News

WASHINGTON, D.C. Vermont's economic recovery will depend on small business. That message is driven home in the newly updated Vermont Small Business Profile released today by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Layoffs - Budget Cuts - Downsizing. Every day there seems to be another news story covering the fallout from the current economic downturn. Today's economy has created an increasingly challenging environment for human resource administrators.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 19th Annual Deane C. Davis Outstanding Business of the Year Award, co-sponsored by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Business Magazine. The winner will be unveiled during the May 20, 2009, opening ceremony of the region s largest business-to-business trade show, the annual Vermont Chamber of Commerce Business and Industry EXPO.

Merchants Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBVT), the parent company of Merchants Bank, today announced net income of $11.92 million or diluted earnings per share of $1.96 for the year ended December 31, 2008. This compares with net income of $10.86 million or diluted earnings per share of $1.76 from the previous year.

Colchester--MyWebGrocer has announced that Peapod, serving 14 major US markets, is joining the MyWebGrocer Ad Network. With the addition of Peapod, the majority of retail Grocery Ecommerce transactions occur within the MyWebGrocer Advertising Network.

Middlebury--Frog Hollow: The Vermont State Craft Center is suspending operations at its Middlebury location on January 31st. The organization, hard hit by the economic downturn, will suspend operations in Middlebury and focus on its Burlington location and web sales as it takes a strategic pause to determine its next steps and strategy moving forward.

Rutland--The Vermont Specialty Food Association welcomes the following businesses as members of the organization:
Aqua Vitea LLC
Aqua Vitea is a kombucha microbrewery located in central Vermont.
Jeff Weaber
8 Shard Villa Rd.
Salisbury, VT 05769
802-352-1049
www.aquavitea.com
Fat Toad Farm

Montpelier--There were 1,306 new regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance for the week ending January 24th, a decrease of 338 from the week before. Altogether 15,905 new and continuing claims were filed, 505 less than a week ago and 5,551 more than a year earlier.

Burlington--Due to popular interest in the Fall Professional Certificate in Leadership & Management program, The Vermont Business Center has added a Spring Professional Certificate program starting March 13th.

Burlington--Champlain College s innovative international initiatives have earned the college a prestigious award from the Institute of International Education (IIE). The college will receive the 2009 IIE Andrew Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education on March 19 at a ceremony at the United Nations in New York.

Montpelier Statewide assessment results for Fall 2008 were released by the Vermont Department of Education today. The results are from the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) exams, given to Vermont public school students in grades three through eight and 11. Students were tested in reading and mathematics in all seven grades, and in writing at grades five, eight and 11 only.

While the exact number of lay offs at IBM s Essex plant was not known at press time, the total number was expected to be under 500. If it were more than 499, IBM would have been required by federal law to notify state officials before the action, which it did not. According to Vermont Department of Labor Commissioner Pat Moulton Powden, she was not informed ahead of time of the layoffs.