Current News

Duane Marsh has been chosen the new President of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Marsh, a resident of Midland, Michigan succeeds Christopher Barbieri who resigned in April to relocate to Shanghai as the Vermont Chamber's International Trade Liaison.
Marsh will assume his new position with the Vermont Chamber of Commerce on Monday, September 29, 2003.
Marsh was formerly President of the Midland (Michigan) Area Chamber of Commerce which he headed from 1997 until 2003. Midland is an 850 member chamber with 10 employees and an annual budget of $850,000. He holds an MBA from Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, MI.

ECSMarin has been named on The Zweig Letter’s Hot Firm list for the third consecutive year. The annual national survey identifies the 100 fastest-growing architecture, engineering, planning, and environmental consulting firms in the United States. ECSMarin moved up 21 spots from last year to land at number 40 on the 2003 list.
The ranking is based on an equal weighting of percentage revenue growth and dollar revenue growth from 1999 to 2002. The complete list will be announced in an upcoming issue of a weekly newsletter published by ZweigWhite, a firm specializing in management consulting, information, and education for the design and construction industries.
ECSMarin will be honored along with the other 99 winners at The Zweig Letter Hot Firm Conference and Celebration October 22-24 in San Francisco, California.

InfoSTEP, Inc announced the availability of eLustroHarmony and eLustroCSA solutions built on Sun Microsystems’ Java™ and Sun ONE platforms (Nasdaq: SUNW) to help companies with Sarbanes Oxley Act compliance requirements. These offerings empower CEOs, CFOs, Corporate Controllers and process owners with tools to monitor internal controls and manage business risks within acceptable tolerance levels.

The Community Mapping Program, a collaborative project of
the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) and the Orton Family
Foundation, received a 2003 "Special Achievement in GIS"
award from ESRI. ESRI is a global Geographic Information System (GIS)
industry leader and producer of ArcView software. According to ESRI,
"Every year the Special Achievement in GIS award honors an elite group of
organizations that have embraced GIS technology to better serve the world.
By their extraordinary contributions to our society they have set new
precedents throughout the GIS community." ESRI president Jack Dangermond
presented the award to the Community Mapping Program at ESRI's annual
conference in San Diego.
The Community Mapping Program provides GIS and Global Positioning Systems
(GPS) training and support to K-12 students, teachers, and community

Sugarbush Resort announced that it
has secured an amended land-use permit from Vermont’s District 5 Act 250
Environmental Commission and the required local and Agency of Natural
Resources permits. This completes the necessary permitting to make The
Lodge at Lincoln Peak a reality.
"We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the permitting process,"
commented Bob Ackland, Sugarbush President and General Manager. "It is
through the input and support of all of the groups involved that the Lodge
at Lincoln Peak is what it is today, a remarkable project that is both
architecturally outstanding and environmentally sound, completely in
keeping with the values of Sugarbush and the Mad River Valley. It seems to
me that a lot of people understand that the Lodge at Lincoln Peak will
breathe new life into the entire area and they want to contribute to its
success."

John King, president and CEO of Vermont Public Television, the statewide
public television network, has been appointed to two boards. He was
elected treasurer and executive committee member of NETA, the National
Educational Telecommunications Association. NETA is a professional
association based in Columbia, S.C., that serves public television
stations and educational entities. Its mission is to provide quality
programming, educational resources, professional development, management
support and national representation for its members.
King has also been appointed to the Assembly of Overseers of
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, N.H. The overseers act as
advisers to the board of trustees on hospital affairs and customer and
community relations.
He holds a master's degree in public administration from Harvard
University, a bachelor's degree from Johnson State College and an

Acting on petitions filed by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and other concerned business interest organizations,
the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a stay of new
regulations governing fax advertisements until January 1, 2005.
The FCC granted the stay request after receiving hundreds of comments
and
requests for interpretation from associations and other businesses over
the past several weeks regarding the rulemaking, published July 25 in
the Federal Register. ASAE and others argued that the fax regulations as
written would significantly impede the marketing strategies and basic
communications between associations and their own members. The new rules
were due to go into effect August 25, but will now be given more
deliberate consideration to determine congressional intent.

Banknorth Group, Inc. (NYSE: BNK) today announced record quarterly net income of $87.5 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2003, an increase of 15% over net income of $76.2 million for the second quarter of 2002. On a diluted earnings per share basis, the Company earned 53 cents for the second quarter, up 4% from 51 cents for the same quarter a year ago. Exclusive of merger and consolidation charges, earnings for the second quarter ended June 30, 2003 were $88.5 million, or 54 cents per diluted share, as compared to $76.9 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2002.

Governor Jim Douglas threw his support behind efforts to redevelop downtown Winooski and with that support comes loan guarantees from the state that the federal government and developers have said are essential to the project's success.
The Governor said that he believes the Winooski Falls Riverfront Redevlopment Project can work, and that he expects to be able to provide the guaranty required by US department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for the approximately $22 million loan that HUD will make to Winooski for affordable housing.
"The City of Winooski has been working very hard for many years to realize its vision for a revitalized downtown," Governor Douglas Said. "I too, share that vision and since coming to office in January have worked with city officials, and others to assist in transforming that vision into reality."

Gloria Salvanelli, a 22-year veteran of the marketing business, has opened her own marketing firm, GCS Marketing in Burlington, Vermont, specializing in public relations, advertising, strategic marketing plans, and special events, and servicing the New England/New York area.
Salvanelli spent the bulk of her marketing career with small to medium-sized companies, making GCS Marketing a perfect fit to handle the marketing needs of many of the businesses in this region.
As a former Marketing Director for Deck House, Communications Manager for Vermont Castings, and Director of Account Services for Evergreen Direct, Salvanelli has planned, budgeted and bought local, regional, and national advertising in TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers.

The second-quarter net income for Charter One Financial Inc rose to $166 million from $145.9 million a year ago. The increase is due in part by a 16% increase in retail banking revenue and increased mortgage business.
Earnings rose 18% to 72 cents a share from 61 cents a share a yaer ago in the second quarter.
The earnings-per-sharewere restated to reflect the 5% stock dividend that was issued September 30.
The average annualized return on average assets was 1.5% and the average return on average equity was 19.86%.
Charter One will increase its regular quarterly dividend by 2 cents, or 8%, to 26 cents a share from 24 cents last quarter. Charter one is also discontinuing its annual 5% stock dividend and said the cash dividend is in the better interest of stockholders.

Vermont Business Magazine The Fletcher Allen Health Care Board of Trustees has named Melinda L. Estes, M.D., as president and chief executive officer of Vermont's academic medical center following a national search. Dr. Estes, 50, is a neurologist and neuropathologist who also has a master's degree in Business Administration. She has spent most of the last two decades in The Cleveland Clinic health care system, holding a variety of positions of progressive responsibility. Since 2001, she has served as chief executive officer and chair of the board of governors of Cleveland Clinic Florida where she oversees both Cleveland Clinic Naples and Cleveland Clinic Weston.