News

When Rick Cochran was working with five employees in his basement in Walden, Vt., his dream was to find a way to provide advanced medical care to underserved areas, and build a company that could deliver it.

At the I-89 northbound Williston welcome center today, Governor Peter Shumlin addressed the future of the Circumferential Highway project and the EPA’s recent decision to veto the administration’s current plans.

US Senator Patrick Leahy announced today that Deputy Assistant Secretary Don Graves, one of the US Department of Treasury’s top policy advisors on small business finance and community development and the executive director of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, will speak at the Vermont Business and Industry EXPO’s Leahy Business Breakfast Wednesday, May 25 at 8 am.

Legislation passed by the 2011 session of the Vermont Legislature and signed into law by Governor Peter Shumlin expands Vermont’s captive laws, to include allowing cells within a sponsored cell captive to be formed as incorporated protected cells. The bill was signed into law before a group of industry supporters on May 11.

The Vermont Department of Labor announced today the seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate for April 2011 was 5.3 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point to the statewide rate from the previously reported March level of 5.4 percent. Compared to a year ago (April 2010), the statewide unemployment rate has trended down by 1.2 percent.

by Anne Galloway, www.vtdigger.org May 18, 2011 Not long ago the notion of going to Waterbury was shorthand for a journey into the stigmatizing world of mental illness. For decades, the small burg near the posh ski town of Stowe was identified with the sprawling campus of the Vermont State Hospital.

Governor Peter Shumlin today signed into law a bill requiring manufacturers of mercury-containing lamps to establish and finance a recycling program for spent bulbs from residents and small businesses. With today's signing at Nelson Ace Hardware in Barre, Vermont becomes the third state in the country to establish such an extended producer responsibility (EPR) program.

This past winter, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) received a two-year, $45,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to be directed to the management of invasive plants throughout the Ottauquechee Watershed. These management efforts will be led by VINS in conjunction with the recently formed Ottauquechee Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area (OCISMA).

The second annual Saint Michael's College Community Service Day has drawn some 119 employees volunteering to do a variety of service activities for the day, Wednesday, May 25, both on and off the Colchester-based campus. Participants were encouraged to join in the ‘opportunity to come together with your colleagues and to give back to your community.’
Staff Awards

Team registration is now open for the Citizens Bank Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival. This year’s festival is Sunday, August 7th at Burlington's Waterfront Park. Each team is comprised of 21 paddlers who race head to head in 41 foot long dragon boats over a 300 meter course. Festival organizers encourage everyone to join together with your co-workers, friends, and family and form a team.

State and local law enforcement in Vermont will receive more than $8.5 million in federal grant assistance to help with prevention and preparedness, US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Thursday. The grants will be released Thursday by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The Green Mountain College Farm & Food Project has been awarded $100,000 from Jane’s Trust to research the market potential for flash-frozen products, using a mobile flash-freeze unit provided to the College and several regional collaborators by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture.