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Message from the Board
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Useful Links
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Dear vtTA Members & Supporters,
With a new year under way, the Vermont Technology Alliance is looking forward to continuing to support and promote Vermont's tech business sector and entrepreneurs. Some of our recent activity has included:
- Meetings with tech businesses, entrepreneurs and economic development officials to discuss tech hiring, job training and developing a Vermont economic development marketing plan.
- Participation in a USDA event in Royalton with the U.S. administrator to highlight its programs supporting economic development, including our tech job recruiting grant.
- Working with BTV Ignite on opportunities supporting the tech ecosystem.
- Meeting with tech-based meetup groups.
- Preparing a tech job recruitment survey and Vermont tech job economic impact report.
We will continue to advocate for programs and policies on behalf of Vermont's tech business community with Vermont legislators and government leaders. Among our priorities are:
- Broaden Vermont's brand and marketing message to highlight our tech and innovation economy to attract employees and businesses to the state.
- Improve the availability and cost of high-speed broadband throughout Vermont.
- Expand opportunities for technology business financing and investment.
- Support education and training to develop a Vermont workforce equipped with the skills tech businesses need.
- Revise rules that discourage tech businesses from hiring independent contractors and limit opportunities for contractors.
If you have opinions or perspectives on these or other areas the vtTA should be aware of, please share them with Jeff Couture at
[email protected]
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In sum, we're exciting about the momentum and opportunities for tech in Vermont.
Jeff Couture
Executive Director, Vermont Technology Alliance
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[January 21, 2016 - Champlain College, Burlington]
Paolo Pedercini is the featured speaker in Generator's third presentation in its Big Maker series. Paolo's work explores the intersection of ideology and entertainment, as he calls for the radicalization of popular culture through the re-appropriation of video games - as art, activist expression and meaningful interaction.
The Professionals Collaborative holds its tenth annual Networking Meeting with the theme "A Decade of Change: Now What?" Guest speaker Jeff Couture, executive director of the Vermont Technology Alliance, will address "Our Growing Tech Community - The Economic Opportunity for VT"
CCTV, Common Good Vermont and Burlington NetSquared host a presentation on the "Internet of Things" by Dr. Steven Shepard, founder of the Shepard Communications Group in Williston.
Vermont Technology Alliance's Feb. Lunch & Learn
focuses on the Vermont-Quebec Enterprise Initiative, an effort to increase business partnerships, employee recruiting opportunities, and business expansion activity between Vermont and Quebec. Guest speakers Tom Torti and Marla Woulf will discuss potential opportunities for tech and other Vermont businesses.
[February 19,, 2016 - Champlain College, Burlington]
Teams from nine colleges across the state will compete in the first-ever LaunchVT Collegiate Competition for a first-place prize of $7500 and an automatic finalist spot in the LaunchVT competition.
[February 22, 2016 - Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center]
The Vermont Council on Rural Development will host the second Summit on Vermont's Climate Economy at Vermont Technical College in Randolph to share the action platform of the Vermont Climate Economy Council and discuss common ground for action. The focus is identifying steps that will reduce carbon emissions while stimulating economic development opportunities in Vermont.
[March 3, 2016 - Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center]
Hosted by FreshTracks Capital, Peak Pitch Vermont, now in its 11th year, is a skiing, networking and fundraising event held at Sugarbush Mountain. Entrepreneurs are paired on a chairlift with an investor or advisor, and provided the chance to deliver their elevator pitch on the way up the mountain during a fun and active day out on the slopes.
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[January 14, 2016 - Source: press release/vtdigger]
The Community College of Vermont is partnering with the Burlington Generator to introduce students to the maker and entrepreneurial communities in the Burlington area. The project is designed to help CCV students gain experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, which are increasingly valued by Vermont employers.
SymQuest Group, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., recently announced the addition of Stacey Matthews to their document sales team. Matthews joins SymQuest as a Document Solutions Regional Sales Director and will be based in South Burlington, VT.
A new Vermont PBS web series "InnoVaTe," hosted by Victoria Taylor, spotlights some of Vermont's most creative technology entrepreneurs. The six-part series is available in its entirety at vermontpbs.org and at youtube.com/VermontPublicTV.
[January 12, 2016 - Source: press release]
Kennedy Brothers has opened the KB Coworking and Conference Center in Vergennes to provide a collaborative and professional office for telecommuters and small business people who want flexible lease options. The facility offers flexible work space and three conference rooms.
[January 11, 2016 - Source: Kauffman Foundation]
A report from the Kauffman Foundation focusing on small business activity in states and metropolitan areas ranks Vermont number 1 among 25 smaller U.S. states. The report also lists Vermont in the top five for female business owners, older business owners and younger adult business owners among smaller states.
The index is an indicator of small business activity, focusing on established small businesses (firms older than five years with less than 50 employees) and trends in ownership rates.
[January 8, 2016 - Source: vtdigger]
A panel of high-ranking lawmakers voted to give $1 million to GlobalFoundries, despite objections from 50 other legislators who questioned the hush-hush process that led to the appropriation. The $1 million in Enterprise Fund money for GlobalFoundries will be allocated in two payments of $500,000 as part of GlobalFoundries' plan to invest $72 million in capital in the Essex plant.
[January 8, 2016 - Source: press release/Vermont Business Magazine]
Composites BHS, a Sherbrooke-based manufacturer, has selected St Johnsbury, Vermont for its expansion into the United States. This new investment will facilitate the creation of approximately 75 new jobs over the next several years.
Composites BHS does composite research and development, design and production, and serves the aerospace and transportation sectors.
[January 7, 2016 - Source: Vermont Business Magazine ]
 An innovative project developed at the University of Vermont has received a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for research aimed at making the electric grid better able to accommodate power generated from renewable energy sources.
[January 7, 2016 - Source: press release/Vermont Business Magazine ]
ECFiber and its operations contractor ValleyNet have announced Carole Monroe will be taking on the CEO role from outgoing CEO Stan Williams, who will remain as Chief Financial Officer. The organization also announced that it had reached the 1200 customer milestone.
[January 5, 2016 - Source: press release/Vermont Business Magazine ]
Comcast said that it is seeking candidates to fill more than 30 new "customer-facing" jobs in Vermont over the coming months, in addition to the 20 already recently added across the state. These new positions, which include customer care representatives and supervisors, are based in the company's South Burlington call center.
[January 4, 2016 - Source: press release/Vermont Business Magazine ]
Exterus Technology for Business, located in Shelburne, has announced it is merging its Xerox copier, printer and IT business with Usherwood Office Technology, located in Williston. The merged entity will be known as Usherwood Office Technology.
[December 28, 2015 - Source: Seven Days ]
Seven Days drew up a list of the top 10 tech stories that influenced Vermont's growing tech ecosystem in 2015, based on the stories they reported and input from local academics, organizers, entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts.
[December 29, 2015 - Source: press release/Vermont Business Magazine ]
GS Precision in Brattleboro held a groundbreaking ceremony with Vermont officials for a $17 million expansion that is expected to bring 100 new jobs in the next few years. The event capped nearly eight months of work by local and state organizations to ensure that the company expanded its business in Brattleboro and not elsewhere.
Springer-Miller Systems, a leading provider of hospitality management systems, announced the appointment of Michael McCarthy as President and CEO to lead the company into its next chapter of growth and innovation.
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Control Technologies believes that a building should be energy efficient, environmentally friendly and provide a comfortable and enjoyable working environment. For more than 30 years they have designed and installed building automation systems to efficiently control nearly every energy consuming system in a building, including HVAC, lighting, access control and security.
Founded in 1986 in Burlington, Vermont, Control Technologies has grown to over 200 employees and five offices nationwide. Control Technologies is passionate about its business and makes every effort to ensure its staff share its passion, vision, and excitement. Control Technologies' commitment to employee development and training has resulted in a highly capable and experienced staff that has the knowledge, dedication and skillset to continue defining building performance for years to come.
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Would you like to see your company highlighted? Know of a company the vtTA should be talking about? Send us an email at
[email protected]
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We welcome individuals and businesses as vtTA members. Members benefit from vtTA's advocacy, programs and services, including discounts on our sponsored events, job postings in our Career Center, and networking and business opportunities. Sign up to be a new member
here
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Useful Information & Links
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In an effort to work more closely with industry and businesses, the University of Vermont Office of the Provost and Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) are pleased to announce the UVM-Industry Fellowship Program. This program seeks to address the needs of businesses by partnering them with the expertise of UVM faculty members and graduate students or postdoctoral research associates.
UVM faculty members will identify industries or businesses with which to pursue areas of intellectual and/or commercial opportunities of mutual interest to both the industry partner and the faculty member. The faculty member, through this program, and the commercial partner will be expected to co-fund a portion of a doctoral-level graduate student or postdoctoral research associate. This individual will work on a project specific to the industry partner's identified needs under the guidance of the faculty member in full compliance with governing laws and UVM policies and procedures.
LaunchVT is a business pitch competition awarding cash and in-kind resources to entrepreneurs who deliver plans for new businesses that demonstrate exceptional potential in today's market. LaunchVT is accepting applications for entrepreneurs with promising business ideas for the 2016 business pitch competition.
Champlain Valley SCORE continues its small business roundtable series on the first Tuesday of each month with "Need Money for My Small Business, Where Do I Go?, Tuesday, Feb. 2.
The SBA and SCORE presents a panel of experts from a variety of funding sources in Vermont to discuss how you can find the funding avenues to meet your needs.
Visit the Career Center tab on the
Vermont Technology Alliance website
. Member companies can post open positions, while job seekers can search positions and sign up for new posting notifications.
Current positions listed include:
- Java Programming instructor for the Spring semester - Community College of Vermont Software Developers - Inntopia
- Senior Systems Engineer - Virtual Desktop - Competitive Computing (C2)
- Systems Engineer - Competitive Computing (C2)
- Web Front-end Developer - Technical Connection, Inc.
- Electrical Engineer - Technical Connection, Inc.
- Director of Information Technology - The Howard Center
- Database Administrator/Analyst - Vermont Information Technology Leaders
- CRC Pro Technology - Workforce Education Instructor - CCV
Meetup Groups
Interested in finding tech meet up groups? There are a number of active groups in Vermont. Find a listing in Vermont Technology Alliance's
Resources page
. If we are missing your group, please let us know.
Find the resources page
here
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| © 2014 Vermont Technology Alliance | 70 South Winooski Ave., Box 270, Burlington, VT 05401 | (802) 735-0840 |
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