Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott, the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce and the Rutland Economic Development Corporation are hosting the “Rutland Economy Pitch” on Monday February 9, 2015. Rutland area legislators and members of the public have been invited to attend the Economy Pitch at the Heritage Credit Union in order to hear representatives from the region’s business community make short, five-minute pitches about the economy from their perspective. The “Rutland Economy Pitch” comes one month after the “Vermont Economy Pitch – Priority #1 on Day One.” A number of the ideas presented at that pitch have already been turned into bills, and more are in the process of being drafted into legislation.
DATE: Monday, February 9
TIME:4:00 – 6:00 PM
PLACE: Heritage Credit Union (RHOC building), 30 Allen Street, Rutland
Participants
Attendees will hear from representatives of the following organizations:
Foley Distributing Corporation
Otter Creek Engineering
Castleton State College
John A Russell Corporation
College of St Joseph
Rutland City Public Schools
Enman - Kesselring Consulting Engineers
Green Mountain Power
Omya Inc.
GE Aviation
Giancola Construction Corp.
Vermont Farmers Food Center
Ryan Smith & Carbine
Ault Commercial Realty, Inc
NewGrassRoots
Rutland Economic Development Corporation
The Bookmobile
The Paramount Theatre
Lawmakers Prioritize Vermont’s Economy with Growth-Friendly Bills
As a result of input from Vermont’s business community at the “Vermont Economy Pitch,” held on January 7, lawmakers are responding by introducing bills aimed at growing the state’s economy.
·H.80, An act relating to declaringAugust 29 and 30, 2015, a State sales tax holiday, is sponsored by Representatives Condon, Canfield, Devereux, Graham, Higley, Hubert, Komline, O'Sullivan, Purvis, and Till
·H.83, An act relating to economic development and marketing Vermont: “Innovative by Nature,” is sponsored by RepresentativesScheuermann, Baser, Carr, Clarkson, Greshin, Komline, Parent, Shaw, Sibilia, Stuart, and Tate
·H.146, An act relating to exempting software as a service from Vermont’s sales tax, is sponsored by Representatives Scheuermann, Baser, Carr, Condon, Dame, Evans, Fagan, Fiske, Greshin, Hebert, Komline, LaClair, Lewis, Marcotte, Myers, Parent, Poirier, Purvis, Shaw, Sibilia, Stuart, and Tate
Marc Sherman of Sherman Enterprises and Stowe Mercantile, representing the Vermont Retail and Grocers’ Association, pitched the idea of a one-day sales tax holiday to drive new sales for Vermont-owned businesses, which is exactly what H.80 would establish. Betsy Bishop of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and Matt Dodds of Brandthropology proposed a re-defining of Vermont’s brand using forward-looking ideas and stressing innovation. H.83 looks to make this concept a reality. Jeff Couture of the Vermont Technology Alliance pointed out that the Cloud Tax creates an image that Vermont is not a business-friendly place for the technology sector. H.146 repeals the Cloud Tax to better foster the growth of Vermont’s technology-based businesses.
“These bills show that legislators are listening to Vermonters and putting the health of our economy on the front burner,” said Phil Scott. “I am hopeful that these pieces of legislation, along with future proactive bills, will have wide support on both sides of the aisle and I look forward to working with lawmakers on these and more ideas to make Vermont a more business-friendly state.”
Future Vermont “Economy Pitch”:
Monday, February 16, 2015, from4:00 to 6:00pm—exact location TBA, Franklin County
On Wednesday, January 7, 2015, Vision to Action Vermont (created by Rep. Heidi Scheuermann — R and former Rep. Paul Ralston—D) and Lt. Governor Phil Scott hosted the first-ever “Vermont Economy Pitch - Priority #1 on Day One.” Representatives from businesses and business organizations presented five-minute pitches to lawmakers about the state of the Vermont economy, economic challenges we are facing, how to address those challenges, opportunities and potential steps the State can take to foster an economic environment conducive to growth. Watch full video of the “Economy Pitch”here.