Member Spotlights

Updates from Montpelier

A LOOK AT THE SESSION AHEAD (Courtesy of LCCOC)

CONTINUED PANDEMIC RELIEF This global pandemic is taking its toll on everything. It will require the legislature to be supportive where they can while also causing no undue friction in the Vermont economy, which is already burdened. The pandemic will be approaching its second year as they begin legislating, and we’re on our second variant. Who knows what can happen…

The Vermont Bridge Grant program designed to provide relief to businesses has a great deal of funding still available that has not been allocated due to stringent and burdensome criteria. In addition, some $25 million was promised for the second tranche of funds in that program this session.

PER-PUPIL WEIGHTING STUDY A legislative task force was established at the end of the last session to unravel, understand, and provide suggestions on how to improve Vermont’s incredibly complex school funding formulas. It’s an issue so needlessly complex it can bore you to tears if it doesn’t put you to sleep first. Still, it will have massive implications on the future of Vermont schools. It is becoming more and more apparent that the more urban schools, particularly those in the Chittenden County region, have the most at stake. These towns have the most diverse populations and the highest tax rates in the state. The Agency of Education published a calculator to evaluate the impact on your town.

SIGNIFICANT, SYSTEMIC ISSUES; HOUSING, CHILDCARE, & WORKFORCE The third is caused by the first two, and any conversation to remedy the third inevitably becomes a discussion over the first two.

Housing will be contingent upon legislators not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. There are good, ubiquitously agreed-upon changes that can be made in policy, such as Act 250, which would drive more development to downtowns. This was recently called for the Climate Action Plan due to the Global Warming Solutions Act. However, it has failed to move the past three sessions due to the instance of some environmental groups that what is needed is a “balanced bill, ” meaning that it would need to do things to make development harder outside of downtowns. We need a win for affordable housing and a win for the environment where we can get it, and there is no reason we see to stall these downtown provisions any longer by holding them hostage for the other conditions.

Childcare may see some movement around the margins to assist in workforce issues; however, the hefty price ticket item (hundreds of millions of dollars in funding) will be in the next legislative session in the next legislative biennium. Much of this will also likely be dependent on what happens in Washington D.C. as the Build Back Better would make massive federal investments in childcare and early childhood education.

Workforce development is a complicated topic, as we alluded to above because it is other structural deficits in Vermont that have created our workforce issues. It’s clear that the cavalry is not coming; we just don’t have enough people in the state to meet our workforce demands, we can’t easily recruit them to come here because of housing issues, we can’t pull some people back in due to childcare issues, and we do not have enough young people even coming out of school to meet our needs. Simply put, a conversation about workforce development really needs to be about how to best assist employers with the workers they do have, automate where possible, and deal with other deficits in the Vermont landscape. That said, this year may see changes in the CTE system LCC has long advocated for, and the State College’s were the subject of a summer study committee that has sought to restructure the system to meet Vermont needs.

Member Spotlights

Member Since 1989

Member Since 1983

Member Since 2013 Member Since 2013

Member Since 1982

Member Since 2019

Every month "Around the Chamber" features six ACCOC members for recognition. Members who would like to be considered for future issues should contact Executive Director Phil Summers at phil@addisoncounty.com

Member Benefit Updates

ACCOC has been upgrading all of our digital platforms to provide more promotional opportunities for our members!

With over 6,000 monthly visitors, Addisoncounty.com is a dynamic way for our members to reach their target audiences

New "Top of the Fold" banner positions are available to members as well as enhanced social media promotional opportunities and paid and free positions in our monthly magazine

For information on how to take advantage of your member benefits within our digital platforms, contact: phil@addisoncounty.com

Welcome to Addison County Experience all that Vermont has to offer.

Highlights of Membership in the Addison County Chamber

JOIN US!

Employee Education – we host monthly seminars on topics including

social media, Google Analytics, SEO, employee benefits plans, ownership succession, worker’s comp, cybersecurity and much more. All member employees attend at no charge.

Access to Insurance – through our partnership with other

Vermont Chambers and VACEplus, we offer excellent dental and vision insurance at discounted prices.

Events – we help draw customers to our area through downtown

festivals, athletic events, specialty events and sponsorship of other organization’s events.

Tourism – we run the Visitor’s Center which houses maps, brochures

and information to direct tourists and locals to our businesses, nonprofits, historical sites, and the vast natural resources of our county. We also refer our members extensively.

Business Advocacy – we provide legislative updates for our

members during the session, sponsor the Addison County legislative breakfasts, host legislative and gubernatorial candidate forums, and speak up for businesses.

Marketing – with more than 60,000 visitors to our website

annually, we provide members with a strong presence in search, plus a place to post events, member discounts and job openings. We also promote our members through our monthly E-magazine which reaches thousands of business leaders and others in the community. We provide our members discounted advertising opportunities in the Addison County Guide and through paid advertising in our E-magazine and website.

Networking – we help organizations connect through our monthly

mixers, seminars, referrals, and introductions.

Coming Next Month

- Behind the Scenes - Focus on Non-Profits - New Member Closeup - Community/Member Highlights - Updates from Montpelier - and more!!

Officers Robert Feuerstein, Kennedy Brothers (Chair) Bethany Dever, Dever Accounting Services (Treasurer) Meaghan McLaughlin, National Bank of Middlebury (Secretary) Adam Rainville, Maple Landmark (Past Chair) Phil Summers, ACCOC (Executive Director) Directors Dickie Austin, Black Sheep Bistro Amy Carlin: Middlebury College Gretchen Cotell, Hannaford Career Center Nancy Foster, Champlain Valley Properties Justin Hescock, Putnam & Menard, PLC Ned Horton, Otter Creek Bakery and Deli Marty Kulczyk, Robert Frost Mountain Cabins Megan Mandigo, Marble Trail Financial

Article IV, Section D Designate Directors Karen Duguay, Better Middlebury Partnership Kate Bentley, Bristol Core Robert Feuerstein, Addison County Economic Development Corp. Renny Perry, Vergennes Partnership Bill Sayre, Addison County Regional Planning Commission