New Employee Recruiting Services from the VTTA; Legislative Session Ends
Recruiting Services
Recruiting employees has long been a need for Vermont’s tech businesses, which is one reason we offer our Career Center job listing services. We are now pleased to announce our partnership with tech talent solution firm ScaleTech to offer discounted talent solution services for its members. The partnership will help tech businesses find the key staff they need to sustain and grow their businesses.
ScaleTech’s specialty is the recruitment and staffing of software engineers, typically in the JavaScript, Java, and Python space, which are some of the most in-demand skills in the US. ScaleTech focuses on developing a working partnership with businesses with 5 to 200 employees, which reflects the typical size of most Vermont tech businesses. They can draw from a growing contact list of more than 40,000 software developers and engineers looking for career opportunities. They also provide short-term contract hiring for businesses.
ScaleTech provides services to businesses across the U.S., including in the greater Boston, Massachusetts area, and this partnership is an expansion of their service in New England to Vermont and Vermont’s growing tech businesses. ScaleTech’s services include hiring for key positions, multi-hires to enable businesses to scale quickly, and talent as a service, providing and managing staff for a set period.
Through the partnership, ScaleTech will provide VTTA members with a minimum discount of 17.5% off the standard recruitment fees, and potentially more, depending on the talent project.
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The 2023 Legislative Session Ends
The Vermont Legislature wrapped its 2023 session on May 12. The session began with many new legislators, a Democratic supermajority, and goals to tackle major issues such as Childcare, Housing, Climate Change, and Family and Medical Leave. The legislature passed a $8.45 billion FY2024 budget, which included more than $120 million in Child Care funding. A Paid Family and Medical Leave bill endorsed by the House did not make it through the Senate, but will likely be back for 2024.
However, the Governor had made it clear he was concerned with the level of increased spending and taxes and has vetoed the budget. The legislature has set June 20-22 as the dates for potential votes to override the veto.
Again, this year, we were able to avert a sales tax on online services and software, aka the Cloud Tax. Although it had been proposed by the House Ways and Means committee and elsewhere, it did not make it into any final funding proposals.
Here is a brief summary of bills passed in the major areas of child care, housing and climate change, and other legislation the VTTA was watching this session.
Child care
If the child care bill becomes law, starting on January 1, 2024, a family of four making up to 175% of the federal poverty level would not be charged a co-payment to receive a full childcare subsidy from the state. The bill would provide partial subsidies to families up to 575% of the federal poverty level, which is $172,000 for a family of four. The subsidies would be paid for with a payroll tax of 0.44% starting July 1, 2024, with employers required to cover at least 75% of the tax. The Governor has said he does not support this increased tax.
Climate
The Legislature overrode the Governor’s veto of S.5, the so-called Affordable Heat Act. The bill seeks to create incentives for cleaner energy sources, and disincentives for the use or expansion of fossil fuels. The Vermont Public Utility Commission is tasked with creating a credit system whereby homeowners, fuel dealers and others could earn credits for “clean heat” measures, such as installing cold-climate electric heat pumps.
Housing
S.100 makes some changes to Act 250 to expand the number of housing units from 10 to 25 within five years and five miles in designated areas, such as villages and towns with zoning and subdivision regulations. The bill also eases local parking space requirements, and limits challenges to affordable housing projects.
VEGI
The Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) program was given a one-year extension, after it was added to the miscellaneous tax bill H.471. The VTTA advocated for the continuation of this program and supported the Agency of Commerce’s proposals to simplify the program. Not included, is funding of a study of economic incentives, originally requested by the House Commerce Committee.
Worker Relocation Incentives
Unfortunately, the final budget did not include funding for the continuation of the Worker Relocation Incentive program which offers reimbursement of certain expenses to those who relocate to Vermont. The VTTA supported this as a recruitment tool.
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Bills Not Advancing
There were several bills we had some concerns with that did not pass, which is good news in that it means more time for review and improvement.:
Cloud Tax
As mentioned above, we managed to keep the sales tax on online services and software, essentially a digital economy tax, from moving ahead again this year, which marks at least the 10th year we’ve been fighting this tax.
Data Privacy Bill
The Data Privacy Bill, H.121, did not move out of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, after receiving comments from industry groups, including the VTTA, who called attention to concerns about the rules and requirements, including the inclusion of a private right of legal action, and how businesses might be impacted. The VTTA supports a bill that more closely aligns with other New England states. The committee intends to work on the proposed legislation this summer, and have a bill ready for next year’s session.
Auditing of State Contracts
S.9, a bill that would expand the authority of the State Auditor to review the books and records of any state contractors did not advance through the House Government Operations and Military Affairs Committee. The VTTA expressed concerns about the lack of any guardrails on when, how, and what information could be accessed by the auditor.
Right to Repair
Right to Repair bills in the House and Senate concerning the repair of electronic equipment did not move forward this session. The VTTA has had concerns with the scope of these bills, protection of intellectual property and trade secrets, security and safety of products, and potential workload for Vermont businesses to comply.
We thank our many members who provided financial support for our public policy work, which enable the Vermont Technology Alliance to stay engaged on these and other issues.
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Coffee with a Tech Leader
Plan to join the VTTA for our next Coffee with a Tech Leader, with Porter Haney, CEO of Codingscape, June 2, 10 – 11 a.m. at Uncommon Coffee in Essex.
Codingscape is a US based software development, design, and strategy consultancy that partners with high-growth companies such as Twilio and Zappos to build reliable, high-quality software on-time and on-budget. Porter will provide an overview of the business, the work they do, their remote work structure and more.
Register for this free event here.
Jeff Couture
Executive Director
Vermont Technology Alliance
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Coffee with a Tech Leader: Porter Haney of Codingscape
(June 2, 2023 – Uncommon Coffee)
The VTTA presents Coffee with a Tech Leader, with Porter Haney, CEO of Codingscape, at Uncommon Coffee in Essex. Codingscape is a US based software development, design, and strategy consultancy that partners with high-growth companies and established enterprises
such as Twilio and Zappos to build reliable, high-quality software on-time and on-budget.
Plan to grab a coffee and learn more about this business and the work they do at this free event.
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Southwest VT Manufacturing Workforce Development Summit
(June 15, 2023 – Southwest Tech, Bennington)
This session will introduce manufacturing directors, supply chain managers, operations and plant managers, HR directors and others to the resources available at the Southwest Tech center in Bennington. The session will discuss how manufacturers can access Southwest equipment after hours, including milling machines, lathes, grinders, CNC machines and welders.
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LaunchVT Demo Night
(June 20, 2023 – Hula)
This annual pitch competition highlights the 2023 LaunchVT cohort and their startup businesses. Demo Night showcases these promising new businesses and their founders after they have completed LaunchVT's intensive, 12-week accelerator program. Each cohort team will present their pitch to judges and the audience to win one of our cash prizes.
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RISE Summit at UVM
(June 21-June 22, 2023 – Davis Center)
UVM presents RISE (Research, Innovation, Sustainability, Entrepreneurship), a new, two-day, summit that brings research, innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurship together to spur change for a better tomorrow. Join the summit to learn how the university’s research enterprise and faculty expertise can help your small business thrive in a changing environment, from rural Vermont to downtown Burlington.
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NEK Broadband Gets More Than $17 Million for Infrastructure Through USDA ReConnect
(May 18, 2023 – VermontBiz)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a $17,463,911 grant award to NEK Community Broadband (NEK Broadband) through the USDA ReConnect Loan & Grant Program.
The investment, along with a $5,821,304 contribution from NEK Broadband, will be used to deploy a high-speed internet network to benefit 3,295 people, 94 businesses, 183 farms and 11 educational facilities across 22 towns in Caledonia, Essex and Orleans counties. NEK Broadband will make access more affordable for low-income residents by participating in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program.
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The Tech Tribune Lists Best Tech Startups in Burlington, Vermont
(May, 2023 – The Tech Tribune)
The online publication, The Tech Tribune, released its annual list of the Best Tech Startups in Burlington, Vermont for 2023, including some names from previous years and some newcomers.
The list considers factors such as revenue potential, the leadership team, brand/product traction and the competitive landscape. In addition, all companies must be independent, privately owned, not more than 10 years old and have received at least one found of funding.
They are:
- ThinkMD
- InSpace
- Mamava
- Widewail
- HandsDown
- Reconciled
- Green Mountain Semiconductor
- Fluency
- Troove
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Fairfield Business Owner Repurposes General Store as Coworking Space (May 19, 2023 – VTDigger)
Christa Driscoll knows her way around every inch of this centuries-old brick building in the heart of Fairfield’s village center — both on the inside and out.
“There’s so much history here,” she said on a recent morning, stopping to point out the carvings that dot the walls, the trapdoor that once brought in goods for sale.
The Brick Store, as it’s known in town, was sitting vacant when Driscoll decided to buy it six years ago. Since then, she’s chipped away at a nearly complete retrofit of the 1830 structure, aiming to create what is likely the first coworking space in Franklin County.
She wants the coworking space to help people meet each other when they might otherwise work from home.
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THINKMD Expands Clinical Intelligence Platform to Cover Adults
(May 16, 2023 – VTDigger)
VTTA member THINKMD has expanded its clinical risk assessment capabilities to include adults – a significant milestone for the business as it strives to provide a comprehensive clinical intelligence platform that offers healthcare solutions for all patients.
When it first started, THINKMD’s goal was to use technology to improve healthcare access and quality to address key global health issues, particularly those leading to premature death and disability in children. Now, they have developed similar solutions for adults, especially where healthcare access is limited.
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UVM Earns $20M Research Grant to Study the Impact of Stories Online
(May 8, 2023 – UVM)
A groundbreaking data science effort to better understand and harness the power of stories has earned the University of Vermont a $20 million research capacity building award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).
The effort dubbed the Science of Online Corpora, Knowledge, and Stories (SOCKS) focuses on stories as an essential part of how people comprehend, explain, predict, and seek to navigate the world. SOCKS supports the Digital Humanities by developing a powerful approach to quantifying both individual stories and ecologies of stories through massive data collection, natural language processing, and large language models—computer-based encodings of the meaningful connections between words and phrases.
The cornerstone for SOCKS is StoryWrangler, a curation of Twitter into day-scale phrase counts for over 200 billion tweets in 100 languages from 2008 through to mid-2023.
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Why Americans Are Leaving Big Cities Behind
(May 3, 2023 – On Point, WBUR)
NPR syndicated radio program On Point discusses the movement of people from larger cities, including guest Peter Nelson, of Middlebury college:
Americans are moving out of big cities. This is a reversal of fortunes for America's cities, which were experiencing a couple of decades of population growth.
But recently, cost, quality of life and the pandemic are making more Americans than ever reconsider city life.
Peter Nelson: "We will see some rebound of people that initially left during the pandemic and then now have decided to move back. But I think more fundamentally, the reorganization of the relationship between home and work is going to enable more people to reconsider the degree to which they want to stay in a city. And I think that has big implications for particularly medium and small sized cities and more remote rural regions. The data suggest that there has been a significant shift out of the biggest cities down the urban hierarchy to those small metro and what we call micropolitan areas."
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A New Pitch Competition for UVM Students Has a $200K Cash Prize
(May 3, 2023 – Seven Days)
Would-be entrepreneurs at the University of Vermont received a bracing shot of good news: A new business competition has been founded that will yield annual awards worth more than $200,000.
The Joy and Jerry Meyers Cup contest, which starts in the fall semester, establishes a cash award for the undergraduate or team that comes up with a great idea and a solid plan for turning it into a business. Team members can be from any department or major at UVM, but at least one must be a senior who, after graduating, will make a full-time job of establishing the business.
Finalists and winners are also promised mentoring and professional advice worth thousands of dollars from local entrepreneurs, investors, accountants, and lawyers.
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Vermont Systems Announces Acquisition of CampBrain
(May 2, 2023 – Vermont Systems)
Vermont Systems, the leading provider of recreation management and payment processing solutions for municipalities, golf clubs, colleges & universities, and the United States Military, announced its strategic acquisition of Toronto-based CampBrain, a best-in-class SaaS solution for camp management and registration.
Founded in 1994 and used by 1700 camps across the US and Canada, CampBrain helps K-12 school auxiliary programs, day camps, overnight camps, faith-based camps, YMCA camps, and special needs camps with a full suite of easy-to-use software for camp management.
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Vermont Technology Alliance Membership Update
The Vermont Technology Alliance works on behalf of its members and is able to carry out its mission through the support of its membership.
Not a VTTA member yet? Then why not join now? Find more information and register here. You can also contact us at admin@vtta.org.
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Featured Member – Competitive Computing (C2) |
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Competitive Computing (C2), A Xerox Business Solutions Company, is a leading technology consulting firm for Data Solutions, Cloud Solutions, and Managed Services. C2 helps organizations establish and sustain a competitive advantage through the innovative use of technology. With a focus on building strategic value, C2's industry-leading solutions are custom-designed to help position clients to compete in an increasingly fast-paced and highly connected world. For 30 years, C2 has worked with brand-name businesses, as well as educational and government institutions, to deliver award-winning solutions. C2's growing, local team is nationally recognized, specializing in best-in-class B2B digital experience platforms, software-defined data centers, cloud management, IT transformation services, and 24/7 managed support.
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Useful Information & Links |
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Legal Resources for Small Businesses
The Vermont Law School Entrepreneurial Legal Lab (VLSell) provides access to legal services for small businesses and startups including legal topics impacting diverse and disadvantaged businesses and business owners in Vermont. VLSell can help through:
- Individual educational consultations to answer legal questions and help you get ready to work with an attorney.
- Referrals for up to 10 hours of free legal service with a Vermont attorney for qualifying for-profit, Vermont-run BIPOC-, LGBTQ+-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses, businesses owned by individuals with a disability, and rural businesses.
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Presentations on legal topics and office hours for business owners and stakeholders (recordings of past presentations available on the Community Navigator Pilot Program page).
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Online Professional Development Courses
The VTTA has partnered with MindEdge to offer easy-to-access, affordable, online professional development courses. Whether you are looking to expand your skill set, earn professional credits, or learn something new, these courses are an option to gain essential and in-demand skills on your own time, at your own pace, and from any location. As a bonus, VTTA members save 10% on all offerings.
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VTTA Career Center
Vermont Technology Alliance member companies are hiring, and when you visit the Career Center on the Vermont Technology Alliance website you can browse and search for these job openings and subscribe to updates. The Career Center on average features 300+ tech and non-tech jobs with Vermont Technology Alliance member businesses. Jobs available from VTTA members are listed at no charge in the Career Center as a member benefit.
Find the Career Center here.
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Advertise in the Vermont Technology Alliance Newsletter
Feature your business or organization as a sponsor or with an ad in this newsletter and support the VTTA.
Each month reach an audience made up of leaders, innovators, supporters and partners of Vermont’s growing and dynamic tech sector.
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The VTTA Thanks Its Member/Sponsors
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