A Fond Farewell Message

From Patrick Martell

Dear Members of the vtSDA -

March 20th, 2009 will be my last day working with the vtSDA. I would like thank each and every one of you for allowing me to serve as your Executive Director and for working with me to make a positive impact on Vermont's Economy and the software industry in particular. I will miss seeing you all at the monthly Lunch & Learns and having the opportunity to talk with you about your businesses, the challenges you've overcome, and the opportunities you could not wait to harvest.

Thanks to everyone's help, I am very proud of the many accomplishments achieved by the Vermont Software Developers Alliance over the past two years: from the RBEG grant, which we used to create jobs, to the Career Enhancement grant, which introduces middle and high school students to computer science; from the Vermont 3.0 Career Jams, to our participation in the legislative processes in Montpelier; and from our work with VTC to our growing relationship with Champlain and other area colleges. Each of these achievements continue to build awareness for and strengthen the viability of the software industry in Vermont.

I may be stepping down as Executive Director of the vtSDA, but I will continue to work in the tech sector. As many of you know, I have several family businesses in this area and this transition will allow me to pursue a number of exciting opportunities. I also expect we will continue to run into each other in the future. I will be keeping in touch with the vtSDA and will continue to share my excitement and enthusiasm for the organization, its mission, and its vision. I encourage you to keep in touch with me and to share your individual accomplishments as you continue to grow and strengthen your own companies.          

Thank you all again and I wish you all the best of luck!

Sincerely,