H.10 was presented in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Representative Toleno spoke for the Committee on Appropriations, reporting in favor of its passage.

Chairman Marcotte presented Jessica Hartleben (Executive Director, Vermont Economic Progress Council) to the House Commerce Committee on Tuesday morning. She focused her presentation on the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) and a proposed forgivable loan incentive. She shared that the Council supports S.247 as it sends a message to the business community that “Vermont is encouraging businesses to come… stay… and create better workforce opportunities for Vermonters.”

Richard Amore (Planning & Outreach Manager, Department of Housing & Community Development) presented a slide deck to the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday morning.

The House Commerce Committee heard updates from experts on Tuesday about the Green Mountain Jobs Retention Program.

Joan Goldstein (Commissioner, Department of Economic Development) joined the Senate Economic Development Committee on Friday, along with Abbie Sherman (Executive Director, Vermont Economic Progress Council).

The following is a letter sent to the Senate Economic Development and House Commerce Committees on Friday April 22nd, 2022.

Tourism was one of the hardest hit industries by the Covid-19 pandemic with an estimated loss of over $700 million in revenue in 2020. We identified re-energizing tourism as a key early initiative in our Plan for Economic Recovery this Spring.

As we build back, we wondered what we can do to come back stronger and smarter than before. This lead us to hire Asher Crispe, an emerging technology consultant, to investigate how Vermont could leverage our brand and our place in the market to rejuvenate our small businesses that were hardest-hit by the pandemic.

We are exited to be able to share our findings and recommendations with you so you can learn more about this iconic Vermont industry and what you can do to help rebuild it.