Hard answers for software companies
Published: Thursday, March 29, 2007
By: Dan McLean, Free Press Staff Writer
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.
The group is “the voice of the software industry in Vermont,” said Greg Brand, co-chairman of the group and president of Bluehouse Group, a Richmond Web site design firm. “Our mission is to support and grow Vermont software and technology businesses. The software industry is a perfect fit for Vermont. It is clean, it requires little infrastructure, it brings in significant money from out of state and it pays wages much higher than the state average.”
The group started meeting informally in the summer of 2004. In January, the trade association received nonprofit status, said Bruce Seifer, assistant director for economic development with Burlington’s Community and Economic Development Office; Seifer also serves as an adviser to the Vermont Software Developers Alliance, know as vtSDA. The organization lists 40 companies on its Web site member link.
“What they do is talk about the business of running a software company and how to do that effectively,” Seifer said. “Hiring is a big issue. A lot of these people can’t find people. So that’s always a big issue. How do you find people? How do you train them?”
Ann Pettyjohn, the vice president of business development and operations for Green Mountain Software of Colchester, is one the Vermont Software Developers Alliance’s six board members.
“Being able to hire and find good people is a real issue for all of us,” she said.
That said, she believes there are more well-trained workers here than many believe. “There is a little hotbed in the software and technology arena,” she said, a talent pool the Alliance helps tap.
The lack of a large, established software industry in Vermont is “a stumbling block for those companies to grow,’ Seifer said; the Alliance is working to shows there is a “cluster” of software developers in the state, which should make investors more comfortable with making financing available, he said.
A survey conducted in the spring 2006 of some 70 software companies in Vermont found that companies estimated that their employment would double with three years, Seifer said — creating 625 more jobs.
The Alliance is also working with local colleges and universities on courses that could be offered to help train a software savvy workforce. “The colleges are listening. And we need to make sure to continue that dialogue,” Seifer said.
Software positions pay a good wage.
In 2002, when there were 251 software companies in the state, the average software industry wage was just under $60,000 a year in Vermont, he said. The next company count will be done this year, but data won’t be available until 2009.
The study, conducted by UVM graduate students, also identified several problems, including high marketing costs, access to high-speed telecommunications, availability of a skilled workforce and securing adequate financing.
“The vtSDA intends to be a catalyst for the growth of a healthy tech sector here,” Brand said.
The group is beginning the process of hiring an executive director.
“We have accomplished a lot as an all volunteer organization, but we are looking forward to hiring our first staff to help us move more rapidly and increase our impact, he said.”
Contact Dan McLean at 651-4877 or dmclean@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com