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2009

March

March 31, 2009

Maybe it takes a job fair to dispel the popular notion that there aren't any openings out there.

Just days after Vermont's unemployment rate rose to 7 percent, the highest level in 17 years, more than 90 employers turned out for Champlain College's spring job fair Monday, and many of them -- from Kmart to Northwestern Medical Center to Dealer.com -- are hiring....

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2008

November

October

Our industry has seen a significant increase in press coverage and discussion amongst state officials and legislators lately. Between the recent Emergent Media Center Event to the second installment of Vermont 3.0, the buzz is cetainly in the air.

2007

Green thinking vs. great access: A tale of two high-tech contenders

Martell is first director of Vermont software group

Burlington Vt. - Patrick Martell is just now rolling up his sleeves as the first executive director of the Vermont Software Developers' Alliance, but the three-year old group has already laid out the groundwork so Martell could hit the ground running.

"I don't see this as a startup," he said. "They've really done a lot of work laying the foundation."

Martell said he's been spending his first month on the job meeting with member companies and potential member companies, as well as state legislators. He called the experience "quite interesting, a very good challenge." more >>>

vtSDA Hires New Executive Director

Editorial: Investing in Vermont's software industry

Seed money. That's what the $50,000 the state allocated this year for  the Vermont Software Developers' Alliance is. If the state is looking  for innovative ways to drive growth, this is a good example. more >>>

vtSDA Secures Funding

BURLINGTON, Vt. - The vtSDA has been awarded $120k in funding from state and federal grant programs.  This funding will enable the vtSDA to hire an executive director, and to develop new programs of value to member companies.  Funding is as follows:

• $25k from the Governor's announcement on March 18th, 2007
• $25k per year from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, beginning July 1st 2007.
• A one time grant of $25k, from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, beginning July 1st, 2007.
• A one time grant of $45k, from the Federal Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG), beginning Summer 2007.

New Media Honor Roll

I mentioned in a previously that I would write some posts about the positive things I see happening in the Vermont business community that do not get noticed much in the mainstream media. So this is the first of several "Honor Roll" posts broken down by industry sector. I have decided that the first honor roll post will cover the "new media" industry.  more >>>

Hard answers for software companies

The Vermont Software Developers Alliance, founded informally nearly three years ago, is banding together dozens of companies, hoping to demonstrate the promise of Vermont?s growing software industry. more >>>

Software group looks to boost Vt.'s tech image

March 22nd, 2007
By Leslie Wright, Free Press Staff Writer

SOUTH BURLINGTON -- Amid the Ben & Jerry's, maple syrup and Holstein cows, Vermont's burgeoning software industry is looking to carve out an image of its own ...  more >>>

Governor Douglas Proposes e-State

South Burlington, Vermont - Greg Brand is an owner of a software development company in Richmond, as well as on the board of the Vermont Software Development (sic) Alliance.  vtSDA is excited about Governor Jim Douglas' e-state initiative ...  more >>>

Governor Douglas Promotes ‘E-State’ Initiative at Meeting of Vermont Software Developers

2006

Minding Our Own Business

Vermont's economic-development efforts to attract major manufacturing or service employers to Vermont have been largely ineffective, non-strategic and a waste of money. What?s more, few in the economic-development sector would debate this conclusion. In the Douglas administration, leadership on the issue is MIA. This is arguably true in the tourism department as well. As one staffer recently commented, "It's mostly about the leaves." more >>>

IT Round Table Discussion

Take this Job and Love It

Vermont's high tech industries, especially those involved in aspects of software development, argue they are being held back in their growth by a lack of investment capital and by the state's low unemployment rate, which translates into a lack of skilled workers.  more >>>

The Power Behind the Throne

When Peter Clavelle steps down as mayor of Burlington on April 3, he'll leave a long list of accomplishments.

There are plenty of ways in which he and the Progressives -- his party until he signed on as a Democrat in 2003 -- have transformed the city. Most of his greatest successes, and some of his most glaring stumbles, are in some way connected to the Community and Economic Development Office, a much misunderstood, quasi-governmental entity with a big mission. more >>> 

2005

Vermont becomes code word for software developers

An axiom of the Internet age holds that information workers can operate home-based businesses almost anywhere, including the backwoods of Vermont. Plenty of software developers are doing just that, but many have found that these generally satisfying situations do have one big drawback: a sense of isolation.  more >>>