announce that Katherine Long, Director of Public Policy, has been chosen to participate in the first group of CLPI Fellows. As part of a select group of nonprofit public policy practitioners, Long will represent Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest (CLPI) in New England, providing training to nonprofit organizations on such topics as nonprofit lobby law, effective public policy advocacy, and building organizational capacity for public policy.
“We are very excited about this opportunity,” notes VANPO Executive Director Jane Van Buren. “Vermont nonprofit organizations will benefit directly from the investment CLPI is making in Katherine, as well as from her connection to national nonprofit advocacy activities.”

Third Sector Systems, developers of software that integrates a nonprofit’s departments, tracks constituent contact and measures outcomes, announced today that it is joining with Entango, a pioneering provider of personalized and secure online services, to offer nonprofits a complete technology solution from online donations to outcome reporting.
Third Sector Systems CEO Yves Gonnet said "Entango's services enable an organization to provide their constituents with the opportunity to donate, register for events, start or renew their membership, and purchase merchandise from their own website."
Gonnet continued "Then, all of the information is seamlessly integrated into our software which the organization uses to manage all the details of their work -- the programs and services they provide as well as advocacy, fundraising and membership.

Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB), a leading engineering, planning, and applied sciences firm, has completed designing and permitting of Vermont’s largest bridge, the Missisquoi Bay Bridge, for the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans). Construction on this $41.2 million project began this month.
Located in Alburg and Swanton, Vermont, the Missisquoi Bay Bridge crosses Lake Champlain and is a gateway to Canada, New York, and other New England States. It is the single largest bridge project in the history of the Vermont Agency of Transportation. At 3,600 feet long, the bridge will require five million pounds of structural steel.
In designing and permitting this bridge, VHB solved many environmental issues. In its design, the firm left much of the bridge’s causeway structure for use by a threatened turtle species. VHB also ensured that wetlands and fragile wildlife species in and around the site were not negatively impacted.

Carl Bickford, director of quality for Mack Molding’s northern operations, has accepted the position of plant manager for the headquarters facility in Arlington, Vt., it was announced today by Jeff Somple, president of Mack’s northern operations.
“Carl brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to his new position,” says Somple. “In addition to serving as director of quality for Mack’s northern operations for the past 13 years, Carl has also managed the manufacturing engineering and document control functions at Mack, served as ISO management representative, and led the way to GMP Level III manufacturing, the most stringent FDA regulatory category for medical devices. He will continue to drive quality throughout all aspects of plant management, which becomes even more critical as Mack sharpens its focus on medical devices and other high-end products.”

The Connecticut River Joint Commissions elected new officers at their recent annual meeting. The NH Connecticut River Commission has elected Glenn English of Haverhill as its new chair, and its Vermont counterpart has re-elected Gary Moore of Bradford.
English, who has served as Haverhill’s Town Manager since 1995, represents municipal interests on the Connecticut River Scenic Byway Council and has been a strong voice for economic development through heritage tourism on both sides of the Connecticut River. A member of the board of North Country Council, he will serve as vice-president of the combined river commissions. He succeeds Cheston Newbold of Cornish.

Fletcher Allen Health Care
introduced the Claire M. Lintilhac Birthing Center on the seventh floor of
the McClure Building. The center, which will provide a more spacious,
comfortable and pleasing birthing environment for women and families
throughout the area, will officially open for patients on May 23rd. The
new center marks the completion of the inaugural component of Fletcher
Allen's Renaissance Project.
The birthing center was dedicated in honor of Claire M.
Lintilhac -- the woman who helped introduce nurse-midwifery to the
academic health center and who dedicated her life to the belief that all
women are entitled to expert and empathetic care.
"A person of great compassion and vision, Claire Lintilhac was
instrumental in bringing a hospital-based midwifery service to our
academic health center in the late 1960s to serve the women of our

LeCOUNT Inc., a White River Junction tool manufacturer, has been named Exporter of the Year by the Vermont International Business Council (VIBC), a standing committee of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. LeCOUNT expanding mandrels and hydraulic workholding tooling are purchased by gear manufacturers in the U.S., Europe, Latin America, India, Japan, Canada, and China. The company is named after Charles W. LeCount, who patented his expanding mandrels in 1847.
Presented to a company that has contributed significantly to Vermont’s international trade stature, the Exporter of the Year award recognizes the hard work, innovation, and vision displayed by companies competing in the global marketplace.

On May 10 at Champlain College, Governor Jim Douglas led the kick-off of an educational assault in the name of computer and information security. He joined the volunteers of the Vermont chapter of InfraGard to introduce an initiative called VT INFOSAFE--an information security education effort targeted at home and small business computer users.
Computer security experts from InfraGard announced they will volunteer their time to deliver 20 free training sessions around the state—from Bennington to Enosburg Falls. The security experts say Vermonters must become more vigilant in protecting their small business and home computers to prevent falling victim to identity theft, viruses, cyberstalking, Trojan Horses, intellectual property theft, and other cybercrimes.

Cambium Group, a leading web site development firm based in Montpelier launched a new e-commerce web site today for Strategies Publishing Group, Inc. The new site, www.strategies.com offers an online shopping system, seminar/event registration and ‘members only’ area with exclusive content for Strategies Magazine subscribers.
Located in Centerbrook Connecticut, Strategies Publishing Group, Inc. (Strategies) is the professional beauty industry’s largest provider of business education through printed media, seminar events and consulting services. Strategies was founded in 1994 by Neil Ducoff, one of the most respected minds in the professional beauty industry for over twenty-five years.
Neil had this to say about the new web site: