Anthony Edwards / Staff Photo
Businesses and organizations from around the
state gathered at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland for an economic
development conference on Monday.
The daylong conference at the Paramount Theatre was billed as the state’s first Economic Development Summit.
The conference examined a half-dozen issues, including workforce development, leveraging Vermont’s brand, global competitiveness, infrastructure, finding a balance between development and the environment, and encouraging entrepreneurship.
Mark Waterhouse, of the Garnet Consulting Service, gave the 170 attendees a primer on what constitutes a comprehensive economic development strategy, or CEDS, and why devising such a plan is important to the state’s future.
Waterhouse said a statewide economic blueprint is important in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene and to better prepare the state to cope with disasters.
Although rare, he said, a comprehensive strategy will more importantly “position the state of Vermont very attractively and competitively for future economic development.”
He also said a CEDS isn’t a one-shot deal that involves the public and private sectors.
“It is supposed to be a continuing process,” he said. “You just don’t do this now and stop planning for another 20 years.”
Having a CEDS will also make priority projects eligible for federal Economic Development Administration grants and could make those projects eligible for additional federal and state funding.
As an example of how the marketplace has changed, Waterhouse shared data that showed the number of major projects in the U.S. declined from 12,529 in 2000 to just 5,580 last year. In Vermont, there were 62 such projects built during that period that met one of three criteria: at least $1 million in capital investment, creation of 50 or more jobs, or at least 20,000 square feet.
Even more ominous is what Waterhouse called the Baxter effect. Baxter is a $22,000 utility robot that can be set up in one hour, runs on open source software, and is projected to eliminate up to 30 million U.S. jobs over the next 10 years.
A sister robot, called Patty, can make, cook and package hamburgers for the fast food industry, potentially eliminating some of the lowest-paying jobs, he said.
The state hired Garnet Consulting to coordinate the CEDS, which is expected to take up to 12 months to complete.
Workforce development was a major issue during the first of two panel discussions.
“For us, we have to have highly skilled and highly motivated people,” said Tommy Harmon, president and CEO of Sonnax Industries in Bellows Falls. “And in southeastern Vermont, it’s just hard to find those people.”
Harmon said what’s needed in the long term is for Vermont to become a leader in early education. He also expressed frustration with Act 250, calling the review of two expansions “slow and tedious.”
He said the frustration almost led the company to relocate the second expansion to Tennessee. Vermont won out only when the Ben & Jerry’s warehouse in Bellows Falls became available, said Harmon, whose company makes parts for the automotive aftermarket.
On the positive side, Harmon praised the Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center for its lean manufacturing workforce training program. He also said Vermont is a leader when it comes to employee-owned businesses. Sonnax made the transition to becoming a company owned by its workers through an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP.
The workforce problem was also noted by Steve Arms, who started and later sold MicroStrain, a high-tech company in Williston.
Arms, who has gone on to start Swarms Ventures, said there are ways companies can enhance workforce training including the use of paid internships and co-op programs.
Another panelist, Joe Fusco, of Casella Waste Systems, said a company the size of Casella has a relatively easy time doing business in the state. But he said smaller companies that don’t have the same resources often struggle to make ends meet. And he said that should concern everyone.
“Our challenges as a business are that person’s challenges as a business,” Fusco said. “We do not grow, we do not thrive, unless that kind of business — small businesses, family businesses, businesses that employ 10 or less people in the state — thrive as well.”
Fusco said Vermont has as many resources, if not more, than other states, including easy access to state officials.
When it comes to branding, Fusco said, “Vermont’s brand is anti-business, the way Apple’s brand is anti-technology.”
By that, Fusco said, both have a way of doing business that is different but successful.
“Vermont’s brand is this to me: Come here, lead differently, live differently and profit differently,” he said. “I think that is very different from what the rest of the world is doing.”
Smugglers’ Notch Resort owner Bill Stritzler, whose branding experience includes stints with Wells Fargo and AT&T, said money alone won’t solve a problem unless the behavior changes. He said that if in fact Vermont is a good place to do business, then the state “should tell the world” in a very focused way.
Gov. Peter Shumlin opened the conference signing a bill, H.337, that will help reduce the cost of new housing developments around the state’s downtowns and village centers. Among its provisions, the bill makes it easier for cities and towns to redevelop blighted properties.
Shumlin and Green Mountain Power President and CEO Mary Powell singled out Rutland for its redevelopment efforts. Shumlin noted the resurgence in manufacturing jobs around the state, including the local GE Aviation plants.
GMP’s new downtown Energy Innovation Center on Merchants Row has already served as a magnet for three other businesses, said Powell, whose company sponsored the conference.
Comment: The following quote says it all, "Vermont’s brand is anti-business,".
Vito
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