Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ben Jickling, an independent candidate for state representative in the Orange-Washington-Addison district, which serves Randolph, Brookfield, Braintree, Roxbury and Granville.
[I]t’s no secret the demographics of Vermont are changing. We see it in our shrinking schools, aging population and decreasing workforce. Our median age has become one of the highest in the nation, and a perennially low birth rate has led to a lack of young Vermonters working and living in the state, especially outside Chittenden County.
The consequences of these trends have recently become the popular subject of the Vermont political dialogue. While many candidates and politicians are quick to highlight the pressing nature of the problem, far fewer offer in-depth solutions. It’s easy to dismiss it as simply due to high property taxes, the lack of jobs or millennials in general, but these conclusions alone are naïvely incomplete. It’s a complicated and multifaceted problem that requires thoughtful analysis, practical ideas and targeted reform.
I choose to focus on three specific areas to begin toward a solution. Change will not come overnight, but these steps can begin to reverse the worrying trends and their impact on Vermont.
It’s easy to dismiss it as simply due to high property taxes, the lack of jobs or millennials in general, but these conclusions alone are naïvely incomplete.
First, we need to thoughtfully reform our technical education curriculum. It’s important to bolster the technical education system and streamline the connection between our 17 technical schools, local certification programs and colleges like Vermont Technical College. By promoting dual enrollment credits and fully integrating apprentice and other training programs into technical curriculums, we can equip students with value-added skills and keep them working good-paying jobs in Vermont.
Additionally, it’s important to invest in collaborative partnerships with local businesses and flourishing 21st century industries such as renewable energy and high-tech manufacturing. These relationships will help match students with potentially lucrative jobs and provide businesses with smart and well-trained employees.
For those students choosing to attend a traditional four-year school, we should capitalize on the University of Vermont’s location in the midst of a flourishing Chittenden County economy and institute a co-op program. Structured similarly to the Northeastern University model, students would spend a semester as an intern for local business. Businesses would get dependable help as well as an opportunity to vet potential employees. Students would benefit by learning valuable real-world skills and networking for employment after their college career.
By building ties between the college population and local businesses, we can provide a trained and skilled labor force for our businesses and foster close student ties that will encourage them to remain in Vermont after graduation.
Finally, we must expand high-speed Internet access and bandwidth throughout the state. To attract young families, and support entrepreneurs and fledgling businesses, we should make it a priority to equip our towns, villages and back roads with reliable Internet at speeds that meet the new Federal Communications Commission guidelines of 25 megabits per seconds. We can achieve this through expanded support of successful initiatives like EC Fiber, as well as significant investments in other Internet providers.
Compared to my first two proposals, the relative high cost of Internet expansion will require a smart and sustained spending plan. I would propose to make this investment over the next decade and raise the needed capital without raising additional tax revenue. Through limiting growth of the general fund budget as well as a reorganization of current economic development efforts at both a local and state level, we can dramatically expand access and bolster speeds of Internet in Vermont.
These specific proposals aren’t designed to revolutionize life in Vermont. Rather, they are practical and direct changes, and financially prudent in an environment where available public money is in short supply and most Vermonters can’t afford a higher cost of living. By taking deliberate and effective action with thoughtful investment, we can begin to reverse the troubling demographic trends facing our state.
