Editor’s note: This article is by Andrew McKeever, the editor of the Manchester Journal.
MANCHESTER — More than 120 residents of towns across southern Vermont converged on the Manchester Community Library Thursday evening, and digested some sobering statistics about the region’s economy before discussing ways of turning the numbers around.
A panel discussion hosted and organized by VTDigger, an online news platform and website based in Montpelier, drew the overflow crowd which explored some of fault lines of the economy of Bennington County and southern Vermont. The discussion followed a powerpoint presentation by the panel’s moderator, Wayne Granquist, a retired businessman and town moderator of Weston, and presentations by the three panelists.
There was some encouraging news as well as more troubling elements revealed by the economic data Granquist compiled and shared with the audience.
“The overall conclusion one has to draw when you look at the data is that the status of (our) regional economy is mixed,” Granquist said. “Some sectors are doing OK, others are not.”
Hospitality businesses such as lodging establishments and restaurants in Bennington County have as a whole rebounded from the worst of the Recession years of 2008-09. Rooms and meals tax revenue are up about 25 percent since 2001. But this apparent piece of good news is relative; statewide the increase was 50 percent, he said.
Other indicators are more worrisome. The real estate market was hammered by the downturn that began in 2008, both in terms of sales of existing homes and new construction, and has not recovered. Retail sales in Bennington county totaled $281 million in 2001, dropped to $259 million in 2009, and have only rebounded slightly, to $266 million in 2014. In Manchester, the trend is worse; sliding 25 percent from the $125 million rung up in 2001 to $95 million last year.
The number of visitors stopping at the Guilford Welcome Center on I-91 south of Brattleboro paints an even starker picture. In 2006 more than 852,000 travelers stopped there for brochures and other information — in 2014, that had dropped to about 625,000, fewer even than the 670,000 who checked in there in 2009 at the height of the Recession.
At the same time, the number of taxpayers filing returns indicating income of more than $150,000 is up substantially, at least in Manchester and Dorset, growing from 234 in 2001 to 356 last year. That seemingly positive note was, however, a contrast with increasing numbers of people reporting poverty-level incomes and the increase in school-age pupils who qualify for free and reduced price lunches.
But it’s not as if these trends have gone undetected or haven’t motivated business, community and political leaders into action. At least 17 agencies, committees or organizations exist throughout the county with their ostensible purpose being economic development or marketing, Granquist said, displaying a list on a projection screen.
“There’s an extraordinary amount of attention being devoted to this issue,” he said.
The three panelists — Chris Morrow of the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Dina Janis of the Dorset Theatre Festival, and Trevor Mance of TAM, Inc., a Shaftsbury-based waste removal company, offered their perspectives of how wider-ranging economic growth could be ignited in Bennington County and southern Vermont, to overtake other parts of the state, such as Chittenden County and the Burlington area, which have posted impressive gains across the board.
Collaboration and thinking local were the keys, Morrow said.
Instead of trying to woo out-of-town or out-of-state businesses to come here through tax breaks and credits, a better strategy would be to find ways of boosting those businesses already here, he said.
“Bringing people to the area is always going to be the core economic driver and work needs to be done in this area, especially with collaborative marketing,” he said. “I would like to see us focus on local systems, fostering the growth of existing businesses and developing new ones that are home-grown.”
Janis seconded the idea of collaboration between the multitude of different groups tackling the issues of growth and marketing, and drew from her experience as artistic director at the Dorset Theatre Festival, where she pointed out the success the festival has had from partnering with the local community groups, such as farmers. The recession forced the festival from a pattern of relying on a handful of wealthy donors to a broader approach, she said.
“Our success has come from thinking socially responsibly,” she said.
She also pointed out, as did Morrow, the lack of affordable housing, a big factor when it came to attracting or keeping younger generations.
The aging of Vermont’s population is well-mirrored in Bennington County, where the overall population has declined by 1.5 percent since 2000, and the population of those under 18 years has dropped 19 percent over that time, according to U.S. Census data.
Trevor Mance highlighted the “chicken-and-egg” problem of jobs, housing and qualified workers, noting that his firm needed workers of all skill levels and suggested the area should look at developing vocational programs to train youngsters for careers as electricians, plumbers and other trades.
“I need workers,” he said. “We all need workers. Do we build housing first or do we bring workers here that we are willing to pay, which then creates a market for housing?”
He concluded with a call for action on these and related issues, noting that a lot of thinking had been done but at some point, it was time to put “boots on the ground.”
Mance’s call for action was echoed in the question-and-answer session that followed, when Hayden Dublois of Manchester said an economic development bill which passed the legislature this past spring contained some good ideas, but was watered down by the time it eventually passed. The action component needed to start with the legislature, he said.
Oliver Olsen, an Independent representative of several small towns in a district that spreads across Bennington, Windsor and Windham counties, said the Southern Vermont Economic Zone established in the bill was a start towards that and appointments to the committee that will direct its work are being made. He went on the highlight the role the Internet and remote online workplaces can play in drawing people to the region as a spur to economic development.
The audience discussion, which went on for more than 40 minutes, also drew comments on the tricky balancing act of maintaining the attractive traditions of the state with the demand for less traditional housing being spearheaded by millennials and younger generations, to the relatively low wages paid by many employers and a call to explore raising the state’s minimum wage.
The large crowd dispersed slowly after the question-and-answer session, as small groups of people reviewed what they had heard and lingered in the library’s lobby.
“We’re here because we care,” Mance said. “We’re here because there needs to be a change but also because we have to focus on action.”
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