Businesses need the best and most skilled employees now and into the future. They need workers who will create new products, solve complex problems and motivate teams to succeed. And they need employees who will focus on their jobs and not be distracted because their children are in poor quality care. Communities that spend less tax money on remedial programs attract skilled employees and produce good customers. Businesses also need public policies that support development of next generation jobs in order to continue leading and innovating.

Regretfully, in our society, by the time children turn five we can predict with remarkable accuracy who will graduate high school and college – and those who won’t. But fortunately, with the benefit of sound research by the Federal Reserve Bank and others, we know how to improve the odds of success for our children. Investments in preschool education are the way Vermont can compete with other states for business attractiveness and growth.

Even in challenging economic times businesses understand that it is necessary to invest in their human capital. In this way, businesses can be poised for a fast start when the recovery begins. And the same opportunity exists for Vermont’s state government.

In Vermont today there are over 70 schools that have been identified as underperforming; several of those schools have high-quality preschools whose enrollments have been capped. Why would we willingly cap human potential – or deny any child the earlier opportunity to learn in a nurturing and supportive environment that they may find only at school? Connecting the dots between preschool enrollment and an underperforming school is an easy first step.

Today, unfortunately, in Vermont only 50 percent of young children are officially deemed “ready to learn” at the beginning of kindergarten. That’s an awful lot of stress to load onto the education system right off the bat – and a terrible hole in which children may find themselves. Plus, remedial programs to address language, cognitive, behavioral or other developmental delays are expensive.  But evaluation of public investments in high-quality early childhood programs quickly demonstrates their strategic soundness; the return will be quick – you’ll know by kindergarten.

According to Roundtable President, Lisa Ventriss, “Overall, these data represent the third straight reporting period in which indicators have been trending positively for sales, capital expenditures, and employment levels. In particular, a strengthening in the sales forecasts from our CEO members; now more than two-thirds (69 percent) of respondents expect their sales to increase in the next six months, compared to 63 percent from the first quarter. That bodes well for Vermont products and services.” Ventriss said.

Chair Stritzler, who is managing director of the Jeffersonville-based Smugglers’ Notch Resort, says the results of the CEO survey reflect encouraging attitudes of the marketplace.  “The anecdotal information from Roundtable members over the past several months is now being validated by our survey results and that is continued good news for those seeking employment.  Forty-six percent of respondents expect to increase their workforce in the next six months, compared to 40% in the previous survey.”

Capital spending was the one area in which the rate of change from the previous quarter saw the least change. A majority of CEOs continued to forecast an increase in capital expenditures (51% v. 50% in 1Q), and roughly 10% expect to decrease spending in the next six months, up slightly from the previous quarter (11% v. 8% in 1Q).

“In sum, we are encouraged by these results and believe that the economy continues to strengthen as we move into the busy summer and fall seasons”, said Stritzler.

The Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey provides a forward-looking view of the economic assumptions and attitudes of chief executive officers for 110 of the state’s top employers.  Vermont’s agriculture, construction, education, health services, finance, real estate, insurance, hospitality/leisure, manufacturing, information, utilities, professional/business services, wholesale trade, and non-profit industries are represented.  The response rate for this quarter was 67 percent.  Historically, rates have varied from 35 to 73 percent.

1. How do you expect your company’s sales to change in the next six months?

Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

2. How do you expect your company’s capital spending to change in the next six months?

Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

3. How do you expect your company’s employment to change in the next six months?

Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

# # #

In recognition that education transformation must begin with a strong foundation of high quality early learning experiences, Lisa Ventriss, President of the Vermont Business Roundtable (Roundtable), announced today a new partnership, Pre-K Vermont, between a coalition of early education advocates and her organization. “If we are to meaningfully address the escalating costs of our correctional and social welfare programs, and improve educational outcomes, we need to improve our investments in younger children. Early education helps children enter school ready to learn and makes them ten times less likely to be retained in first grade. Controlling costs in public education, while avoiding the stigma that children take with them after being held back, is very important.”

The Vermont Business Roundtable has long been recognized as a leader in public policy development for an array of issues from education to the environment. The organization’s efforts contributed to the passage of Act 62 in 2007, which allows towns to invest in early learning programs.

The new partnership announced today will be funded through a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Partnership for America’s Economic Success and Pre-K Now. The Roundtable will become the new sponsor of Pre-K Vermont, an organization dedicated to increasing access and quality to high quality pre-k programs statewide, with members from business, advocacy, public education, and higher education.

The partnership will develop public policy recommendations regarding early childhood investments and share these with public leaders.

Act 62 Background:

• This year a pre-k enrollment cap will be removed for towns with schools deemed to be “underperforming”.
• Act 62 was signed into law on June 1, 2007. It received strong support from parents and educators, the Vermont Business Roundtable and other business leaders, law enforcement, leaders in education and medicine, along with community leaders across the state.
• Under the legislation, pre-k programs meeting specified quality standards will be allowed funding for 10 hours per week, if local school districts approve. Programs are capped to allow roughly half of the three and four year olds, or all of the four year olds in each district, but districts can also choose to fund all children.
• The bill was passed as a result of a legislative study performed by the Pre-K Study Committee, which included review of four decades of research and testimony from dozens of experts from inside and outside of Vermont.
• Both public and private providers will be qualified to receive funding, but no school district is required to offer pre-k programs. The pre-k program is also voluntary for families.

Members of Pre-K Vermont include representatives from Vermont Business Roundtable, Kids are Priority One, University of Vermont, Vermont Superintendents Association, Head Start, Building Bright Futures, Vermont School Boards Association, private providers, and Northern Lights Career Development Center.

The Roundtable is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of 100 CEOs of Vermont’s top private and nonprofit employers, representing geographic diversity and all major sectors of the Vermont economy. The Roundtable is committed to sustaining a sound economy and preserving Vermont’s unique quality of life by studying and making recommendations on statewide public policy issue to benefit all Vermonters.

There is much anxiousness in and outside of Montpelier about the implications of Challenges for Change because the structure and landscape of state government itself is changing before everyone’s eyes. Previously familiar programs, benefits, budgets, eligibility criteria and client services are being restructured to meet the realities of a post-recessionary economy. While some may criticize the process for not being as ‘bottom-up’ or inclusive as is our typical Vermont-y way, the fact of the matter is that we don’t have the luxury of that time.

Credit must be given to the Legislature and its leadership for its discipline in responding to the Administration’s outcomes challenges, for making extremely difficult budget decisions without the hope of new revenues to cushion the cuts and, for working collaboratively for the benefit of Vermonters. It is a scenario that employers have been playing out for two years now. And while it’s getting better, it ain’t over yet.

Doug Hall will be leading an intensive 3-day program entitled, Leading Through Innovation, for CEOs and senior management teams that will teach them  a proven system to accelerate innovation-growth. This Innovation Engineering Leadership Institute event will be held May 19th – 21st  at the Sheraton in Burlington. Registration is limited to 150 participants.

Click Here to download a brochure or Here to Register

Wednesday – Friday, May 19-21, 2010

We are assured: This is not “just another event,” but rather an opportunity to accelerate innovation driven economic development, entrepreneurship and much needed job creation in Vermont.

For more information about the conference, click here.

The chief executives of Vermont’s leading businesses appear increasingly optimistic toward all three of the survey’s metrics:  sales prospects, capital expenditures and employment levels for the spring and summer months, when compared against third quarter 2009 forecasts.    The mood was assessed near the end of the first quarter and released today by Vermont Business Roundtable Chair Bill Stritzler and President Lisa Ventriss.

“The strongest change that we saw was in the area of sales, in which 63 percent of respondents expect their sales to increase in the next six months, compared to 34 percent from the previous survey. That tells me that our CEOs expect consumer behavior to improve through this summer.” Ventriss said.

Chair Stritzler, who is managing director of the Jeffersonville-based Smugglers’ Notch Resort, says the results of the CEO survey reflect encouraging attitudes of the marketplace.  “The anecdotal information from Roundtable members over the past three months is now being validated by our survey results and that is good news. Fifty percent of respondents expect to increase their capital spending, compared to 31% in the previous survey, and this is also a good sign for Vermont’s economy.”

In terms of employment levels, there is also encouraging news to report. While 52 percent of respondents indicated no change in their employment levels for the next six months (up from 46 percent)  , a much smaller percentage of respondents expect to decrease their workforces in that time frame  (8% compared to 20% in the previous survey).

The Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey provides a forward-looking view of the economic assumptions and attitudes of chief executive officers for 110 of the state’s top employers.  Vermont’s agriculture, construction, education, health services, finance, real estate, insurance, hospitality/leisure, manufacturing, information, utilities, professional/business services, wholesale trade, and non-profit industries are represented.  The response rate for this quarter was 65 percent.  Historically, rates have varied from 35 to 73 percent.

1. How do you expect your company’s sales to change in the next six months?

Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

2. How do you expect your company’s capital spending to change in the next six months?

Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

3. How do you expect your company’s employment to change in the next six months?

Totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

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.

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

Their Governor Tom Pawlenty, like our Governor Jim Douglas, just made his final budget address, and the natives are restless. Pawlenty has made it clear in word and deed that their state – long a progressive leader in social and political causes – has neglected the economic engines that support such initiatives. He’s calling for lawmakers and the public to get behind his proposed cuts to social programs and support investments in economic development.

The television ads there run expensive campaigns by the education lobby to support current levels of funding for education. And if there’s one thing Minnesotans value, it’s  their educational institutions, which are diverse and successful. My friend’s children have all gone to a performing arts magnet high school. And, as I took her to her physical therapy appointments each day, I marveled at the depth, breadth and vitality of the health care industry in Minnesota as well.

Cuts here in Vermont or there in Minnesota aren’t easy, but it seems the more difficult process in both states is in convincing people to get behind investments in economic engines.