Three “would-be” student millionaires were recognized for their poster artistry at a State House ceremony in Montpelier today. The student artwork included a deer sporting a money belt, a wise owl contemplating his finances, and a young Vermont entrepreneur making it big with his own skateboard company. While the artwork was varied, the message wasn’t—saving and planning for your future can pay you big bucks.

The Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties (VNA) announced the graduation in March of twelve students from their Personal Care Attendant (PCA) training. The students’ training was a collaboration between the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, the VNA and Vermont Adult Learning with grant support from the Vermont Department of Labor. The PCA training consisted of 40 hours of instruction which emphasized body mechanics, infection control, safety and professional communication. Fifteen hours of job-specific English training was also taught.

The 7th Annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference will take place on June 5, 2009, at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. This year’s keynote address will be given by prominent political journalist and bestselling author William Greider. Greider is the national affairs correspondent for The Nation and has written for numerous periodicals including the Washington Post and Rolling Stone. He has also served as a correspondent for six Frontline documentaries on PBS.

Executive Vice President Thomas S. Leavitt announced the appointment of David Berthiaume to the position of Branch President of Merchants Bank’s Putnam Square office in Bennington. The Branch President position was previously held by Kathy Hamilton, who sadly and unexpectedly passed away earlier this year. Berthiaume will continue Hamilton’s excellent tradition of leadership, directing a team that includes Personal Bankers Annette Dixon, Gerilyn Shaw, Lindsay Witherbee and Meghan Coyne.

A longtime Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing employee received the 2009 “Vermont Travel Person of the Year” award at an annual tourism industry conference on Thursday. Sue White, of Montpelier, has worked for the Department of Tourism and Marketing for 40 years and is currently the assistant to Commissioner Bruce Hyde. White was presented the award at the Vermont Travel Industry Conference, which was held at The Equinox in Manchester April 8-9.

New Breed Marketing is a full service, strategic integrated marketing solutions firm located in The Champlain Mill in Winooski. New Breed Marketing’s goal is to build strong relationships with their clients by providing world-class strategy and creative, while remaining flexible, collaborative and organized.

Gregory Farnum of East Montpelier will join Birmingham, Mich.-based ChangeScape Inc. as a consultant to its Southwest Michigan Health Information Exchange planning project. He will be charged in assisting the development of the regional HIE technical infrastructure. Farnum is the founder and president of Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL), who will be stepping down to work as a consultant to state and regional HIEs. He worked with vendors and payors to assemble a medication history service that is recognized as one of the most comprehensive in the U.S.

Mark Depman, MD was recently named Emergency Department Medical Director at Central Vermont Medical Center. Dr. Depman earned his MD, and completed his internship and residency at Weill Cornell Medical College affiliated with The New York Hospital and New York Presbyterian Hospital. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Depman was an Emergency Department physician for close to 20 years in New Haven, Connecticut, affiliated with the Yale University School of Medicine Hospital and the Hospital of Saint Raphael.

Mark J. Gagnon has been appointed as the Director of Counseling Services at the College of St. Joseph and will begin April 13, 2009. He graduated from Castleton State College in 2006 with a Bachelor of Social Work and completed his Master of Social Work with a concentration in clinical social work from SUNY Albany. Gagnon will be managing all of the counseling services at the College including STEPS, a special program for students transitioning from state custody to college.