Spotlight Vermont 2021

Lower Salaries ($55k)

There are a lot of jobs, but the cost of living is also very high. What are the economic drivers for people living there?

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.

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.

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.

Better livable wage jobs for all and there are too many young people leaving the state.

Raise minimum wage in VT = $15.

Energy Costs

A lot of economic inequities, food security issues, fuel security issues (home heating), housing issues.

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?

High taxes and fees

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.

Property Taxes

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

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.

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.

No industrial base

VT has the most number of nonprofits registered in the state per capita outside of Wash., DC.

Rural VT

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.

Limited housing availability

limited rental units

Limited inventory to buy

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

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.

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.

Gov't Support

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.

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.

Climate & Sustainability in Vermont

Economic Costs of Climate Policies

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.

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

Migration

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

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

Innovation

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

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.

Opportunity Gaps

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Young family needs

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

More private sector support

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.

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.

Importance of long-term needs

The pandemic has unearthed the need for universal child care.

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.

Everyone should have access to high quality childcare.

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?

K-12 Education

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.

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.

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.

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.

Need to create high quality summer education programs for students who've slipped behind b/c of COVID so they can catch-up.

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.

VT Demographics

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.

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.

LGBTQ+ Youth and Families

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.

Curriculum in Schools

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

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.

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.

We must have more celebration and positive role models adults! Focus on Joy and celebration and not the negative narratives.

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.

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.

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.

Welcome environment

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.

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

Rural setting

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.

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.

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.

Workforce opportunities

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.

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

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.

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.