A cash incentive from the state will help Westminster Crackers nearly double its work force over the next several years. The Rutland company expects to add 36 new jobs to its existing 45-person work force over the next three to four years at its Howe Center location, Larry Cirina, president of Westminster Crackers, said Wednesday. The company will expand production at its 50,000-square-foot facility with the aid of a $236,246 Vermont Employment Growth Incentive from the Vermont Economic Progress Council.

About 88 percent of Vermont's small businesses will be eligible for tax credits this year to help finance employee health care coverage, according to a report released Tuesday. The tax credit program, part of the health care reform law passed in March, targets employers with up to 25 workers and average wages of less than $50,000. In Vermont, 13,100 small businesses will qualify, according to the report by the consumer health organization Families USA and Small Business Majority, a small business advocacy group.

Two start-up companies, one a sales firm and the other a wood products manufacturer with plans to reopen the shuttered Stanley Tool Plant in Pittsfield, have been authorized to earn up to $230,094 in Vermont Employment Growth Incentives. The one firm would re-start the former Stanley Tool plant in Pittsfield. The companies, if they grow in or locate in Vermont, could create 41 new jobs over the next five years, according to officials with the Vermont Economic Progress Council, which authorized the incentives late last week.

The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board announced today grant awards made by the Farm Viability Program to five meat, poultry and grain processing businesses totaling $65,000. Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee said, “With producers all over Vermont raising more grain, poultry and meat in response to the increasing demand for local foods, processing facilities are stretched to the limit. These grants will enable businesses in Westfield, Sharon, Bridport, West Glover and Morrisville to purchase equipment, expand facilities and increase capacity, enhancing the processing infrastructure of Vermont’s food system.”

A statewide survey conducted for Vermont Business Magazine by a Stowe-based consulting firm identifies tax rates as the number one factor that could cause companies to leave Vermont. Conversely, there was consensus among survey respondents that Vermont's quality of life acts as a powerful incentive for businesses to settle and stay here. The Arno Group asked more than 3,000 Vermont businesses in February to complete a 37-question survey. The consultants received 254 responses, largely from companies with fewer than 20 employees. Manufacturers and professional service providers accounted for more than half the respondents.

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Update on Wednesday, June 2, 2010 at 01:58PM by VCF Staff

Vermont businesses aren’t fond of the state’s high taxes — but overall, the state’s business owners haven’t been pushed to the brink of leaving, according to a study conducted by the Stowe-based Arno Group. The consulting firm, founded by David Rocchio and Craig DeLuca, teamed with Vermont Business Magazine to survey roughly 250 businesses through the state.

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Vermont’s newest business startups are coming from a surprising sector of the economy not related to technology, manufacturing or tourism. The state, which boasts the highest percentage of people who buy locally grown food, is seeing a surge in small farmers. They say the growing cost of food shipped from California and elsewhere, coupled with concern about America’s use of gasoline and an overall concern for food safety is spurring local agriculture.

Governor Jim Douglas and Democratic leaders have reached a compromise that will erase a growing deficit in the state's unemployment insurance fund. The agreement calls for businesses to pay more, while workers will see a freeze in benefits. Vermont has had to borrow $58 million from the federal government to pay unemployment claims during the recession.

Update on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 05:05PM by VCF Staff

A national policy organization slammed proposals to cut the state's unemployment program as the "worst in the country," but Vermont's governor is advocating the reduced benefits as a balanced solution to prevent future economic disaster.

 

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Fifty-five entrepreneurs, educators, policy leaders, and economic development professionals from around the state met on April 16th to discuss how to better coordinate efforts and resources to boost entrepreneurship in Vermont. Convening attendees worked together to develop a list of activities and strategies to promote and celebrate entrepreneurship, connect existing business development resources with one another and to entrepreneurs, inspire a new generation of Vermonters to consider entrepreneurship as a career, and engage opinion leaders and decision makers around supporting a strong entrepreneurial culture in Vermont.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield wish a bill making its way through the Vermont Legislature had been law decades ago. If they'd been allowed to set up as a benefit corporation their Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., the Vermont-based super premium ice cream maker, they might not have had to sell out to the British-Dutch conglomerate Unilever 10 years ago this week. Benefit corporations are devoted to a triple bottom line of "people, planet and profits," said Andrea Cohen of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility.

The idea that Vermont's business climate is not conducive to creating and keeping jobs is one that's heard in some political circles around the state. Governor Jim Douglas has often complained that high taxes keep Vermont from becoming a more business-friendly state. That contention is one that Burlington's Peace and Justice Center wanted to investigate. So they made it the focus of their latest report in an ongoing Vermont Job Gap Study

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has been named one of “100 Best Corporate Citizens” by Corporate Responsibility Magazine. The 100 Best Corporate Citizens List is based on over 360 data points in seven categories: Environment, Climate Change, Human Rights, Philanthropy, Employee Relations, Financial Performance, and Governance. “It’s rewarding to have the passion and work of GMCR employees recognized, and gratifying to see how our efforts contribute to positive change in the world,” said Larry Blanford, President and CEO of GMCR.

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Vermont tries to attract business through a variety of tax programs and economic inducements. One program - called the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive -- pays companies that add jobs. But the program is capped at $10 million a year. Tayt Brooks is the commissioner of housing, community and economic development. He says the cap needs to be lifted because three companies that qualify would put the state over the $10 million limit this month. Brooks says the businesses are ready to add about 800 new jobs.

Update on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 11:00AM by VCF Staff

A solar company is considering opening a factory in Chittenden County, where it would create hundreds of jobs. But the company says an economic incentive program that the Legislature is debating will play a key role in whether it moves to Vermont.

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The Senate Economic Development Committee approved a measure Thursday night that would repeal the state's estate-tax provision enacted last year, said Sen. Vincent Illuzzi, who chairs the committee. The proposed elimination of state's estate tax on inheritances between $2 million and $3.5 million is a way to show the business community "we hear them loud and clear --and we are responding," Illuzzi, R-Essex/Orleans, said Friday. The proposal would have Vermont law mirror the federal estate-tax exemption, he said.

A free forum on entrepreneurship and small business ownership will be offered at Southern Vermont College on Monday, Feb. 22, from 5 to 8 p.m. in the College’s Everett Mansion. The forum is targeted towards aspiring individuals and small business owners from the southern Vermont region who are interested in exploring business ownership or seeking expansion ideas for a current business.

The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) approved $48.4 million in financing for commercial, agricultural, technology, educational, renewable energy, and small business projects throughout Vermont. “VEDA is pleased to provide financing support to such a variety of new business projects, especially during what remains a difficult economy,” said Jo Bradley, VEDA’s Chief Executive Officer.  “Jobs will be sustained and new jobs created, and that growth is critically important for Vermonters.”