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Financial and Economy

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There are 51 links for you to choose from! Bilodeau, Wells and Company are a growing Vermont firm of Certified Public Accountants. We provide a variety of services including business valuations, audit services, reviewed or compiled financial statements as well as a range of accounting services. We have extensive income tax experience with both complex business and individual issues including multi-state taxation and estate tax issues. new Click here to read more. (Link number 61 was added on 31-Jan-2008 and has had 0 hits. The source of this resource was found at Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Banknorth customers are being targeted by scam artists. Banknorth says someone is sending its customers around New England e-mails pretending to be from the financial institution. The email asks for your Social Security number, bank account number and credit card information. Some of the e-mails direct customers to a false web site, www.bank-north.us. The bank's real web site is www.banknorth.com. If you receive one of those emails, do not reply to it. Christine Hinkel - Channel 3 News (Link number 52 was added on 27-Aug-2003 and has had 44 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1418219&nav=4QcRHfk5 . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Burlington area employers remain cautious about adding staff in the last three months of the year, according to the results of a survey released today. For the October-December period, 13 percent of businesses responding to the survey said they plan to expand their work forces, while 7 percent said they plan cuts, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. Another 73 percent plan no changes, while 7 percent said they haven't determined their employment needs through the end of the year, the survey said. Employers were a little more optimistic three months ago, when 20 percent planned additional hires and none expected to reduce staff. A year ago, 10 percent of respondents said they planned to expand, and none expected to make cuts. Nationally, 24 percent of employers said they intend to add staff in the last three months of the year, while 9 percent said they plan cuts. Another 62 percent plan no changes and 5 percent have not finalized their plans for the period. (Link number 23 was added on 26-Aug-2002 and has had 43 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/monday/2000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Burlington city credit union merges with NorthCountry Federal Union. The deal will be complete Monday. The city credit union has 2,200 members. NorthCountry Federal Credit Union has 13,500 members. Together the credit unions will have more than million in assets. Staff at the city credit union -- three full-time and one part-time -- will work for NorthCountry, said John Benoit, chief executive officer at NorthCountry. The Burlington employees credit union board decided on the merger because the credit union was not able to offer services like Internet banking, money market checking and mortgages, Benoit said. The merger will make NorthCountry stronger with more members and assets, Benoit said. The merger adds a downtown Burlington branch to NorthCountry's four branches. NorthCountry has branches on Swift Street in South Burlington, Lakeside Avenue at General Dynamics in Burlington and in East Montpelier and Lyndonville. (Link number 4 was added on 30-Mar-2002 and has had 45 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/saturday/1000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Burlington is Among Most Expensive Places To Live in the country. The Queen City tied for the 123rd least affordable area. The most expensive...is Santa Cruz, California. Other areas in New England making the list include the Nashua, and Portsmouth-Rochester areas in New Hampshire and Maine. The list is compiled each year by the National Association of Home Builders, which compares family incomes and home prices for metropolitan areas around the country. The latest survey is based on third-quarter numbers for 2001. -- end -- (Link number 8 was added on 21-Jan-2002 and has had -343 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=630159&nav=4QcR6pLg . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Burlington Mortgage provides mortgage brokerage services throughout the entire state of Vermont. Our goal is simple... to help Vermont homeowners and homebuyers find the best mortgage financing to fit their individual needs. We seek to accomplish this goal with integrity and one-on-one customer service. After working for one of the largest mortgage companies in the country, I decided it was time to slow down and spend more time and energy working with each individual client. With Burlington Mortgage, you are more than a loan number and an email address. You are part of the Vermont community and my neighbor. Please do not hesitate to give me a call with any questions. I am more than happy to come to you if you are strapped for time or transportation. Click here to read more. (Link number 60 was added on 5-Jul-2004 and has had 33 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonmortgage.biz/ . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Chittenden Corp. has appeared on a list of the top 50 companies in the country for insider loans to corporate officers and directors. Bank officials dispute the ranking, saying Chittenden should not be on the list. Chittenden ranked 17th on the list with .9 million in outstanding loans. The study, My Big Fat Corporate Loan, was done by The Corporate Library of Portland, Maine, a shareholder advocacy firm, and is reported in the November issue of Business2.0 magazine. The report is due out next month and looked at proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the largest 1,500 companies in the country, said senior research associate Paul Hodgson. The so-called insider loans are illegal, a change made in response to excesses exposed over the last year. The type of loans that raised ethical questions include cash loans to executives for purchase of stock, large relocation loans and cash loans given as perks to executives that would be partially forgiven over time. (Link number 35 was added on 19-Oct-2002 and has had 46 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/saturday/1000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Express Mortgage Corporation considers itself Vermont's Leading Mortgage Specialists. They have a strong and genuine belief in the "customer for life" principal of doing business is what fuels this company. Referrals from previous customers and local real estate professionals have always delivered the majority of the Company's production. We use the most advanced technology available to close loans quickly, at a low cost. By combining the use of the Internet along with advanced processing software and automated underwriting systems we have taken the mystery out of approving and closing a homeloan. Click here to read more. (Link number 29 was added on 24-Sep-2002 and has had 44 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.expressmortgagecorp.com/ . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Joseph Finnigan runs the Vermont Federal Credit Union based on a simple philosophy: "Not for profit, not for charity, but for service." The 57-year-old CEO takes pride in overseeing a financial institution owned by its members rather than stockholders. Since he became involved with the credit union in 1978 when it held just over million in assets, the organization has grown exponentially to more than million in assets from 19,000 members. It's the third-largest credit union in the state. Finnigan has personally overseen much of the credit union's growth and is respected as one of the state's top financial managers. ... The Vermont Federal Credit Union is in a period of transition and rapid growth. Within the last year, the organization expanded its field of membership to include anyone who lives or works in Chittenden, Addison, Grand Isle, Lamoille or Washington counties. It has grown its assets at a rate of at least 17 percent per year for the last five years. Click here to read more. (Link number 25 was added on 16-Sep-2002 and has had 41 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.vermontguides.com/2002/9-sep/vtfcu.htm . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Kittredge Mortgage Corporation is dedicated to helping people with their real estate financing needs. We are dedicated to giving our clients the best service. We offer integrity, reliability, strength and experience. We strive to offer the lowest rates possible by making it a point to keep up to date on current market trends and staying on top of the constantly changing field of finance. ... In February of 1989, the South Burlington office was opened at 23 Patchen Road. Click here to read more. (Link number 55 was added on 17-Oct-2003 and has had 38 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.kittmtg.com/ . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Large-scale job cuts at IBM, the second in six months, constitute a "body blow" to the Vermont economy, a state economist said. In the short term, the cuts pose a setback to economic recovery. In the long run, the state could lose thousands of additional jobs as the effects of the IBM cuts ripple through the economy. State economist Jeffrey Carr revised his economic forecasts for the state, issued just last week, after IBM cut 988 workers Tuesday. Carr had envisioned economic recovery by the middle of this year. The job cuts will keep the state in recession for perhaps six more months, he said. "It's obviously a significant body blow to the Vermont economy," Carr said. "It's significant. It's negative, and it's going to show up." (Link number 9 was added on 6-Aug-2002 and has had -46 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/specialnews/IBM/06041b.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Low interest rates are sparking a race to refinance. Mark Chaffee, vice president of Mortgage Financial Services in South Burlington, thought last summer that mortgage rates couldn't go much lower. Then came 2002. After rising briefly at the start of the year, today's rates, 0.75 percentage points lower than where they were in August 2001, are at 30-year lows. ... Now, those in the mortgage industry say they work seven days a week trying to meet demand of people refinancing their home mortgages. Chaffee said his firm will do about million in loans in Vermont this year, about the same as last year. Compare this to million in 2000, Chaffee said. Mortgage brokers and banks are working with clients to get them interest rates of between 5 percent and 6.5 percent for loans with terms of 15 or 30 years. Many people are turning their 30-year mortgage into a 15-year loan, saving them thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. (Link number 24 was added on 1-Sep-2002 and has had 31 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/sunday/1000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) More Vermonters are having a tough time making their mortgage payments The Vermont Mortgage Bankers Association says the number of people more than 30 days late on their payments, rose three percent in the third quarter. And the number of foreclosure proceedings has risen by a half-point. Officials say the numbers are a reflection of the recession. But they also say it's not as bad in Vermont as in other parts of the country. -- end -- (Link number 3 was added on 17-Dec-2001 and has had 35 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=589202&nav=4QcR4vSe6FP0 . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Shopkeepers feared a slump in business. Deli workers fretted about shrinking lunch lines. Municipal employees worried about the future. Residents wondered how to comfort friends. Bartenders prepared to pour drinks. Across Essex on Monday, people from all walks of life absorbed the news that IBM had eliminated the jobs of 500 employees. Monday's job reductions the latest in a series of cutbacks that have cost about 2,300 IBM employees their jobs since November 2001 hit the community hard. The effect of this will go on for months,'' said Jon Houghton, manager of Maplehurst Florist on Lincoln Street in Essex Junction. ''People won't need to spend money on flowers or going out to eat or other things they do. Each job lost is a job that won't spend money throughout the community.'' Maplehurst felt the impact of each round of IBM's recent job cuts. To stay afloat, the flower shop expanded to Burlington, Houghton said. "It's not easy to succeed in business,'' he said, ''and this is going to magnify that.'' (Link number 54 was added on 1-Sep-2003 and has had 39 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/specialnews/IBM/4.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Smith Bell & Thompson has remained dedicated to insuring the people and businesses of Vermont and upstate New York. Unlike any other Vermont insurance agency, we are now also licensed to write insurance in all 50 states. A leader in the field of specialty insurance. In the late 1960’s, Smith, Bell & Thompson entered the specialty insurance field by developing a jewelers block insurance program for the Retail Jewelers of America. In the mid-1970’s, a crisis began in the medical malpractice field. Smith, Bell & Thompson was asked to design an insurance program for the local Visiting Nurses Association. Over twenty-five years later, we are the nation’s leading writer of insurance for the Home Health Care industry. Smith, Bell & Thompson now designs, markets and administers a wide variety of exclusive national and regional specialty insurance programs. Click here to read more. (Link number 42 was added on 20-Feb-2003 and has had 43 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.sbtinsurance.com/ . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Spruce Mortgage Team is a leader in residential, second home, investment property mortgages and refinancing. We take pride in providing excellent customer service from initial contact to after closing. In addition we offer low rates, quick turn around and honest advice from an experienced staff of professionals. In short we'll give you complete assurance! Spruce Mortgage provides the knowledge of experience. Please, bear with us as we currently bring new features online. Click here to read more. (Link number 27 was added on 20-Sep-2002 and has had 47 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.sprucemortgage.com/ . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Stone Investment Advisory, Inc. brings three decades of experience in investments to work for business owners, CEOs and CFOs. At Stone Investment Advisory we provide local, affordable investment advice to small and medium-sized businesses throughout Vermont. We sell nothing except knowledge and experience. We deliver an unbiased approach to helping businesses make the right investment decisions. We are paid only by you to evaluate your existing plan; evaluate a new plan or new options; and/or provide investment education about your plan to employees. With a prearranged hourly fee you pay only for services provided and have the assurance that we are working on your behalf. This applies whether you have an existing program, are considering changes, or are establishing a new plan. Click here to read more. (Link number 38 was added on 24-Nov-2002 and has had 31 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.stoneinvestmentadvisory.com/ . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) The cost of living in Burlington was 111.7 percent of the national average in the second quarter, led by the cost of housing, which stood at 124.7 percent of the national average, according to research released Friday. Burlington ranked 35th among 293 U.S. urban areas surveyed in the report by Accra in Arlington, Va. The survey for the April-to-June period also includes two cities in Canada. New York's Manhattan topped the list at 217.2 percent, with San Francisco second at 180.7 percent. At the bottom was Fort Smith, Ark., at 84.3 percent. In Plattsburgh, N.Y., just across the lake from Burlington, the cost of living was 97.3 percent of the national average, with housing costs at 86.8 percent. While Burlington's cost of living is above average, wages in Vermont tend to fall below the national norm. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that the 2001 average annual pay in Burlington was ,341, 9.4 percent below the national average of ,897. (Link number 53 was added on 30-Aug-2003 and has had 29 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/saturday/1000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) The economy in Chittenden county is showing surprising strength in spite of job layoffs, although a new survey shows a growing vacancy rate in the county's commercial retail space. One big exception is Burlington, where business is booming. Regardless of the recession, downtown Burlington thrives. Vacant storefronts are hard to find. ... Through most of the 1990s, vacancies in downtown Burlington remained under ten percent, then more than doubled in 1999 when the old Burlington Square mall fell into disrepair. Now, vacancies are under five percent, due largely to success at finding tenants for the newly-renovated downtown mall. ... Commercial vacancies in the rest of Chittenden county saw a similar pattern through the 90s, but over the past six months vacancies outside of Burlington have risen to ten percent. Still, the future looks brighter than the higher vacancy rate seems to indicate. ... The Ames closing is only a temporary set back for University Mall, which expects to replace it with another retailer.... Click here to read more. (Link number 39 was added on 14-Dec-2002 and has had 33 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1049172&nav=4QcRCtrH . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) The good news is Vermont plays with the big guys of the global economy, probably more so than most Vermonters realize, said an international economist who hails from St. Johnsbury. The bad news is that Vermont will ride the same turbulent economic currents as the rest of the world for the next six to nine months. Vermont should survive the post-Sept. 11 global recession, said David Hale, chief global economist for Zurich Financial Services Inc. in Chicago. (Link number 7 was added on 21-Dec-2001 and has had 36 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/friday/1000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) The Vermont State Employees Credit Union has opened a brand-new branch in Burlington. And while it may look like your average financial institution from the outside, the inside is taking on a futuristic feel. "I came in expecting to see tellers at teller windows," said bank customer Hugh McCaslin. "And they said this is the teller." These Remote Teller Systems are popping up in Credit Unions nationwide. They combine technological advances with a personal touch. "The remote teller system affords us the opportunity to still provide very friendly, customer member service without having to employ multiple tellers," Yvonne Garand of the VSECU told Channel 3. And besides saving on staffing costs, the credit union also gets the benefit of a safe environment. The teller is in the branch, but behind locked doors. The virtual tellers, as they're also called, work a lot like a drive-thru banker. "So I fill out my slip and I take this tube and I put my slip in the tube," Garand demonstrated. Click here to read more. (Link number 40 was added on 14-Dec-2002 and has had 37 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=1047740&nav=4QcRCsS5 . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Two years ago the job market was so tight that Gardener's Supply Co. gave away TV sets to workers who agreed to hire on for the holiday season. This year the tables have turned. The rocky economy and dozens of layoffs in the area mean it's an employers' market again when it comes to hiring. Retailers and resorts alike are gearing up for their busy seasons by holding job fairs and advertising for seasonal employment. The all-important holiday season accounts for nearly a quarter of retailers' annual sales. This year employers are breathing a little easier, as finding workers has been less difficult than in past years. Two years ago the unemployment rate was 3 percent in September. This year the rate is 4 percent. Applicants are coming to Pier 1, a furniture and gift store on Burlington's Church Street Marketplace, in greater numbers and with better qualifications than in the past, said local store co-owner Frank Bouchett. (Link number 37 was added on 4-Nov-2002 and has had -70 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/monday/1000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Vermont Development Credit Union is non-profit, member-owned and federally insured. We are the "bank" of choice for thousands of working families, women, immigrants, small businesses, students, seniors, and ordinary Vermonters. We promote grass-roots community development in Vermont through home ownership, small business development, financial stability, and economic literacy. Click here to read more. (Link number 11 was added on 29-Sep-2000 and has had 27 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.vdcu.org/ . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Vermont Development Credit Union has made its name on being different. ... Now in its 13th year, this credit union has made million in loans and boasts a loss rate of "half of a percent," Stewart said. "It stacks up very well to banks." ... The VDCU lends to working people with low incomes, a group that includes women and immigrants and is not well-served historically, she said. The credit union's supporters include major banks, such as BankNorth Vermont. In 2002 BankNorth invested ,000 to meet a capital fund-matching award from the U.S. Treasury Department, bank President Philip Daniels said. The bank also provided seed money for deposits. The two institutions do not compete, Daniels said. Stewart said her credit union mainly serves clients that traditional lenders would not handle. (Link number 41 was added on 23-Dec-2002 and has had 10 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/monday/1000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Vermont Federal Credit Union is a full service, member-owned, not-for-profit financial institution. Since our members are also the owners, they benefit from the success of the credit union. This is in the form of monthly dividends, lower loan rates and higher deposit rates. Vermont Federal Credit Union has been providing financial services to members throughout northwestern Vermont for 45 years. Our members enjoy a unique relationship with their financial institution...they're all owners. Although initially formed to serve United States Government employees and their families, our credit union now serves a broader field of membership. Currently, membership is open to federal workers in northwestern Vermont, individuals who live or work in Franklin or Grand Isle counties or the town of Milton and employees of affiliated companies throughout northwestern Vermont and all of their family members. Click here to read more. (Link number 32 was added on 25-Sep-2002 and has had 37 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.vtfcu.org/ . Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Vermont's recession is nearly over, state economist Jeffrey Carr said Monday. ... Carr, vice president of Economic & Policy Resources in Williston, serves as the state's official economist and is responsible for twice-yearly updates on the health of the economy. His latest update predicts the state will see job growth some time after the start of the new year. The growth, however, will come slowly. All of the state's major economic indicators will see "significantly slower rates of growth" over the next five years than Carr had forecast back in May. Job growth will be a full percentage point lower next year than Carr forecast in the spring: Instead of seeing a 1.6 percent increase in the number of jobs, the state will see an increase of 0.5 percent. Growth rates in the gross state product and income also will be slower, Carr said. The slower recovery means it will take until the middle of 2004 to return to the employment levels -- 252,200 -- at the start of this downturn in January of 2001. (Link number 36 was added on 30-Oct-2002 and has had -67 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/business/tuesday/2000h.htm . This resource no longer appears to be available. But you are free to click on the red links anyway if you like. Display, modify, or delete resource in a separate tab or window.) Winooski Insurance Agency is dedicated to servicing the insurance needs of our customers. We do this by providing a complete line of insurance products using our many insurance companies. We are committed to paying attention to detail in making sure we offer you proper coverage options. We are interested in building long term relationships with you, our customers. Established in 1983 by Joe Burkhard as an independent insurance agency. We currently have 3 offices throughout Vermont in Winooski.... Our staff is composed of a total of 8 insurance professionals. ... We are an independent insurance agency. We have direct appointments with ten insurance companies and have access to many brokerage houses. Given such a range of companies to select from, we can custom design an insurance program to fit your specific insurance need. Click here to read more. (Link number 28 was added on 23-Sep-2002 and has had 14 hits. The source of this resource was found at http://winooskiinsurance.com/ . 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