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A Presentation by David R. Coates, Retired KPMG Partner at the Vermont Business Roundtable's Annual Membership Meeting on January 14, 2009
Many of today's visitors to Smugglers' Notch Resort are too young to remember when Gov. Phil Hoff's administration launched their enormously successful "beckoning country" campaign in the 1960s. Their actions threw open the state's doors to down-country people yearning for fresh air, open space and a slower pace of life. They came in droves back then, and they still do today. This influx of visitors generates an economic bonanza, bringing in over $1.5 billion per year to this state and supporting over 33,000 jobs.
Paul Cillo may be correct in his recent article (School Funding Far from "Broken") when he describes the Education Fund as "it ain't broke.” But, I would suggest that the General and Transportation Funds are just about on life support due in large part to our high level of mandatory educational-related expenditures.
Read Full Op Ed Here
(South Burlington, Vt.) The chief executives of Vermont’s leading businesses seem cautious over sales prospects and employment levels for the spring and summer when compared to their fourth quarter 2008 forecasts, and they are unlikely to make broad capital investments. But the attitude of the business community appears to have stabilized. The mood was assessed at the end of the first quarter and released today by Vermont Business Roundtable Chair Bill Stritzler and President Lisa Ventriss.
Read Full Press Release Here
South Burlington, VT – Vermont Business Roundtable President Lisa Ventriss and Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies President David Bradbury have announced a new collaborative effort to strengthen the entrepreneurial vigor among next-generation Vermont business leaders. This announcement coincides with the kick-off of the Roundtable’s new Emergent Leaders Group, which is scheduled for April 7.
For a few years now, Vermonters have said that we prefer to invest in renewable energy, efficiency programs, a reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions, and stably priced reliable power. But despite those opinions, and with our biggest source of clean, reliable, and affordable electricity – Vermont Yankee - having, according to some experts, only a 50/50 chance of being relicensed this year, we can see that the previous era of having the lowest electric rates in New England and cleanest air in the country is coming to a close.
Rising mandatory expenditures in the state of Vermont mean that there are less discretionary dollars to support important programs to serve needy Vermonters. And in these difficult economic times, that is unfortunate news indeed. Yet, these “promises” made to certain constituencies must be kept. At issue, however, between debt service, retirement plans for state employees and teachers, and other post-employment benefits, is that those promises have become unsustainable. It is time to recognize the nature and severity of the problem and begin talking about how to change from the path we’re on.
Even before the current recession hit, job growth in Vermont had slowed - and much of the existing growth was concentrated in Chittenden County.
Those are among the findings in the recent "Vermont in Transition" study conducted by the Center for Social Science Research at St. Michael's College for the Council on the Future of Vermont.
http://www.vpr.net/episode/45581/
http://www.vpr.net/flash/audio_player/audio_player.php?id=27800
(Approved by the Board of Directors on February 9, 2009)
Prepared for the Vermont Department for Children and Families by Nancy K. Cauthen, Deputy Director; Kinsey Alden Dinan, Senior Policy Associate; Michelle Chau, Research Analyst
National Center for Children in Poverty
Mailman School of Public Health
olumbia University
Vermont Business Roundtable
69 Swift Street, Suite 300, South Burlington, VT 05403
contact@vtroundtable.org | p: 802.865.0410 | f: 802.865.0662
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