Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Curtiss Reed, Jr., executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity in Brattleboro.
In its strategic plan for economic development the Vermont Department of Economic Development tells us that 98 percent of Vermont’s business activity is attributed to small- and medium-size businesses. Politicians and state agencies tell us small businesses are the engines of economic growth. Anecdotal evidence tells us that the vast majority of small business owners not born in Vermont came here first as tourists, fell in love with the state and subsequently moved themselves, their families and their capital here.
Demographers report that 60 percent of us adopted Vermont as our home of residence from some other place in the United States or from around the world, and that 31 percent of our population growth from 2000 to 2010 was due to ethnic and racial minorities whose numbers more than doubled over the same period.
While the economic data and outlook are applauded, the changing racial and ethnic profile of Vermont is being met with outright consternation in far too many places. The ill-informed claim that ethnic and racial minorities suckle at the teat of public welfare bringing drugs, and crime to our bucolic landscape. While every racial group has its fair share of the economically distressed and those who engage in criminal behavior, there are plenty of indicators to suggest that Vermont’s racial minorities are contributing to Vermont’s economic success.
When you compare the US Census Bureau 2007 population estimates to its Economic Census of 2007 you discover that 17 percent of Vermont’s minority population owned businesses versus only 12 percent of Vermont’s white population. When you tease out Vermont’s 94,000 school-aged children from the general population estimates, you find that 23 percent of Vermont’s minority adult population owned businesses versus 14 percent for white adults. There are nearly 2,600 self employed minorities and minority-owned firms employ an additional 6,800 individuals. This combined minority business activity employed more people than the population of Barre or Middlebury or Montpelier. And while this is a small share of the state’s overall business activity, this activity is by no means insignificant in a state economy where every job and dollar counts. The next economic census will take place in 2012.
We believe Vermont’s tourism industry, led by the State of Vermont, must aggressively market Vermont as a destination for the growing number of ethnic and racial minority tourists. Let us not forget that in 2042 the United States will become a “minority” majority nation. One of the tenets of marketing is that the consumer must visualize himself or herself using the product. Advertisers assist with this visualization by populating their ads with people who look like their prospective consumers. Vermont’s tourism industry should seize the opportunity of creating this imagery for the growing multicultural marketplace.
Showcasing Vermont’s minority agricultural producers and processors, innkeepers, restaurant owners, skiers, bicyclists, hikers and other outdoor enthusiasts on the official Vermont tourism website would send a powerful message to the prospective minority tourist. Similarly, private tour operators and the state tourism bureau could promote bus or bicycle heritage tours to at least a dozen or so places of historical interest to African American history buffs. Over time, these small investments could reap large dividends for our local economies.
It would stand to reason that if the state attracted more minority tourists and they were well received there would be a greater chance of minority entrepreneurs moving here to create jobs. The bottom line is that minorities in Vermont, on a per capita basis, are more prone to start businesses and that is in our collective best economic interest.
