Vermont Business Magazine As part of its ongoing effort to promote Vermont to Quebec-based companies and networks, the Vermont Quebec Enterprise Initiative (VQEI) welcomed over two dozen companies from the Sherbrooke region to Vermont for a two-day event at Jay Peak Resort. In partnership with CQI, an economic development organization from Sherbrooke, the program featured a panel of local business leaders from the Northeast Kingdom that offered specific advice in areas of banking, trade compliance, insurance, logistics, and more.
“I am extremely pleased to have been part of this event”, said David Snedeker, Executive Director of the Northeastern Vermont Development Association. “As a regional development corporation, these are exactly the types of opportunities that we should be organizing. I am pleased to say that, as a result of this event, we have several very good leads from companies seeking a location or looking to do business in our region.”
On the second day of the event, Revision Military and Louis Garneau received the delegation at their respective facilities in Newport – Derby to provide a tour and a first-hand account of how a Quebec-based business can flourish in Vermont.
“Vermont is home to many companies with a Quebec connection”, said Mary Beth Meade, Commercial Business Attaché for the Government of Quebec’s Boston Office. “Fostering business-to-business opportunities between Vermont and Quebec to promote cross-border trade has been a focus of my office and I am pleased that the VQEI has organized programs like this one, as well as others that I have attended.”
The program also included networking events that allowed participants to meet informally with Vermont companies that were identified by the Quebec participants as possible partners and legal, finance and customs broker professionals as well.
“These business to business engagements set the foundation for theongoing development work that will result in Quebec companies choosing Vermont over other areas with whom we compete for businesses and jobs”, said Tom Torti, President of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, the organization that hosts the VQEI.
The Vermont Quebec Enterprise Initiative is a statewide organization that has been funded by the Legislature at the request of Governor Shumlin to actively engage the Quebec business market and to promote Vermont as the location of choice for those companies seeking a presence in the United States.