PRESS RELEASE

This press release is available digitally at /secdesk/pressreleases/index.html

            Contact:   Kathryn Mathieson (802) 828-2148 

            For Immediate Release: January 10, 2005

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Town Meeting Day Website Unveiled

Secretary of State Deb Markowitz Unveils Web Resource on Town Meeting

And Reminds Citizens that Petitions are Due Soon

Montpelier. Today Secretary of State Markowitz unveiled a new website for citizens and local officials on Vermont’s Town Meeting.  Markowitz said, “Town Meeting is one of the democratic high points of the year.  It is a time for neighbors to discuss the civic issues of their community, elect local officers and vote on budgets. This new website is designed to help citizens and local officials make the most out of Town Meeting.”   The Town Meeting website includes a newly published Citizen’s Guide to Town Meeting, a Handbook for Moderators, a Voter’s Guide to Town Meeting Procedure, a guide to petitioning to get articles on the ballot as well as many other resources.  You can view the website at: www.sec.state.vt.us/townmeeting/index.html 

Markowitz also reminds citizens that deadlines for getting items onto the March town meeting warning are fast approaching.  January 21st is the deadline for petitions to get articles on the warning, and January 24^th is the deadline for submitting nominating petitions for local office where elections are by Australian Ballot vote.

Markowitz said, "Vermont town meeting can provide a meaningful opportunity to discuss issues that are important to individuals in the town. This year we are already seeing petitions from voters on a variety of town issues, such as changing from floor voting to Australian Ballot voting on a particular type of question, or whether to merge village and town.”  Markowitz said “voters must act quickly if they want to get a particular issue on the town meeting warning.”  Unless the selectboard agrees to put a particular article on the warning, voters must present a petition to the town clerk by January 21st.  In most cases, the petitioned article must be signed by at least 5% of the registered voters of the town.

In addition, according to Markowitz, January 24th is the deadline for submitting a nominating petition to the town clerk in towns that elect officers using the Australian Ballot.  Markowitz said, "Serving in local office is a great way to give something back to the town. People who live in towns that vote their officers by ballot, rather than on the floor of town meeting must plan ahead if they wish to run for office."  Nominating petitions must be signed by 30 voters, or 1% of the legal voters, whichever is fewer. All petitions must be submitted to the town clerk.

For more information call your town clerk's office, or the Office of the Secretary of State at (802) 828-2363.  For information on how to petition on a local issue and to access our many other Town Meeting resources please visit the Secretary of State website at www.sec.state.vt.us.

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PRESS RELEASE

Contact Kathryn Mathieson: 802-828-2148

For Immediate Release: January 31, 2005

This press release is available digitally at http://www.sec.state.vt.us
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New Business Starts Stay Strong in 2004

 Filings with Vermont's Secretary of State's Office Show
 Continued Strength in New Business Starts for 2004

Montpelier. Secretary of State Deb Markowitz announced today that the number of new businesses registered with her office's Corporations Division during the year 2004 continued to be strong.  In 2004, 9328 new business entities were formed in Vermont.  These numbers include newly formed Vermont domestic and foreign corporations, tradenames and LLCs. In 2003, the 9163 new business starts represented the highest number of new filings Markowitz’s office had seen in over a decade.  The continued rise in new businesses registered in Vermont shows that the interest in starting businesses in Vermont has not yet reached capacity.

"The continued increase in new business registration is good news,” said Secretary Markowitz. "Our business-starts statistic is a good barometer of confidence within the business community and shows that Vermont's economy continues to rebound," Markowitz said. According to Markowitz, corporate dissolutions have continued to stabilize.  The 888 dissolutions in 2004 represent a small increase from the 846 dissolutions in 2003. 

The 9328 new Vermont business starts in 2004 include businesses that have been formed as corporations, as limited liability corporations and those using a trade name.  Markowitz said “not every form of business entity saw growth this year.  Much of this year’s increase comes from a jump in new businesses forming as limited liability corporations (LLC).”  The 2,801 new LLCs registered in 2004 reflect an increase of over 500 from the 2262 newly registered in 2003.  Markowitz said, “It is notable that Vermont businesses are continuing to form new limited liability corporations.”  LLCs are a new type of business entity authorized by the legislature in 1995. "Over the past five years the number of new LLCs has increased by about 300 a year,” said Secretary Markowitz.  “It is not surprising that there continues to be a lot of activity among limited liability corporations," said Markowitz. "LLCs are the wave of the future in the business community because they offer both flexibility in organizational structure and tax status.  It will be interesting to see how much more growth in new filings we experience with this business entity before filings begin to level off."

Markowitz said “The 1,096 new foreign corporations filed in 2004 represent an increase of only 3 from the new filings registered in 2003.  In addition, we have seen a reduction in the number of registration of new trade names, with 4,296 new trade names filed this year as compared to 4,591 filed in 2003.” 

In addition to seeing a reduction in growth for certain for-profit enterprises, the Secretary of State's office also experienced a small reduction in filings of new non-profit corporations.  For the past five years there has been nearly 400 new non-profit corporations registered each year.  This year only 365 new non-profit corporations registered in Vermont.

The Office of the Vermont Secretary of State licenses and registers foreign and domestic corporations, non-profits, LLCs, and trade names and is the repository for Uniform Commercial Code filings. Information about the services offered by the Corporations Division, including registration forms and searchable databases, is available at www.sec.state.vt.us.

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