Vermont; A State Without A Plan

I’m not very optimistic about Vermont’s economic future. According to Douglas’s latest, Vermont’s economic strength is in it’s “diversity”. That’s a crock of crap, the biggest load of BS that’s ever been heaped upon our state. Diversity?

We’re so reliant on tourists to pump up our economy it’s ridiculous. No wonder we have no tax base and have to tax peoples property. Driven around Vermont lately? We’re a state of tourist trap after tourist trap, just about every road you take. Can’t really blame people, it’s where the money is. None of us certainly have any.

We’ve got artisan and specialty businesses galore, but how many people do they employ? A couple at a whack. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great, but we need employers who hire a lot of people. We need employers who pay decent livable wages to Vermonters. This is where Vermont is absolutely not competitive. We’ve got a lot of educated, hardworking people who’ve had to settle for less.

How many employers are there in the thousand plus employee range? Not including the state of Vermont, you’ve got what IBM, maybe Lockheed Martin? Face it the only industry we have is our huge dairy farms, and who do they employ? Mexican immigrants with questionable legal status, because they can’t find anyone else to work for housing and pathetic wages.

Smart directed growth is what Vermont needs, spread evenly throughout the state. Not a bunch more service jobs that pay ridiculously low wages and force people to live paycheck to paycheck. This direction starts from the top. No, we don’t need all sorts of industry pumping pollutants into our air, water and soils, but we need something. The governor should be seeking out environmentally responsible businesses to bring into the state.

Better yet, look to accommodate local businesses and their growth needs. Help businesses that employ Vermonters to grow. Look at Unilever, opening a Ben & Jerry’s out west, look at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, setting up shop in Tennessee. We can’t even keep Vermont companies in Vermont let alone attract new ones!

The buck stops at the Governors office. That’s where the direction of our state comes from. Instead of taking credit for everyone elses work, and blaming failures on the legislature, we need a governor who can deliver. We need someone who can not only keep jobs in Vermont but deliver us new ones. After all the governor is not a spiritual figure head like the Pope. The governor needs to do more than make appearances, and wave to crowds. They need to do the work of the state, and work damn hard at it!