[B]ARRE — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter outlined an economic development strategy Monday that centers on investment and innovation.
The former transportation secretary used downtown Barre as her backdrop to call for a more coordinated effort when the state invests in communities.
The six-year-long revitalization of Barre, she said, was a great success and an exception, with a $19 million public investment in improvements to the streets and other infrastructure leveraging $45 million in private investment. Too often, she said, transportation projects and community development projects and grants do not align in timing.
If elected, Minter promised that under her InvestVT program her administration would identify three communities needing a targeted economic stimulus. She said downtown Newport, where a revitalization plan has stalled because of alleged fraud by the developers, was a likely candidate.
She said InvestVT would not require any new money, just a rescheduling of existing plans once the targeted communities are identified.
“Vermonters have always found a way to do more with less,” Minter said at a news conference as trucks periodically roared by on North Main Street. “InvestVT will follow this model by using existing funds” from state programs along with private and philanthropic investment.
The second half of her economic development strategy, she said, would focus on innovation and encouraging entrepreneurs. Her program InnovateVT would focus on clean energy and efficiency; farm and forestland production; the tech sector and next-generation manufacturing.
Minter said she would set up task forces in each sector to recommend specific strategies to add jobs. Those proposed strategies and goals, she said, would be the focus of a statewide summit of innovators who would hone those ideas into specific recommendations for state government to follow.
Minter is one of three Democrats seeking the nomination. Former Google executive Matt Dunne and former diplomat Peter Galbraith are also running. Lt. Gov. Phil Scott and former Wall Street executive Bruce Lisman are competing for the Republican nomination.
Dunne has laid out an economic development strategy on his website. Galbraith has been critical of incentive programs designed to keep high-paying jobs from leaving the state, saying the incentives don’t work.
Minter, a longtime resident of Waterbury and former state representative, was praised for her leadership in the revitalization of her community, before and after Tropical Storm Irene. In addition to her work in the community, Minter served as the state’s chief recovery officer after the storm, a position she touts as a key example of her leadership.
Bridgeside Books owner Hiata DeFeo praised Minter and the community’s efforts in Waterbury before and after Irene, which hit in 2011. Now, she said, it’s a thriving community.
“We’re known for amazing restaurants, our fantastic shopping, arts too, and, of course, we have some pretty good beer,” DeFeo said. “Sue’s been a wonderful leader in Waterbury.”
Former Montpelier Mayor Mary Hooper, now a state representative, applauded Minter’s work as a city planner on an effort to revitalize downtown Montpelier.
Regarding Newport and the controversy around the EB-5 investment program that brought hundreds of millions in investment to the Northeast Kingdom, Minter said she was not sure the program should be continued. While the program has brought jobs, Minter said “the recent fraud allegations have made it clear that we need to take a hard look to see whether it’s the right program for Vermont moving forward.”
Minter also introduced the idea of social impact bonds, where investors receive a repayment based on the achievement of specific outcomes. She made those comments in the context of talking about the state’s opiate addiction problem, which has led to a rise in the number of children taken into state custody by the Department for Children and Families.
During her comments, Minter paid tribute to Lara Sobel, a DCF caseworker shot and killed last year near the site of the news conference, allegedly by a woman who was upset she had lost custody of her child.
