Vermont Business Roundtable Blog

In his remarks during last week’s Senate floor debate on Entergy/Vermont Yankee, Senate President Peter Shumlin gave five reasons why he would cast a ‘nay’ vote on relicensure: power price; tritium clean-up; corporate responsibility; liability; and trust.  And then he appealed to his colleagues “to have courage to move onto the next generation of energy creation.” Well, courage is in the eye of the beholder.

Moving onto the next gen of energy is not courageous, it’s common sense, or “a no-brainer” to use Senator Bartlett’s words, and is something that Vermont’s energy utilities (including many Roundtable members) have been doing for awhile now as they plan for an incremental shift away from heavy reliance on nuclear power. What does require courage is this: staring into the head wall of a media tsunami and urging restraint where no restraint exists; calling for patience while waiting for information that doesn’t come fast enough; acknowledging that we don’t know enough at this time to make such a critical decision as closure; and, standing with an important corporate citizen that admits it has, more times than not, been its own worst enemy.  This is what the Douglas Administration and many business and labor leaders, including the Roundtable, have been doing.

Religious crusades and wars require courage. Resolving crises of public confidence and environmental degradation do not. They require steadfast leadership; clear and unambiguous communication; and swift, rational decision-making that is benefitted by credible information.

The Roundtable has just announced it will be holding a workshop on EB-5, a unique opportunity for members of the business community to attract foreign investments, on Friday, March 5th, from 7:30 – 11:00am, at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. Cost is $40, which includes breakfast.

Presenters from state government and private industry with EB-5 application and project experience will touch on topics such as: EB-5 Overview, Immigration Law, Securities Law, Developing Analysis for Proposals, with plenty of Q & A.

For more information on EB-5, click  here.

For more event details or to register for this event, click here.

Contact Sherra Bourget with any questions at 865-0410 or sherra@vtroundtable.org

I just returned from spending a week in snowy Minnesota, nursing my college roommate after her stroke. Over coffee each morning we read the headlines…and I found that the similarities go well beyond our respective snow levels. Read the rest of this entry »

Vermont Business Roundtable chair, Bill Stritzler, Managing Director of Smugglers’ Notch Resort, has announced the election of three Vermont CEOs to three-year terms on the Board of Directors. The new directors assumed their roles during the Roundtable’s Annual Membership meeting on January 14, 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

Op – Ed by David Coates, former Managing Partner of KPMG  and Vermont Business Roundtable Member, and Bruce Lisman,  former Chairman of J.P. Morgan Company’s Global Equity Division

A long campaign season ahead, lots of gubernatorial candidates, and an economic catastrophe that may change how we think about economic growth make for an ideal environment in which to consider new approaches to how we govern our State.  This economic crisis is forcing us to re-examine with fresh eyes our tax structure, our educational funding and our public pension plans.  And there is another idea worthy of public discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

Vermont’s CEOs Willing to Invest in the Future

The chief executives of Vermont’s leading businesses appear optimistic for long-term growth and a gradually improving employment environment.  According to the most recent Vermont Business Roundtable survey, business leaders expect to invest more in both capital expenditures and personnel compared to the last quarter.  While most respondents predict that sales will remain unchanged for the coming quarter, there are businesses that are already experiencing an increase in sales.  Roundtable President, Lisa Ventriss, said “The forecasts gathered this quarter indicate an economy in transition and activity that is trending upward nicely. It complements what we are hearing anecdotally from our members.” Read the rest of this entry »

During testimony before the Blue Ribbon Tax Structure Commission this week, Ken Perine, Chair of the Roundtable’s Tax & Fiscal Task Force was asked the question, should the state’s economic system be used to incent social policy, or put another way, should Vermont’s tax system be used as a “blunt instrument or a functional tool?” Actually, the question perhaps should have been asked, “should the state’s economic system continue to be used…”, because that is indeed how we operate today. Read the rest of this entry »

Tax Foundation’s Ranking of Vermont Highlights Need for Tax Policy Changes, Business Group Says
by Neil Downing

Date: Oct. 2, 2009

The Tax Foundation’s recent ranking of Vermont as having one of the nation’s least business-friendly tax environments underscores the need to change the state’s tax and spending policies, according to the Vermont Business Roundtable. Read the rest of this entry »

Op – Ed by Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable

As the debate over Vermont’s energy future moves ahead, it is imperative that the public debate – and the resulting decisions – be based on a full analysis of the most current information available. The recent paper issued by Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) sets out an ambitious vision, but fails that most basic of tests and threatens to create unrealistic expectations and promises. VPIRG would like Vermonters to believe that Vermont Yankee power can be replaced with renewable energy at a lower price, but while this may sound appealing, it is simply not true. Read the rest of this entry »

For a brief moment I thought I was listening to BBC’s coverage of Parliament. The rowdiness of the House gallery, climaxing with Joe Wilson’s total loss of decorum, made me think of the days when Tony Blair took his thumps for being too close to the U.S. The only difference in this case was that politicians then turned their displeasure on Wilson. Blair had no such support. Read the rest of this entry »