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In celebration of its 25th Anniversary, the Roundtable sought commentary on the organization and its impact over the past quarter century. Special ‘Thank You’s’ belong to our video partners: Pennie Beach, Basin Harbor Club (Founding Board Member); Vincent Bolduc, Saint Michael’s College; David Coates, KPMG (Retired); Libby Doggett, PEW Center on the States; Geoff Gevalt, Young Writers Project; John Marshall, Downs Rachlin Martin.

Please enjoy the finished project below.

Video produced by Dan DiPietro, DiPietro Design

Lisa Ventriss, Roundtable President, recently visited with Darron Perron, WCAX News Anchor, as invited guest on You Can Quote Me to discuss VBR’s 2nd Quarter 2012 CEO Economic Outlook Survey. If you missed  the interview in real time, be sure to visit WCAX’s You can Quote Me site to view their interview.

Click Here to Watch Video |  Interview Date: June 24, 2012

ROUNDTABLE PRESENTS VISION AWARD TO MARY POWELL, PRESIDENT AND CEO, GREEN MOUNTAIN POWER

As part of its 25^th anniversary celebration, the Board of Directors of the Vermont Business Roundtable will present its Vision Award to Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power Corporation. Powell is a member of the Roundtable and is the organization’s Vice-Chair. The award will be presented during dinner on June 14^th at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel.

The Vision Award was created in 2007 by the Board of Directors to periodically honor an individual who has exhibited throughout his or her professional career, both in word and deed, a commitment to the ideals expressed in our vision to “make Vermont the best place in America to do business, be educated and live life.” Previous recipients include Fred Hackett, Hackett Valine McDonald (2009) and David Coates, Director of National Life Group (2007).

In selecting Ms. Powell to be so honored, the Board expressed their respect and appreciation for the varied ways in which she has leveraged her transformational leadership style to achieve real and lasting change in both the private and public sectors. In 1998 -1999, Powell implemented a comprehensive restructuring program to dramatically transform Green Mountain Power. At the request of Governor Douglas in 2003-2005, she served as Co-Chair of the Vermont Institute on Government Effectiveness, a group charged with making recommendations to improve effectiveness in state government. And, as the first Co-Chair of Building Bright Futures Council, in 2007-2008, she led the adoption of the first strategic plan for the comprehensive development of educational, social, health, safety and wellness policy for children ages birth to five.  Today, Powell continues to lead the way toward a greener energy future in Vermont by reinventing partnerships; leveraging new technologies; and, engaging community, business and government leaders in statewide conversations about critical energy matters.

Roundtable Board Chair, Steve Voigt, CEO of King Arthur Flour, said, “Mary Powell is not only a visionary leader of her industry, but she is one of Vermont’s brightest leaders of her generation and is held in highest regard by all those who know her. The Roundtable is pleased to bestow upon her this special recognition.”

The Roundtable’s 25^th Anniversary celebration will be held at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel. Members of the public are invited to attend by registering at the following link: http://vtroundtable.org/events/25th-anniversary

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Organization Establishes Baseline for Comparisons with Future Benefit and Cost Plan

SOUTH BURLINGTON, VT – The chief executives of Vermont’s leading businesses conducted a survey to gather relevant information regarding health care benefits and costs in order to contribute meaningfully to the current discussion around reform measures.  The Vermont Business Roundtable engaged Public Assets Institute to assist with the development of the survey and the analysis and reporting of the results. The survey, which was completed between October and December 2011 and enjoyed a response rate of 80 percent, was released today by Vermont Business Roundtable Chair Steve Voigt, CEO, King Arthur Flour and President Lisa Ventriss.

According to Roundtable President, Lisa Ventriss, “This survey is important because for the first time we now have a baseline of data from an important segment of Vermont employers, including some of the state’s largest and most iconic private and not-for-profit sector companies, which can be used to evaluate the impacts of various health care reform proposals as they emerge over the coming months and years. The findings should be of much interest to policymakers throughout Vermont.”

Chair Steve Voigt said “Our motivation for conducting the survey was to help our CEO members understand if forthcoming reform proposals were going to be additive or detrimental to what are our current policies and practices. Information regarding the amount that member businesses spend on health insurance in total and as a percentage of payroll; the percentage of their employees that are covered; how much employees pay for their coverage; and, the value of the insurance plans that are offered will help us understand those potential impacts.”

Key among the survey findings:

• 95 percent of Roundtable members offer either “Gold” or “Platinum” insurance plans, where the employer covers, respectively, at least 80 or 90 percent of the policyholders’ average annual health care expenditures. The weighted average is 92 percent.
• As a group, the participating employers spent roughly $177 million in the most recent fiscal year on health insurance premiums; representing a median employer cost of 10.1 percent of payroll, regardless of size.
• Results showed that while both enrollment and richness of plans correlate to costs, they are in fact weak predictors of costs. The health and wellness of the employees is the strongest indicator of costs.

The complete report and copy of the questionnaire may be found on the Roundtable’s website at http://vtroundtable.org/library/.

The Roundtable is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of 118 CEOs of Vermont’s top private and nonprofit employers, representing geographic diversity and all major sectors of the Vermont economy, with an aggregate, global economic impact of $292 billion, over $1.8 billion in corporate philanthropy, and employing more than 10 percent of the state’s workforce. 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 issues.

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The awardees of the 2012 “Best Places to Work in Vermont” were announced recently and, among them, were numerous Roundtable members, including: Comcast, Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, Gallagher, Flynn & Company, LLP, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Hickok & Boardman Financial Planning & Group Benefits, Inc., King Arthur Flour Co., Merchants Bank, Sonnax Industies, Inc. and Vermont Energy Investment Corp. Good companies, all, that employ workplace policies and practices that are conducive to happy and productive employees.We wish to congratulate each of them for the ecognition!

And if we think hard and look closely, no doubt we’ll find other examples in our own towns, of companies in which people brag about being employed by and and others love being affiliated with. They carry the less formal, yet no less important, accolades from their neighbors. Make sure to pat one of them on the back with praise for the ways in which they, too, contribute to Vermont’s vibrant economy and greater sense of community.

November 11, 2011 – Veterans Day

by Rob Simpson, CEO, Brattleboro Retreat and Secretary, Vermont Business Roundtable

 I was driving through Waitsfield yesterday after leaving the Vermont Business Roundtable Board meeting when I noticed on my right on Route 100 a roadside memorial made up of small white flags arranged like a cemetery with gravestones honoring the 6,229 Americans who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The contrast to my meeting with business leaders throughout the state and the juxtaposition of the images on my right and the thoughts in my head were jarring. Minutes before we had been discussing the Roundtable’s strategic initiatives in early childhood education, healthcare reform and supporting the Vermont brand in tourism. (more…)

The Pew Center on the States’ Pre-K Now campaign last week brought together education leaders, advocates, business leaders, and national and state policy makers to celebrate significant accomplishments in the pre-k movement and highlight Pre-K Now’s capstone report, “Transforming Public Education: Pathway to a Pre-K-12 Future.”

Vermont’s accomplishment in pre-k public policy was highlighted as Governor Shumlin delivered the keynote speech. “Perhaps because I was a kid who learned differently, I understand how vital it is that we get all kids off to a good start. Thanks to the hard work of Pew and all of you with the Pre-K Now Campaign, many more are starting to appreciate how valuable early learning can be. I am convinced that when our kids arrive at kindergarten ready to learn, they will have more successful educational and professional futures as a result.”

As recognition for the role it played in Vermont advocacy for better pre-k public policy, leaders from the Vermont Business Roundtable attended, with VBR Board Chair Steve Voigt, President and CEO of King Arthur Flour, invited to introduce the Vermont Governor. Voigt stated “The Vermont Business Roundtable has long understood that the best way to provide children with a successful start in life and build the productive workforce of the future was to champion a policy shift towards improving both the access to and quality of early education. It has been our highest policy priority for the last five years.”

Pre-K Now was designed as a 10-year catalytic effort, grounded in research, to spark the early learning movement by bringing together different voices and supporting strategic advocacy efforts to advance high-quality voluntary pre-k for three- and four-year olds. This December, Pre-K Now will mark its 10th anniversary, wrapping up a decade of state and federal policy wins.

Also attending the meeting was Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable. Ventriss helped lead a coalition of children’s advocates, public educators, business leaders and providers to improve access and funding to pre-k programs. After the meeting, she noted “The Pre-K Now Campaign was helpful to our work in that it provided the research necessary to make an economic case for early education investments.”

Vermont is one of eleven states nationwide to provide funding to allow towns to offer pre-k for all as a voluntary program for families. In 2011, 78% of towns chose to offer pre-k as part of educational offerings in public schools and/or private pre-k providers. Ventriss commented “We’re hoping that eventually every child will have this opportunity, if their parents wish it for them. We’re working with communities that do not yet offer these important programs to encourage them to view the well-researched benefits.”

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