Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Michael Dunbar, who is a partner in the Middlebury Fence Co. He lives in New Haven.
I moved to Vermont to work for IBM after graduating from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a B.S. in mechanical engineering. I fell in love with Vermont immediately — swimming and boating on the lake, hiking and snowboarding in the mountains, enjoying live music in Burlington, VSO concerts at Shelburne Farms. It was obvious to me that this was the place I wanted to live and raise a family.
I first realized the impact of state politics when IBM announced it would be building a $2.5 billion, state-of-the-art 300mm semiconductor facility. The two top locations being considered were Essex Junction and East Fishkill, N.Y.
If you have ever known an engineer, you understand that new gadgets and leading edge technology are what we thrive on. Needless to say, there were thousands of Vermont IBM employees relying on our state leaders to convince IBM that Vermont was the obvious place to invest $2.5 billion. We all know the end of this story — while New York was offering incentives to invest in their state, Vermont offered higher utility costs and staggering regulation preventing needed infrastructure improvements such as the Circ Highway. Our leaders gave IBM a clear message that they did not want the investment.
Over the next several years, many engineers, technicians, maintenance experts and operators moved from Vermont to New York. I chose to stay in Vermont with hopes that there would be other opportunities to keep me here. Engineering was a passion of mine, but I also always wanted to own and run my own business. In 2003, I left IBM and did just that — I acquired a bankrupt contracting business and have been building it back into a thriving small business.
Running a small business in Vermont has taught me many lessons and has enabled me to learn firsthand how tough it can be to grow a business in Vermont. It is clear that the majority of Vermonters want to keep Vermont looking beautiful — its rivers, lakes and streams clean — and have it continue to be the wonderful place we all want to live. The key to this equation is how to keep the feel and look everyone is striving for but not restrict growth to the point where businesses can’t grow, hire new employees, upgrade equipment or provide health insurance. Growth is healthy and a necessity for any thriving business, city, town, state and country.
Vermont’s latest growth numbers are very concerning. In a recent article in Vermont Business Magazine, all 50 states were ranked by export growth from 2010-2011. Vermont was ranked 49th with a -1.1 percent. Without growth, companies cannot hire. Between 2000 and 2009, the Vermont economy lost 4,100 jobs. Without well-paying jobs, population growth becomes stagnant. Since 2000, Vermont’s population has grown a total of 2.8 percent. This translates to an annual growth rate of less than .3 percent. Comparatively, the U.S. grew by 9.7 percent in the same time period.
It is clear that the next generation of business and public leaders are leaving Vermont for better opportunities elsewhere. Vermont has one of the oldest populations in the nation. Between 2000 and 2008, the two age groups with the largest percent increase were 55-64 and over 65. (All of this information is from a Vermont economic and demographic profile 2011).
As a hard-working, proud Vermonter, I am very concerned about the future of Vermont and have been looking to our state leaders for commonsense solutions. I have searched high and low and have found a team that I believe can help move Vermont in the right direction — Campaign for Vermont. I first learned of them from a radio ad several months ago and immediately visited their website. I quickly realized that CFV partners were already working on the very issues that I am concerned about!
What I found even more encouraging is that CFV does not have any political affiliation. It’s not a campaign for office … it’s a campaign for Vermont! No politics … just commonsense solutions for very real problems. While our elected state officials were debating hydrofracking — even though Vermont does not have any natural gas — the CFV team was working on real issues. I encourage you to check out what the CFV team is doing to get Vermont growing again. I think you’ll be impressed.
