[Bang!]

Vermont's 2007, trail-blazing pre-recession job losses:

1) MetroGroup in Rutland shuts down. 200 jobs lost.

2) Dirigo mill in Gilman shuts down. 115 jobs lost.

3) Qimonda in Williston shuts down. 135 jobs lost.

4) Standard Register in Middlebury, shuts down. 112 jobs lost.

5) Omya Industries in Protor leaves Vermont, 50 jobs lost.

6) Vermont Plywood LLC in Hancock shuts down. 35 jobs lost.

7) Northern Power Sys. in Waitsfield & Barre shuts down. 60 jobs lost.

8) TD Banknorth Inc, Vt’s second-largest bank, cuts 30 jobs.

9) Specialty Filaments in Middlebury goes bankrupt, 180 jobs lost. Some jobs recovered.

10) Neo EMS in Brandon cuts 20 jobs. 1/3 of its workforce.

11) Wausau mill in Northumberland shuts down. 35 Vermont jobs lost.

Total Job Losses of the above = 972 Jobs

Hattip to Richard who posted this in the comments at the Tiger first.

[Sherylcatmom]

Construction to begin for yogurt firm: Rutland Herald Online

"Moffitt said Commonwealth, which is owned by Ehrmann AG, wanted to locate in New England, and first thought it would open a facility in Massachusetts, hence its name.

But Moffitt and other Commonwealth officials said Vermont agriculture officials were key in their decision to build in Brattleboro."

[jackmccullough]

From another Vermont blogger (not me, and not from my blog):

To become more like Austria, Vermont needs:
(1) Higher taxes;
(2) stronger labor unions, probably meaning higher wages;
(3) Five weeks of paid vacation for almost everyone, said Renezeder, because “unions play a very important role in our economy and we do have very strong social rights;”
(4) An energy system that gets almost two thirds of its electricity from hydropower, wind, solar, and biomass, and none at all from nuclear reactors, which are against the law for generating electricity.

I recommend you read the entire post (http://http://www.vermontnewsguy.com/the-austrian-delusion - broken link)for a useful examination of this story.

[HappyVermonster]

That's awesome. I moving to Brattleboro to get into the yogurt bizz. Gonna be up to my ankles in culture.