Current News

The U.S. Small Business Administration has increased its revenue-based size standard for small businesses in the facilities support services industry from $6 million in average annual receipts to $30 million.
The new size standard will allow more companies to qualify for small business assistance and compete as a small business for federal contracts. It was published as a final rule in the Federal Register on October 15, 2003, and is effective on November 14, 2003. Under the new rule, the sub-category of base maintenance will also increase from $23 million to $30 million.

Main Wellness Works, L.L.C., is a new business based in South Burlington to help improve health in the workplace. Main Wellness Works provides health promotion presentations on behavioral health issues such as workplace stress management, exercise motivation, weight management, and smoking cessation.
Presentations put research at the heart of practice and are designed to motivate better self-care, as well as help build practical skills to make, and maintain positive changes in lifestyle. These changes translate into noticeable improvements in quality of life and work, fewer sick days, reductions in health care dollars spent, and improved morale.

M. Hunter Ulf, AIA, recently chaired a jury of six architects in Washington, D.C. to select the recipients for the two highest honors bestowed by the national American Institute of Architects (AIA) Board of Directors – the Gold Medal Award and the Architecture Firm Award. The Gold Medal Award is given to an individual in recognition of significant work with lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture. The Architecture Firm Award is conferred upon an architecture firm for consistently producing distinguished architecture. In the past 96 years, the Gold Medal Award has been granted to only 60 individuals, and since 1962, the Architecture Firm Award has been awarded on an annual basis (with the exception of two years when no awards were made).

Educators at VINS (Vermont Institute of Natural Science)
recently won two of the three annual awards given by the New England
Environmental Education Alliance.
Jenna Guarino, director of VINS's Environmental Citizenship program, was
recognized with the 2003 Non-formal Environmental Educator Award and
VINS's Community Mapping Program received the Maria Pirie Environmental
Program Award.
Guarino was cited as the education professional working outside the formal
classroom setting who has made "continuous and enduring contributions to
environmental education." Guarino's Environmental Citizenship (EC) program
helps secondary students learn to balance the needs of humans and wildlife
through hands-on classroom activities, outdoor fieldwork, and community
projects.
Nearly 100 teachers have participated in EC workshops, enabling the

Dr. Timothy Fitzgerald and the staff of Champlain Valley Urgent Care announce the opening of their second location at 620 Hinesburg Road in South Burlington.
Champlain Valley Urgent Care provides occupational medical services such as physicals, drug and alcohol testing, and work-related injury treatment to area businesses, as well as urgent care services to area residents and travelers.
Champlain Valley Urgent Care is the areas only locally owned and operated Urgent Care/Occupational Health Clinic. Their services are offered 7 days a week at their Fayette Road location and will offer services Monday-Friday at their new Hinesburg Road office.

James A. Wyant of Pointe Claire, Quebec, a member of the Vermont Public
Television board of directors and chair of VPT's Canadian charitable
organization, was honored with the 2003 Public Television Leadership
Award. John King, president of Vermont Public Television, presented the
award to him Oct. 4 at the PBS Development Conference in Denver, Colo.
The prestigious national award honors volunteers each year for exceptional
work on behalf of public television. He is the first Canadian to win the
award. Wyant's wife, Maureen, herself a longtime volunteer for VPT,
attended the ceremony.
Besides his board work, Wyant hosts fundraising events, opens doors to
corporate support and recruits individual contributions. He is VPT's most
generous individual donor as well.
In his highest profile effort of the year, Wyant worked with VPT staff to

Tim and Diane Mueller, owners of Triple Peaks, LLC and
the Callaway and Walton families, owners of Crested Butte Mountain Resort,
LLC and its subsidiaries have announced that they have signed a Letter of
Intent for the purchase and of Crested Butte Resort and all of its assets.
Crested Butte is located in southwest Colorado in the town of Mt.
Crested Butte and is best known for its historic town, exciting nightlife
and some of the best extreme skiing in the world. The resort has 85
trails spread over 1,058 acres, with 14 lifts and receives over 240 inches
of natural snow each season.
Triple Peaks, LLC and Crested Butte Resort are finalizing a
Definitive Purchase and Sale Agreement, while Triple Peaks continues its
Due Diligence. This process should take about 30 days, and the closing
will occur between 3045 days from the signing of the Purchase and Sale
Agreement.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) recently honored members of the
Vermont Public Television staff with national awards for their local
fundraising efforts in the 2003 fiscal year. Besides recognizing
fundraising success, the awards cite innovation and best practices. VPT's
vice president for marketing and development, Lee Ann Lee, and her staff
were recognized for overall development. Sharing the honor were Peter
Shea, Paul Ugalde, Scott Schultz, David Donegan, Jeffrey Nelson, Brennan
Neill, France Hilt, Trish Sweeney and Jeff Cory.
David Donegan, pledge/events coordinator, and Kelly Luoma, vice president
for programming, headed a project to stage British comedy teas around the
viewing area that earned VPT the PBS Development Award for cultivation and
stewardship.
Peter Shea, director, corporate and foundation support, won a corporate

WorkSpace Concepts announced the addition of Kristi Lyon as senior designer responsible for the interior design and space planning functions of the operation. Lyon has over 20 years experience in the field of interior design and space planning. She is a professional member of International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and is an experienced CAD and CAP operator.
Creative space planning and interior design are the cornerstones of any successful project according to John Moran, president of WorkSpace Concepts. “Our customers enjoy the consultative approach we take to solving their space planning needs,” said Moran. “From the small office to the large, multi-faceted new construction project, designing work spaces that are ergonomically correct, pleasing to look at, and are within budget, requires a sophisticated and skilled designer. With Kristi on our team, our customers will benefit from her years of experience in this field.”

Chittenden Corporation (NYSE: CHZ) Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul A. Perrault,
announced third quarter 2003 net income of $0.54 per diluted share,
compared to the $0.48 per diluted share earned in the third quarter of 2002.
For the first nine months of 2003, earnings were $1.54 per diluted share,
compared to $1.41 a year ago. Chittenden also announced its quarterly dividend
of $0.20 per share. The dividend will be paid on November 14, 2003, to
shareholders of record on October 31, 2003.
In making the announcement, Perrault said, "I am extremely pleased with
our progress in organizing ourselves to be most responsive to our customers,
shareholders, and employees, and with the financial results that we have
achieved at the same time. With our early-summer decision to migrate to a new
information technology platform, work has begun in earnest to convert all of

Claremont, NH Valley Regional Healthcare’s Board of Trustees tonight voted to sign a
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enter into an agreement with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Alliance.
The MOU, approved during the Board’s regular monthly meeting on October 15, is a major step toward
solidifying an affiliation with the Alliance.
“This is absolutely a positive step for Valley Regional Hospital, for Claremont and for all of Sullivan
County,” says Allen R. Damren, assistant superintendent of schools in Claremont and chair of the VRH
board of directors. “We’ve taken our assessment of the proposed affiliation very seriously and would not be
recommending this step if we felt at all uneasy about it.”
Valley Regional Hospital began exploring an affiliation approximately two years ago at the behest of hospital
President Claire Bowen, whose fi ve-year strategic plan (launched in October 2000) includes the formation

Chris Robbins of Danville, a member for 12 years and chair for
the past two, has been reappointed to the board of directors of the
Vermont Student Assistance Corporation. Pam Chisholm of Duxbury has been
named a new member of the VSAC board. Both appointments were made recently
by Governor James Douglas. Robbins is president of EHV-Weidmann Industries
Inc. in St. Johnsbury. He is a member of the Vermont State Board of
Education and the Danville School Board. He also serves on the boards of
the Vermont Business Roundtable, the Northeastern Vermont Regional
Hospital, and the Washington, D.C.-based Business Industry Political
Action Committee. He was educated at the University of Maine.
Chisholm is
director of financial aid for Community College of Vermont, and serves as
treasurer of the Vermont Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators. She worked for VSAC on two separate occasions, first in