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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Vermont Business Roundtable is a proud partner of VMEC’s 3rd Innovation Engineering Leadership Institute:

Randolph Center, Vermont – The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC) has announced that it will be hosting its third “Innovation Engineering Leadership Institute” on August 23 – 25, 2011 at The Essex in Essex Junction, Vermont. The first IELI training event was held in Burlington in May 2010, followed by the second in February of this year in Woodstock. Innovation Engineering teaches business leaders a proven, systematic approach to leading profitable growth through innovation. It is an intensive 3-day graduate level program designed for senior managers in business, government, non-profit organizations, and academia. Two separate Georgia Tech studies (2008 & 2010) found that innovation is THE MOST profitable primary business strategy compared to low cost, fast delivery, voice of the customer, or quality strategies. In fact, the 3-year average profit margin of companies with a primary strategy of innovation is over 50% higher than for companies competing with a primary strategy of low prices. This training is equally vital to service industries, inventors, entrepreneurs, researchers, non-profits and economic development professionals. (more…)