Current News

One message that state and federal officials want to share with those affected by the flood is to fill out and return your U.S. Small Business Administration application - don't throw it away.
Applicants who register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency typically receive a loan application from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Many think that these are for businesses or people who want to take out loans and push these applications to the side or patently discard them.
"This is where people take themselves out of the process," said Vermont Emergency Management Director Mike O'Neil. "If they don't complete the paperwork, they miss out on FEMA aid beyond help with home repair or rental assistance."
Applicants should know:
· Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair/replace real estate.

The Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) is a program in the 2008 Farm Bill. VAPG’s goal is to help new and existing rural independent agricultural producers. Grants are made to enable viable agricultural producers (those who are prepared to progress to the next business level of planning for, or engaging in value-added production) to develop businesses that product and market value added agricultural products. There are two types of grants available, Planning and Working Capital. The deadline is August 29.
Planning Grants assist agricultural producers to determine the viability of a potential value-added venture, and specifically for the purpose of paying for a qualified consultant to conduct and develop a feasibility study, business plan, and/or marketing plan and market survey associated with the processing and/or marketing of a value-added agricultural product.

Vermont Public Television covered the visit by First Lady Michelle Obama to the Vermont National Guard on Thursday afternoon, June 30, and has posted video of it on http://www.vpt.org/.
The 24-minute video includes a welcome from Major General Michael Dubie, who introduced Marcelle Leahy. Mrs. Leahy introduced the First Lady, who thanked the service members and their families gathered at the Aviation Support Facility in South Burlington. She praised the work of Guard members at home and overseas.
At the event, she also talked about the Joining Forces initiative to support military families and veterans that she and Jill Biden lead. She highlighted efforts of Vermonters to support the troops and their families, including the work of people in Hyde Park, to help a wounded veteran. She encouraged others to volunteer, saying, ‘No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.’

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has announced a new US Army contract with Revision Eyewear, for work in Essex Junction, on a next-generation helmet that will be designed to apply the grim lessons of troop injuries in Iraq Afghanistan in improving head protection for US soldiers. The three-year contract is with the US Army’s Natick Labs Soldier Systems division and is worth $1,990,340.

For the first time, scientists at IBM Research (NYSE: IBM) have demonstrated that a relatively new memory technology, known as phase-change memory (PCM), can reliably store multiple data bits per cell over extended periods of time. This significant improvement advances the development of low-cost, faster and more durable memory applications for consumer devices, including mobile phones and cloud storage, as well as high-performance applications, such as enterprise data storage.
- Reliable multi-bit phase-change memory technology demonstrated
- Scientists achieved a 100 times performance increase in write latency compared to flash memory
- Enables a paradigm shift for enterprise IT and storage systems, including cloud computing by 2016

People's United Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ: PBCT) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Danvers Bancorp, Inc., a $2.9 billion bank holding company based in Danvers, Massachusetts. Danvers Bancorp's sole subsidiary, Danversbank, has 28 branches in the Greater Boston area. The total consideration paid by People's United will be comprised of approximately 18.5 million shares of common stock and $214.5 million in cash.
The Hartford Courant is reporting that, based on People's United's closing stock price of $13.44 Thursday, the deal is valued at about $463 million in cash and stock.

The Vermont Energy Education Program (VEEP) is offering two institutes this summer to help teachers understand the science, as well as the costs and benefits, of producing electricity using renewable energy. The goal is to give teachers the knowledge and hands-on experience they need to explore topics related to solar power and wind power with their students and have a greater understanding of current energy issues. The two 4-day institutes cost $300 each. A limited number of scholarships are available through VEEP.

With vermont and four other states banning certain small-device batteries containing mercury and lead starting today, Maxell Corporation of America, the leading manufacturers of battery and data storage products, has announced the introduction of an environmentally advanced silver-oxide cell that successfully reduces the mercury and lead in the cathode material to zero, while maintaining a battery life comparable to conventional silver-oxide cells with the new zero-mercury, zero-lead added type.

Heritage Aviation, Inc has acquired the Atlantic Aviation FBO (Fixed Based Operator) at Burlington International Airport (KBTV). Operations at the location will be managed under the Heritage Aviation brand. Transient general aviation aircraft will be handled at Heritage Aviation’s existing South Ramp Facility. Heritage Aviation now offers nearly 100,000 square feet of heated hangar space.

There were 1,260 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance last week, an increase of 489 from the week before. Altogether 6,572 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 544 from a week ago and 2,531 fewer than a year earlier. The Department also processed 1,644 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 44 fewer than a week ago. In addition, there were 796 Second Tier claims for benefits processed under the EUC08 program, which is a decrease of 27 from the week before. The Unemployment Weekly Report can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/. Previously released Unemployment Weekly Reports and other UI reports can be found at: http://www.vtlmi.info/lmipub.htm#uc
Vermont's unemployment rate increased one-tenth in May to 5.4 percent. See story HERE.

Draker Labs, a provider of high performance turnkey monitoring systems for large commercial and utility ‘ scale solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, recently completed a new round of equity funding. Harbor Light Capital Partners, a private investment firm based in Keene, NH, led the $3 million round. Other major participants included existing Draker investors FreshTracks Capital and Campbell Scientific. In addition to the equity investment, Draker has secured a new $1.5 million credit facility to help the company manage its working capital requirements.
As part of the new equity round, Todd Warden, Managing Partner at Harbor Light, was elected to Draker’s Board of Directors.

Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Secretary Deb Markowitz today presented 23 Vermont organizations and individuals with the 2011 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence. Honorees were recognized for their efforts to conserve and protect natural resources, prevent pollution, and promote environmental sustainability.
This year’s recipients by category are:
Environmental Excellence in Pollution Prevention - Projects that reduce or eliminate the generation of pollutants and wastes at the source including toxics use reduction (TUR) efforts.