Catégories : Tous - agriculture - education - tourism - food

par Tom Myers Il y a 3 années

198

Spotlight Vermont 2021 for Participants

Vermont's economic and workforce development initiatives in 2021 highlight several key sectors contributing to the state's growth. The agriculture sector is robust, focusing on business innovation, local food systems, and the farm-to-table movement, while also addressing challenges such as dairy industry preservation and expanding markets for hops, hemp, and forestry products.

Spotlight Vermont 2021 for Participants

Spotlight Vermont 2021

The Housing Crisis

Out of state demand
Out of state ownership

Opp: get them engaged in VT Economy

Subtopic

Opportunities to better capitalize and launch resources in community-the internal Market. There's a disconnect of people coming to VT and not engaging or communicating with each other. We see a lot of talent coming to VT, but not sure how to plug them in. Need to better communicate w/ people who come to VT and who want to contribute. Everything is so spread-out, don't understand all the resources available to them. Can build a community here w/more niche interests and occupations--film makers, experts in their field, writers, etc... CONNECT THIS TO ECONOMIC & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

Mentors/Advisors

Experts

Investors

Money does not understand the Value of Creative-Driven projects. Can't get in front of the right people. Wealthy people can drive the community arts scene and business development too. Small and large monies can get involved in communities.

Move to rural VT b/c of Pandemic

VT is a safe and healthy place to live and raise a family

Drive-up housing prices with greater demand

"Close the door behind you" mentality

"Don't always make good neighbors"

Part-time residents

First-time home buyers
Housing Costs-Very expensive to live in VT relative to people's income. The 5 Most expensive places to live in US. London W, LA, NYC, San Fran, are most expensive. Starter homes in VT are not that far behind $300k, yet VT ave salaries are $55k. How do you build housing to meet the requirements of average Vermonters?
Price increases
VT Housing & Finance Association (VHFA) is a strong leader in creating the ability for people to afford housing.
Housing is not affordable especially when you need to spend over 50% of your income on rent or housing costs.
High Demand
There's not enough housing and a lot of homes are in rural areas and in poor condition.
We need homes badly= 900 New homes. Zoning issues planning for growth. Must be Sustainable for growth & not lose the Character of Community. Housing shortage.

A lot of need for investments in Downtowns: Life/work balance for employees. Create a vision for downtown redevelopment with affordable housing options. White River Junction is a good example of this type of project and has been planning/working on it for years. Intentional redevelopment.

A Non-Profit for revitalizing homes think-"Habitat for Humanity.-Maybe using youth? Revitalize Houses that are falling down.
Student apartment in Burlington
Slum lords (monopoly)

Low quality student apt housing

Creates difficult relations with full-time Burlington residents
Ties-up inventory

lack of available housing for working VTers

1 yr. leasing
Lack of inventory
Build more homes and bring in more competition to lower rents and home prices. Section 8 is mostly in Burlington and need to create more options.
Create more diverse Housing opps. planned housing. Attract people so they will want to stay and create larger and skilled workforce jobs here in the State. Workers can now work remotely to reverse the trends--VT is the 3rd oldest state in the nation. Last year: more deaths than births.
Homes are available, but in remote and rural areas
Companies like IBM built whole neighborhoods for their employees. Build low-cost and affordable hous­ing so employees had a place to live at cost. Long term Employment for paths for advancement.
Aging homes/apts

Create a housing fund for employees to fix-up old houses and/or motels.

Housing. There's not enough housing and a lot of homes are in rural areas and in poor condition.

Broadband Access

Broadband
Installation

Schools

Broadband and need IT access across the state--this is a huge issue. Need broadband for faculty is insufficient for them to do their jobs--increased Internet across the state

Businesses

IT and communication: Broadband, an issue Better service throughout the state. Need more connectivity in the state so more people can prosper.

Homes

Tactical-need 500 people right now who can install Broadband deployment in the state. We don’t have the people who can install fiber cable at the moment.

Affordable

Federal funding for the initiative to install for Broadband statewide.

Broadband needs and poorer people don't have adequate connectivity.

Uniform access to broadband and cell phone connections and more IT training.

Most important

Broadband infrastructure to support more economic growth and more accessible education opportunities

There are two issues: 1. Infrastructure to get the fiber to the homes. 2. Affordability and how will people pay for it? People need to understand broadband’s importance to their lives and how to leverage this connectivity. Different demographics are affected in the Digital Economy. Many new opportunities = Women, BIPOC, community dev., education and scalability

Develop more broadband so all employees could work from home. Need to fix this fast.

Broadband and IT for fiber in rural settings. That will draw more people and businesses here.

Multinational digital economy. Economy and tech. training. Writing the 10 year telecom plan for the State. Springfield/Randolph. Broadband across the state is the major issue. Needed on-going automation, capture Software, IT, training and placing of people.

Economic and Workforce Development

Agriculture Business & Innovation
Localvore

Supply chain education

Farm to table

Food Systems

Nutrition/health Education

Higher Ed

Public Ed.

Early Childhood Ed

adequate nutrition

Farmers' Markets

School programs

Food Security

Sheep
Goats
Wine

Tourism and wine tastings

Spirits

Many successful distillers

Growing market

Beer

Brewery Supply companies

Breweries

Hops Production
Forestry and Wood Production
Hemp Production
Dairy

need to save the dairy industry

Higher Education and Tech Centers
There needs to be a much better intersection of Higher Ed. and VT Businesses. Broader insertion between universities + Businesses. Not Much impact Between Colleges & VT Businesses. Need to have stronger alliances.
Make investments and Provide capital for Entrepreneurial Education and Future access to VCs for Change. Create foundation to perpetuate companies from one generation to the next. Fund to Support Education and entrepreneurs in the state.
On-ramps to re-enroll in college/trade schools

30K Vermonters should complete their degrees--UVM, CCV, and the state college systems need to work together to complete their degrees.

Too many students who left college before graduation need to get back to College. Need an easier on-Ramp to College. Colleges must make it easier for continuing Ed vs. Conventional College students. Traditional vs. Nontraditional.

College credit/Tuition reimbursement

Work with VSAC to make something happen?

Workforce Development Opportuities

Guaranteed employment post-graduation

Training Opportunities

VT Work Contract

Career Exploration & Planning

Many college career professionals unaware of opportunities in VT

UVM staff and faculty recommend students leave VT to find work. They tell students, "don't stay in VT; there are no jobs"

Career planning post graduation

Internships/Coops/Practicums

Cooperative Programs (Coops)

Longer-term paid internships

On the job training

Free training for the students and they can get college credit

Hiring commitment afterwards

internships are a great way for job training and get to know the company. Many companies hire their interns.

Paid tuition?

Pay for a year of tuition like Northeastern

1 year

year long programs work

See Northeastern Univ.'s model

More colleges in VT should follow the Coop model

Training on soft skills and networking needed

Student need to better advocate for themselves and learn to take risks in a company

Non-college internships

Home Schools

Private Schools

Charter Schools

Independent Schools

High Schools

Voc. Tech Centers

Great way for student to learn the corp culture

Mirco-internships (2-3 weeks)

Short-term Internships

A great way for companies to get needed research projects done.

Work-based projects

UVM uses a private company to do this--parkerdewy.com

Better and State-wide Financial Literacy Education

Financial advice and education for business

Mentorship

SCORE Advisors

Short-term courses

Business assistance for expansion/growth

Financial literacy education

Need more entrepreneurship and financial literacy education in the state. There's an opportunity to show kids living in poverty conditions the value of math and its application to getting funding and starting and growing a business. This will increase their chances to rise out of poverty, and increase their income potential. Demonstrate the link to entrepreneurship and financial security.

Mandatory education in public schools?

Federal ED. programs

SBA

State Ed Programs

Dept. of Labor

Workforce Development

Agency of Commerce & Community Development

Dept of Ed

Higher Ed. Curriculua

Private Insitutions

State College System

Community College--CCV

VT College System

VT Technical College

Northern VT Univ.

Johnson Campus

Lyndon Campus

CCV

Castleton University

UVM

For UVM to be more integrated and in a mindful way. More integration in the University and work on research projects to influence policy in the state.

UVM will re-engage closer to help with community involvement. The pandemic, Black Lives Matter and other major social justice issues have taken up a lot of energy at the University. The school knows that they need to be more involved in the community and they will in the near future (fall 2021).

The attitude toward higher ed in the state Budget--very low state funding support and the new England colleges are some of the highest state schools in the U.S.

UVM is lacking the resources and need more support to get the job done. Not able to do the real work that matters with a lot more infrastructure to support the non-profit work--people are spread thin and doing a lot of smaller tasks to get the job done, but not meaningful.

Intellectual Property is very valuable on the UVM campus. Create more opportunities for community support.

UVM is Not doing a great job at promoting VT. They have conflicting schools at UVM-- a Community Economic Dev(socialism)- and their Environmental School--”no business growth and tax everything.” Too many conflicting Entities within the UVM system.

In-state tuition/Very expensive @ UVM compares to the US. and the rest of the nation.

Workforce Development & Recruitment (in-state and out of state)
Unskilled

Skills Acquisition

People and many BIPoC people should take more opportunities for skill development. A lot of programs available, but don't take advantage--sometimes the social support programs in VT are too good and they don't want to leave it.

Take more advantage of the free educational programs in VT.

State workforce development training classes

Workforce Development (Reward)

Limited opportunities for poorer people in VT. There are many opps to benefit the upper socioeconomic people and don't Benefit people on the lower End of the Spectrum. There's a Parity of clases and there’s a widening of the “haves” and “have nots.” Income disparity is an issue and more property owners coming from out of State. Wealthier people have more access to land, housing and other opportunities in VT.

Brain Drain

College grads leaving state

It seems that all motivated young people move away to get stimulated, earn income, and get ahead. Young people want to Surround themselves w/ other motivated people. How to do that? Need more professional Entry-level positions so they can grow and develop here.

Upward mobility

Opps for growth within an company or org.

Not as much need for certain/higher levels of Education because there’s not a lot of upward Mobility. Young people cannot move-up. Need more opportunities for career Development in Rural VT.

Workforce training and Academics to prepare for the Job Market. Better Equipped to join the Workforce. Should custom Taylor Academic Curriculum to suit each company and each industry. This will help to retain younger employees.

22-30 yr. old employment (recent college and tech grads)

Younger people to work in and stay in jobs in VT. 22-30 yr old people don’t have enough opportunity. A lot of the “driven” and motivated people are here, but no opportunities, so they leave the state. Need more to happen here and keep them in state. There are too many young people (22-30) who don't want to do anything, and do the bare minimum to get by and just not get fired. It seems that all motivated young people move away to get stimulated, earn income, and get ahead. Young people want to surround themselves w/ other motivated people. How to do that? Need more professional entry-level positions so they can grow and develop here.



Housing for young people

The cost of living is too high. The Housing prices are high and Shortages of inventory. Should have more ability for people to save--expenses are too high. We need more housing and need 500 apts right now in the downtown. Housing Crisis.

Money coming into state- Build more housing.$200 m on housing Biggest investment by 10x. State now has resources. Permitting process is still difficult. ACT 250 inconsistency in permitting

Opportunity: $1B from American Rescue Project and $200M investment into new housing. Opp to rethink how We always did things. Think of things in new ways because of the Pandemic to attract more young people

First time homeowners

Opportunity: Millennials are the Largest Homebuyers. VT can capitalize & attract more people. Outdoor recreation Sector very important to this group. Housing is a huge problem: too much spent on housing.

Rental proerties

Not many apts available in Burlington area

Very expensive (like Boston)

Not many available

Rollover apts to friends or classmates--revolving door

Students pay for longer-term leases

"Slumlords"

They know parents will pay

Out of state students (parents) will pay a lot

Drives rental prices up

Workers with out transportation need to stay in urban areas

Need to find housing within urban area (Burlington)

Rely on public transportation

Can be difficult for differing shift times

Unmotivated workers

Stay in VT?

Limited jobs outside of Burlington area

Limited housing opps.

Limited upward mobility

Service Industry

VT has a lot of service jobs and needs young people to fill them. The tourism industry depends on this. Companies rely on international workers to fill these positions--difficult during the pandemic for these workers to come here.

Plenty of entry level jobs

There are too many young people (22-30) who don't want to do anything, but do the bare minimum to get by and not get fired.

Underemployed young workers

Stay in underemployed jobs

not always motivated to develop

Many entry-level jobs don't offer advancement

Summer/seasonal work

Difficult to find housing

Some college students can save money and live at home if they're local.

Ski bum

Many young people stay doing this for too long

It's okay to be a ski bum or a bartender to figure out what you want to do.

Entry level jobs

A lot of turn-over in these jobs and this can be difficult for employers.

Motivated workers

1. work on being More Experimental 2. Action-Based leadership to enage more alignment. 3. Make people Better decision Makers & TAKE ACTION. Do it + take responsibility and get it done! Do, don't just talk about it. Younger people need to be more confident in taking risks and learning from that experience.



Opportunities to better capitalize and launch resources in community-the internal Market. Disconnect of people coming to NT t not engaging r communicating with each other. a lot of talent Corny to VT, but not sure how to plug them in. Better communicate w/ people who come to VT and who want to contribute. Everything is so spread-out, don't understand all the resources available to them. Can build a community here w/more niche interests and occupations--film makers, experts in their field, writers, etc...


Remote work opportunities

We have a lot of opportunities to promote VT as a remote work destination to help support the economy. This can have a ripple effect for other areas in our economy.

Millennial Generation

Now actively buying houses--largest group

Major child care needs

They want development opportunites

Largest cohort in today's workforce

Gen Z

Risk Tolerance

Younger people need to be more confident in taking risks and learning from that experience.

1. work on being More Experimental 2. Action-Based leadership to enact more alignment. 3. Make people Better decision Makers & TAKE ACTION. Do it + take responsibility and get it done! Do, don't just talk about it.

"Younger people need to be more confident in taking risks and learning from that experience"

Move out of state

Lower cost of living

Move to other states like N. Carolina

More job opportunities

Warmer climate

Lower taxes

Lower housing costs

Higher salaries/wages

Creative opps. for young people in the state, new businesses and do good things in the World.

More job prospects

Younger people to work in and stay in jobs in VT. 22-30 yr old people don’t have enough opportunity. A lot of the “driven” and motivated people are here, but no opportunities, so they leave the state. Need more to happen here and keep them in state.

Workforce Development and attracting more labor. Hula is good at growing talent needs. More people to come here and join the workforce.

Be with like-minded ambitious people

Want to develop

Younger people to work in and stay in jobs in VT. 22-30 yr old people don’t have enough opportunity. A lot of the “driven” and motivated people are here, but no opportunities, so they leave the state. Need more to happen here and keep them in state. There are too many young people (22-30) who don't want to do anything, but do the bare minimum to get by and not get fired. It seems that all motivated young people move away to get stimulated, earn income, and get ahead. Young people want to Surround themselves w/ other motivated people. How to do that? Need more professional Entry-level positions so they can grow and develop here.



Need more upward mobility and need more opportunities for workers to grow and develop. Need to de-risk the threat of companies leaving the state and create more start-ups with funding to grow.

Advisory Group

Young groups of professionals to create and promote new IDEAS for VT. Ages: 22-35 yrs old motivated professionals meet to make future plans and give them the confidence and tools to do it. Think Big.

Millennials: Outdoor recreation sector is very important to this group.

Semi-skilled

Up-skills and Dev.

VTers to realize they can move up in their jobs and earn more with better skills. We need more of that.

Not always motivated to get more education. 30K Vermonters have not completed their college degrees. More "on-ramps" to degree completion is needed.

Skilled

Development Opportunities

Upward Mobility to stay in VT

There are many entry-level jobs in State, but limited opportunities to get promoted. So many companies are so busy, they don't realize their own needs to grow.

More High quality jobs in the state. More jobs and workforce period.
Government/Public

Improve the way they incentivize financing of private and social sectors. Gov't Backs student loans now, we could think more broadly in that way to incentivize Universities to work w/ the private sector.

Municipal/City/Town

Burlington and Chittenden County

Regulations for business are onerous

Zoning law and regulation are too restrictive in Burlington

State

Lack of Business Development resources to help Business Dev. Sales & Marketing channels and more Export-Market opportunities. This Should be the focus. There’s very little State resources to support business and small companies. More focus on Int' l Trade/FDI recruitment and/EB 5 visas.



Community-Driven action. Make research actionable and be more Experimental. New ways to attract more people, new business approaches and marketing. Small towns should invest in more their own marketing and not rely on the state to do it for them. It should not be a state plan, but much more localized. Towns should invest in promoting themselves for new businesses and people to come to VT. $10K relocation "went "viral + brought a lot of notoriety. Pay you to come here rather than to Barbados."



Cannot compete with other states for cost of doing business

New Hampshire

Plattsburgh, NY

State government regulation is not open to business development. Gov't needs to be more open and friendly to business financing and growth.

Lack of "growth & expansion" mentality

Dept. of labor personnel are not Effective and look to gain more income from business in VT.

Antiquated Technologies

Gov't Agency-taking advantage of $4 Billion. Make tangible investments: Broadband is vital for the state's economic growth. This is a Once in a lifetime opportunity to make the Investments we need. Reverse the trends.

There’s an overly Bureaucratic Culture in VT gov’t. There’s a very low level of gov’t performance and need to set a new and higher expectation level for performance Think: “Performance State Government.”

Burlington is a difficult place to do business--high taxes and regulations.

Dedicate money to make more resources to make the government not remain to work in silos. People are not looking at the central mission of programs.

Federal

Shift away from taxed income and funding. Gov't Employees can make a lot of money, but they're not doing commensurate levels of Work. There must be more accountability in state and federal government entities. This is probably the case nationally and not only in VT. It's just we see it more because we're a smaller state.



Need more time to talk together and need to work more closely together (gov't). It’s not working well. Agencies that have the knowledge, need to lead it. Dedicate more functional gov’t practical delivery of programs.

Social Sector
Chambers of Commerce

The Chamber of commerce and other nonprofit membership driven orgs depend on the private sector.

Too Many membership-based organizations fighting over active membership and dues/income.

Community-based Orgs.

Nonprofit organizations could play a larger “matchmaker” role for employees and opportunities.

Elevate the Community. Tide rising boats, level Playing field for more resources to non-profits. To Help people with homes, access to healthy foods. "To make life Better." Be a Matchmaker and a connector.

Fierce Independence in the state to do their own thing and some organizations and programs are not effective.

Better organization, accountability and use of resources

There are too many orgs. in VT and stepping on one another. VT could be a lot stronger if there weren't so many competing interests.

Funders/foundations are highly populated by White, upper class people. Most funders in VT are not people of color. White People giving $ to People of Color and not understand the whole picture. Need More People of Color in the funding area.

VT has the most number of registered nonprofits per capita, except for D.C.

More information about nonprofits to access information about nonprofits and awareness.

Getting the word out about orgs and the people who can help.

An Audit of All organizations so funders to know where there's fundraising and development Standards for Nonprofits. Create a Certification for nonprofits and foundations.

Hospitals

It would be the UVM Medical Center and create a better working environment for all employees--there's so much stress and burnout and it's a very real problem. Also, provide more integrative teaching for docs and nurses to use so they take care of themselves and don't burnout.

Get more services into the hospital and more natural medicine as opposed to drugs and train all people in this work.

Some of VT's largest employers

Equity for the health professions also equals equity for the populations. Payments and paying for healthcare is a major issue. Healthcare providers need to work more as a team.

Huge salaries for doctors and administrators--out of step with VT

do not pay taxes (nonprofit)

Colleges/Universites

College & Universities needs help in many ways. VT State College system: why is it faultering in the state? State needs a thriving economy in a faultering world.

Tuition and Financing Education

Technology and financial resources to develop a new way for student debt financing. NFT-Student loan program and create a student loan Swap concept. Similar to a Bond rater, create a swap Mechanism to show the value of a diploma. NFT--Spread cost of tuition over a lifetime with a carry-on tax to take with going forward. Research Novel ways to address the student finance problem.

Demographics-Students are not Classic 4 year degree students. They are more career-minded Majors like Arts and humanities are losing students--typical liberal arts ed is past? They Want career majors.

Higher ed needs closer partnerships with business in the state

Work more locally with larger global companies--Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and so many others. Develop a pilot project in the state to be an incubator to get broadband access and training throughtout the state. Need more high-quality childcare workers--educational training and create a model for the state where companies can be more competitive and develop ways to do it.

Private Sector Business/Orgs.
"The VT Growth Mindset"

There’re a lot of opportunities in Montreal that must be realized. Montreal is only 50 minutes from St. Albans (by car).

Pressures to stay small and stay local

Education thing. Pathways to prosperity-"Growth is Good."

Frear that companies that grow in VT become too "corporate"

Afraid of growth

Talent access to human capital and have a high growth mindset. Thinking,"Small is beautiful" is hurting VT! Need to look for a greater opportunity for more growth. VT needs to think bigger, 0-70 is fine, but several hundred employees is more destined for success. Need more high growth companies and ideas. Need more skilled people to join these companies. Need clusters of people to work within industries with remote hiring offers and work in-person (hybrid). Advantage to have remote work a Solve for that type of company.



There are negative connotations about business growth in VT

Have a growth mindset. Need to think Bigger. VT legislators Believe rules of Economics don't apply to us. A re-Education about a" growth Mindset" the Company and community to Understand more growth. too much focus on Egalitarian approaches. Basic Community Economies & how it can grow.

City/state Regulatory pressures

Ways to limit growth--stay stagnate/static

Don't want to be too "corporate"

Community-Driven action. Make research actionable and be More Experimental. New ways to attract more people, New business approaches and marketing. Small Towns Should invest in more their own Marketing and not rely on the state. Not state plan, but localized. towns should in­vest in promoting themselves Ok to come to VT "went "viral + Brought a lot of notoriety. pay you to come here Barbados."

Mission and political pressures

Not good: the 3 party system in VT- Republicans, Democrats, and Progressives. This is not working well. Must have more representation from the middle: Democrats & Moderate Republicans. Need a 4th party in VT. A political party that sits in the middle w/rational people!

Forced Robinhood pressures

Lack of financial incentives

Leadership Roles: There’s an overly Bureaucratic Culture in VT gov’t. There’s a very low level of gov’t performance and need to set a new and higher expectation level for performance Think: “Performance State Government.”

Tax liabilities

Develop an Innovation District that provides state tax breaks for emerging companies.

With the VT Business Roundtable-positive Business Climate. No one takes clear responsibility for that.

Zoning Laws

Get city of Burlington to allow more places to live and change the zoning laws to allow for more places to live in the area.

Manufacturing

State should focus on manufacturing more. This covers a lot and groups could come together to bring more manufacturing into the state. NY Plattsburgh does a lot to bring business there--cheaper, lower taxes and better paying jobs too.



State should focus on Manufacturing More. This Covers a lot Groups come together to bring Manufacturing into the state. NY Plattsburgh, does a lot to bring business there-cheap, lower taxes. Bitter paying jobs too.

Beta Technologies

Young professionals to have a foot foothold and retain them here. Beta technologies is the current the draw for Burlington.

a magnate for engineers

MIT students were here working in Burlington during COVID and the company just signed an agreement with UPS to use the electric aircraft--https://evtol.com/news/beta-technologies-ups-deal-150-evtol-aircraft/.

Growing rapidly

Need many more employees in this area. just not enough workers in VT

There are companies outside of Burlington that are expanding

GS Precision

Finance/Banking/Insurance

Growth opportunities in the financial industry in VT. Most graduates move out of state because they're not aware of local opportunities.

The" greying" of our industry. More recruiting of young people to come to the state.

Captive Insurance

Get younger people to understand the industry and there's a lot of growth here. Need policy makers & desision-makers to get informaition about the growth potential. We can grow outside the traditional Marketplace. Companies & Nonprofits are the Marketplace and we need to be prepared to diversify. Again, greater emphasis on the promotion and education about the Captive VT. Infrastructure: Data and communications are good, but could be better. We'll see more work from home and telecommunting environment if good for the Captive Industry. Need more digital connectivity (broadband) for people living outside of the Burlington area--broadband access.



There’s a lot of growth opportunities in the Captive Industry. We can grow throughout the Economy

Hula Lakeside

Hula living/working Campus

Recreation

Hula Surf Club

Next to the lake and bike path

Housing opportunities

Live and work in a community with young families interested in similar things

6 acre parking lot to be developed on Lakeside

Create a campus where people can live, work, and have childcare in the same vicinity. Hula is in the process of developing such an environment near the main Hula campus on Lakeside.

Incubator/Accelerator

Hula is a great example. People want to work in an environment that offers more job opps. for young people. So many people are making a lot of $ in the big cities, but are miserable with no work/life balance. Companies need to be conscious of people's private lives. Make the supportive atmosphere so that it's great to have flexibility in their lives.

See Change Sessions

H2O

World-wide representation about water resources

Mountain/Snow

Involvement from big ski/snowboard/etc companies. Cause awareness drivers and a magnate for other VT companies to join.

Hula Fund

Fund to help grow and support the VT economy

Need more innovative funds like this

Hula alone has provided $8 million in startup invesments. Over $35 million in leveraged financing.

Access to Capital

Bring money and people together who know how to spend the money. People who know how to spend $ and to also create solutions that "connect the dots." Make more connections for people to engage. Many people want to be more involved--launch a plan to execute more young people's voices to engage in the state tech. Choose one company in the state. Where to start? Decision-makers need to take more action.



A Growth Mindset

New private capital investment and commitment

Some VT businesses can't get local funding, so they move out of state or are bought by outside investors.

Spawn new growth companies

Grow companies to stay

Businesses in VT need to think bigger and want to grow

Private investment into start-ups

A financial Services firm to put capital to work- invest in people and Companies Ideas. leverage Cheap monies for new business.

More Entrepreneurial Investors

Key is unlocking individual capital from high net worth people in the state into liquid capital. More Angel investors in the state. Loosen lender laws b/c capital is in short supply. Double the number of active investors in the state. We see people investing in places like Austin and San Fran., which is great. More Angel Groups, NEED More of those groups. 1.52% of the VT population in that range. More resources to 31 Investor-backed companies in VT. Nationally, 10% of the population are investors. In VT, that's 500 people (currently, only 300-350 active investors).

Create more access to capital. SVCs--Special Vehicles for Capital is one great opportunity. Need more programs for small investors to support new business--$1-5 Million investment opportunities. Lower level qualifications for investors with smaller capital investments. Free that up.

2nd & 3rd round funding

Access to capital Company: finding capitalize companies and get out of the way. Workforce development and more access to Transportation. Close more 2nd and 3rd rounds of investments in VT.

First Round

How to get more access to capital for start-ups. There's a really good infrastructure for funding-A lot of overlap of resources. Entrepreneurs Need to be resilient and have to do their due diligence in order to get access to money--have to work to get it and prove they're able to responsibly use the money. Must have friction in the process Don't Need to any new programs, but get better access to the right people.

Access to capital for both start-ups and business growth. Vermont is a beautiful place to live and work and we need to provide growth funding to keep them here and not have them move out of state to grow.

Angel Funders

Most people work with Registered Financial Advisors, who typically don't recommend investing in start-up companies. Registered Investment Advisors don't learn Entrepreneurial investments and this should be a way for local investors with more high net-worth to invest locally. Need more local investments, but they don't fit into VT regulations. Need more innovation around the regulation processes. Financial-tech innovations are an opportunity for VT. Captive Insurance model.

Need more investors who believe in start-ups

Bank Lending laws

Fix the lending Law in the state and need unfettered access for Bus. Lending Business owners don't need the same level of protection. Legislature Needs to understand diff. between 4 Business & Consumer Lending Laws. Deregulate that.

VEDA--VT Economic Development Authority (funding arm of the state and works with traditional bank loans). They do a good job, but could be a lot more innovative and reach a lot more businesses. They're too traditional and narrow-focused.

Business

Establish or buy a Bank and operate it like Silicon Valley Bank. With more direct capital. Problems can be solved with products to make it happen.

Consumer

VT lending laws are the same for the consumer as they are for business--too stringent.

Lower income Vermonters

Islamic Banking Laws

VT Banks/credit union programs

Opportunities Credit Union?

Sharia Law

Interest-free Lending

No current mechanism for interest-free lending

This is a bottleneck for some Muslim Vermonters

Benefits to Muslim Communities

BIPoC Owned

Business foundation and capital is focussed on white people and mostly men in private companies. Need to help and support New Americans and other BIPoC in business development and support.

BIPoC Communities

VT is a small state and causes a lot of isolation and lonliness. People can feel really isolated here, especially for BIPOC people who're not near their familiar race. Descrimination is harming people and affecting their mental and physical health. Feeling alone in a small state and not connected. Childcare is another issue. People who ask where you're from immediately and that makes you feel like you don't belong--not always intentional, but it's difficult. People are not aware of cultural issues, but it hurts. BIPOC people feel it every day.

Positive ways to build credit for employees

Income Advancement Programs

Rhino Foods, Inc.

Business expansions

Entrepreneurship opps

There's a lot of advice and support for startups

Diversity/Equity/Inclusion

Workforce opportunities
BlPoC entrepreneurship & land ownership opportunities. A lot of opportunities here in agriculture. Welcoming place for all people. Create a welcoming community for all BIPoC people. Housing Conservation Board is working and many people want to do this.
Businesses in VT need to focus on unique products and ones that empower people. Make more unique things and draw from the BIPOC community. Need more access to capital to start new business and opportunities for people to grow in companies/orgs. VT focuses too much on what is already working and letting it be--not growing. Need to focus on new and unique opportunities, so people will stay, especially with the new Federal monies--$1 billion relief bill to the state.
BIPOC people are not increasing their wages and getting ahead and it also gets politicized. Wages are too low and growing more difficult this affects all demographics--college, non-college, english speaking and non-english speaking alike. Non-english speaking are at a distinct disadvantage here. Age is also an issue--older BIPOC people non-english speaking is very difficult
Hire people and train the workforce that reflects the community you're serving. Train and adapt to the community that's local. Serve the community: 1. workforce training. 2. Community focussed. 3. Changes need to made to reflect the community.
Women Leadership
The drop-out rate of mid-career women is a major problem in the workforce (gender). Women fighting for a place at the table. Very few women at the top now in VT. There's a lot of Experience going out the door. VT is doing a lot for young women, but not for older women when there’re limited leadership opportunities at the top--even for the most progressive companies. VT also needs to attract more racial diversity and equity.
Rural setting
BIPoC Safety concerns

Need to promote the "Black Farming Program," but black people don't feel safe when they're the only people of color in some rural areas. Sometimes this is only a matter of lack of awareness or education.

Lack of awareness/education

People who ask where you're from immediately and that makes you feel like you don't belong--not always intentional, but it's difficult.

Welcome environment
Welcoming community for the BIPoC community. More black farmers encouraged and there are excellent incentive and financing programs, but they don't feel safe living and working in more rural areas
Some people are not aware of cultural issues; they don't intend to say the wrong thing, but it hurts--"where are you from?" BIPOC people feel it every day.
BIPOC Community
VT is a small state and causes a lot of isolation and loneliness. People can feel really isolated here, especially for BIPoC people who're not near their familiar race. Discrimination is harming people and affecting their mental and physical health. Feeling alone in a small state and not connected is very difficult. Childcare is another major issue for people of color.
Education
VT must include migration. Have a lot of DEI work to do should be embedded more in education. Broader demographics. BIPoC Community--$ to flow to diverse populations to VT, otherwise they will leave and not thrive here.
LGBTQ+ Youth and Families
Demographics differ and there's no LGBTQ+ industry-specific solution. No one size fits all model with very different experiences for families. Pandemic has been tough. It's put a big "Magnafine glass" on things and showed the issues in VT. We know what works, just weed the capacity to do it.
We must have more celebration and positive role models adults! Focus on Joy and celebration and not the negative narratives.
GSAs

GSA -Gender & Sexuality Alliance in' the Schools (need more of these organizations in the schools). Also there should be a genderless Dress Code. More training for Adults in the Schools. Is the environment inclusive? Hard to balance the narratives around suicide and bullying. More perspectives and stories that doesn't just focus on the harm and negativity. There must be more joy and celebration.

Curriculum in Schools

All school Curricula that doesn't teach one genetic understanding. A world where you’re celebrated for who you are. Deep Skill-building about Accountability.

Need more training for teens transitioning and/or coming out.

Trans support

Garments

Certain garments are needed for young trans people. Need more access to undergarments needed for students going through transition. School Nurses should have all the necessary garments available.

VT Demographics
Diversity and inclusion. Need more people of color moving to VT. This can make our state so much richer and more interesting with a wide range of experiences and perspectives. VT businesses realize this too.
94% white in VT. Need to draw more people of color to VT. Diversity in VT with NEW Americans' arrival is very good. Need more people of color coming to the State. Working from home is an opportunity for greater diversification of all areas within companies in the state.

Childcare Needs

K-12 Education
Use Ed. funding & property tax to span a broader spectrum of people. K-14 funding and legislate more policies to support it. Legalize pot and tax it--put money to educational purposes. Work with companies of 25 employees or less and provide ed. expenses to all employees. Tax credits for companies to collaborate w/ other small companies & share resources.
Need to create high quality summer education programs for students who've slipped behind b/c of COVID so they can catch-up.
Start a private school in the St. Albans/Burlington area for top talented kids in the area who wouldn’t normally have access to high quality education.
Schools-need better schools + the ways we're evaluating our young people. Low quality of education. Need higher income people to work and stay here and they will be looking for a better education for their kids. Also need better broadband throughout the whole state for better Internet service.
Challenging to raise money. Need to partner w/a private sector company. Band together and provide more quality education. This will better meet the needs of people.
More private schools with safety and higher academic standards in the Burlington Area. A lot problems in the current high schools, especially for BIPOC population.
Importance of long-term needs
Universal child care issues and these are often supported by White upper/middle income for childcare. This begs the questiion: Whose Values are pushing forward in our policies?
Everyone should have access to high quality childcare.
Everybody needs to understand the Value of Early childhood enrichment and the downstream effect on. When grown-up, they will be contributing members of society.
The pandemic has unearthed the need for universal child care.
More private sector support
Work more locally with larger global companies--Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and so many others. Could we develop a pilot project in the state to be an incubator to get broadband access and training throughout the state. Need more high-quality childcare workers--educational training and create a model for the state where companies can be more competitive and develop ways to do it.
Child care access... how can we partner with private and public groups for staff and faculty (UVM)? There are significant limitations. The pandemic showed it even more. Can we provide support the shortage with students to address this issue? We need higher quality childcare from birth to 3 yrs old.
Lack of child care providers
Child care-Need to have children and their needs met. Shortage of early high-quality educators. There're not enough of those people to fill the classrooms. This creates a "ripple effect" and then more workforce opportunities. This leads to professions of mostly women in low wage jobs. We must lift up an entire workforce. Addressing a particular need for a workforce. Not enough people to do the work and we need to attract more people to the state and w/great child care options. Need 1000 more people in the field of early child care profession. We need to create more pathways for young people to enter the field.
Lack of childcare centers
Pilot opportunity for private capital investment. Introduce technology solutions to help in our child care orgs. with one portal for resources and more shared-resource information. Use all the administrative solutions resources to support child care. Innovations must live permanently for the future to be scaled-up. "Wonderschool" platform is great but and more incentives could be helpful.
Young family needs
Women's Engagement a participation in the economy. How are the systems set-up in the economy & engage in the workforce.? Sacrifice in order to make it to the top. Need to support families more. There's the Message to women is that “you can do it all,” but that's not realistic.
Children need more support from lower socioeconomic status. People are working 2+ jobs to make ends meet. Need to collaborate more effectively. Typically rural communities get lower support.
Single parents

Difficult to find child care, especially during the pandemic. A single parent without support, has to work. What if they can't work remotely?

Higher Cost of Living

Opportunity Gaps
The opportunity gap-disparities. Broadband and more access to Internet. There are many Pressure points & need to relieve the pressure. Set-up people for more success and close the income gap and the political spectrum.
In VT, there's a big difference between those who have, those who do not . State can do a lot to fix it. There needs to be a lot of “tent poles” to hold-up the programs to do good in VT and help the economy. There's a lot of good going on and still a lot to fix. Tent-poles to hold it up.
Age/regional Demographics. Socio-economic differences in different areas of the state. All regions need different things. Age and classism: rural farmer vs. Chittenden County people. Educated vs. non-educated.
Limited opportunities for poorer people in VT. There are many opps to benefit the upper socioeconomic people and don't Benefit people on the lower end of the spectrum. There's a parity of classes and there’s a widening of the “haves” and “have nots.” Income disparity is an issue and more property owners coming from out of state. Wealthier people have more access to land, housing, and other opportunities in VT.
Demographics-gap in VT. There are two Vermonts--those who have and those who don't. Not many people have the opportunity to get ahead, then there are some who don't have the skills & who're not motivated at the same time. Opportunity: How to bridge the skills gap?
Climate & Sustainability in Vermont
Regulation

The gov't finds ways for new regulatory measures and policies around climate change. Many gov't leaders and legislators are out of touch about what's really needed to help working VTers.

Innovation

VT needs to be a leader of progressive Policies political/environmental issues.

Migration

There could be many Climate refugees coming to VT in the future and we should be ready for that.

Opportunities to attract more "climate refugees" wanting to move to VT.

Economic Costs of Climate Policies

Look at the economy in a rational way to address climate change and activate the economic platform for greater opportunities.

It’s great that VT wants to focus on Social Missions and climate change initiatives, but we don't have the resources to spend money on a lot of cultural/environmental initiatives at the sacrifice of new job creation. We can't afford everything and develop new programs in the state. We’re too small to spend all our available resources to be the leader in Carbon Natural policies. It’s important, but we can't afford to do everything right now.

Gov't Support
These issues affects everyone. Middle income families can't find housing and adequate income jobs--expensive to live here. There are a lot of programs and support for low-income people. Many middle income people move out of state b/c can find a job of equal pay, but the living costs are much cheeper outside of VT (NC). We're losing a lot of skilled workers and people this way.
Gov't help build more apartments for both market value and income based needs. Rebuild old buildings & turn into new for mixed use a mixed income: look @Winooski. Good example with great leadership and vision: Champlain Housing Trust is doing a lot of great stuff. Help to buy first home. Buy first home, but selling needs to sell back at same price--not a good incentive.
Gov't Regulation
Business in VT: Makes it difficult for small business to survive and grow here-too much regulation and taxation. There's too much emphasis on worker rights & employer is always liable.
Rural VT
Cost of eating healthy is very expensive. Natural/organic costs are higher. Rural Communities don't have as much access to healthy foods. Healthy foods and working remotely is great for VT-to live here and work from home.
Limited housing availability

A lot of fixer uppers, many homes are too far gone to be repaired

Limited inventory to buy

limited rental units

The cost of living is high and tough for people to make a living. In Rural VT, there’s no housing and there’s a lot of child care needs, both of which are not being met.
No industrial base
VT has the most number of nonprofits registered in the state per capita outside of Wash., DC.
High taxes and fees
Legislators too focused on social issues and climate change initiatives and they don't understand the economy. The challenges are there are just not enough people in the state and there’s no tax base to grow the economy.
Scarcity mentality: There's not enough of a tax base and is coming-up short in the State Budget year-to-year. Always big holes in the budget and the legislature keeps pushes it down the river. Tax base does not suffice for the jobs we have. Need to have if for more jobs to create more taxes & vice versa.
Property Taxes

Very high prop tax as a way for gov't to make up for lack of industrial tax base.

Agency of Natural Resources and also fix Act 250 and other public policy issues. State is too regulatory. Need consistency around the Act 250 process and the Zoning process: too onerous, difficult to navigate.
Energy Costs
If employers are have employees who are in low quality housing, they could provide weatherproofing assisting & offer low-cost housing, like Housing Vermont. Pass bonds to pay for new housing?
A lot of economic inequities, food security issues, fuel security issues (home heating), housing issues.
Lower Salaries ($55k)
Raise minimum wage in VT = $15.
Better livable wage jobs for all and there are too many young people leaving the state.
There are many sub-groups who're in conflict. Young Vermonters want more jobs and growth opportunities and want more pathways for growth. But with low salaries and wages, one cannot afford to live here.
Cost of living: needs to be affordable and need to be able to save. Need to have safe shelter & housing. Better jobs to be able to pay expenses and save money at the same time. Most of my earnings go to pay for living expenses.
VT needs a lower cost of living, build more affordable housing in downtown areas to access work. Higher wages so you can have money leftover after paying bills.
There are a lot of jobs, but the cost of living is also very high. What are the economic drivers for people living there?