Attracting Today’s Tech Workforce
Millennials, those born from 1981 to 1996, have become the largest generation in the workforce, so where they decide to live is important to employers. A new report by education research firm Scholaro, the 2022 Best & Worst States for Millennials, has both good and bad news for Vermont. Vermont ranks 8th in the nation as the best state for Millennials. But, while it may be a good place for Millennials to live, it has the lowest share of Millennials in the nation.
That’s significant for all employers, but particularly for tech. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, workers between the ages of 25 to 44 make up more than half (52.6%) of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) employees. That’s why the VTTA has supported efforts to attract workers to the state – particularly those working in STEM roles – to meet the workforce needs of the state’s tech sector.
One program that could help is Vermont’s Worker Relocation Incentive Program that is now accepting applications at ThinkVermont.com. This program will provide grants of up to $7,500 to both new workers (moving to Vermont to take a Vermont job) and remote workers (moving to Vermont and bringing their job with them) to defray moving costs. This latest iteration of moving incentives is open to all occupations across all sectors, including tech roles. And provides a pre-approval process for those who have not yet moved to the state, so a participant knows if they will receive the incentive before they move.
The program was passed with $3 million in funding by the Vermont Legislature. The VTTA advocated for these grants as an added incentive for workers in tech roles to make Vermont home. And while the VTTA also is advocating to make expanding the workforce in the state possible, such as housing, this program can be another tool that tech businesses can use in their recruiting efforts.
VTTA’s Career Center is a good place to find current tech career opportunities, with more than 300 jobs listed.
Vermont can be a good place for all generations of workers, particularly in tech.
Jeff Couture
Executive Director
Vermont Technology Alliance
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Virtual Workforce Support Sessions for Employers
(December 1, 8, 15, 2022)
Employers interested in recruitment, training, and retention resources have a new opportunity to connect with experts in a series of lunchtime learning sessions presented by Workforce Development Specialists from the Department of Economic Development, Department of Labor, and Vermont State Colleges (Vermont State University and Community College of Vermont). Meetings will be held virtually on three consecutive Thursdays from noon to 1 p.m. starting December 1.
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UVM Student Computer Science Fair
(December 9, 2022)
The CS Fair is an event where UVM Computer Science students (majors, minors or just taking a class) submit and showcase their computer projects. The purpose of the CS Fair is to give students a chance to present their work to their peers and professionals in an open and exciting environment. A panel of judges critique the student work for the awarding of cash prizes.
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MindEdge & VTTA Professional Development Offering |
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Fast Company's self-paced online courses are designed for busy professionals
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Why Fast Company Training?
In a competitive job market, keeping your job is just as
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Our Fast Company courses help you future-proof your career by focusing on key skills in communication, creativity and innovation, design thinking, networking, and personal branding. Having a solid work ethic and strong identity in your career could be the difference between being a good team member and a great one.
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Sample Course List
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New National Broadband Map Offers Granular Look at Service and Gaps
(November 18, 2022)
The Federal Communications Commission on November 18 released an initial draft of a national map showing in greater detail than ever before what locations in the country have broadband service.
The move is a major step toward making sure roughly $42 billion to increase high-speed internet service that was included in last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law goes to the places that need upgraded connections the most. The prior map used to distribute federal dollars has been criticized because of its lack of detail about service availability.
States, localities, and even the general public, now have less than two months to challenge the map’s accuracy before NTIA uses the data to divvy up the billions in broadband funding between states, based on what percentage of their residents lack high-speed internet. The agency recommended last week that challenges be filed with the FCC by Jan. 13 in order for them to be considered in time to affect how the money is spread around.
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Vermont To Receive $4 Million Settlement with Google Over Location Tracking Practices
(November 14, 2022 – Vermont Attorney General’s Office)
Attorney General Susanne Young announced that Vermont will receive $4 million from a multistate settlement with Google over its location tracking practices related to Google Account settings. The settlement also requires Google to be more transparent with consumers about its practices, including giving users detailed information about the types of location data Google collects and how it’s used. The multistate settlement announced November 14 was negotiated by a coalition of 40 attorneys general and totals $391.5 million. It is the largest multistate privacy settlement negotiated by attorneys general in history.
The attorneys general opened the Google investigation following a 2018 Associated Press article that revealed Google “records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to.” The article focused on two Google account settings: Location History and Web & App Activity. Location History is “off” unless a user turns on the setting, but Web & App Activity, a separate account setting, is automatically “on” when users set up a Google account, including all Android phone users.
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Despite Federal Subsidies, Microchip Maker GlobalFoundries Plans Job Cuts, Hiring Freeze
(November 14, 2022 – Vermont Public)
GlobalFoundries is implementing a hiring freeze and plans to cut its workforce, company leaders told employees in a memo. It’s not yet clear whether job cuts will impact the company’s plant in Essex Junction, where it employs about 2,000 people, making it Vermont’s largest private, for-profit employer.
As Bloomberg first reported, the $35 billion computer chip company did not detail when or where job cuts may occur, but Gina DeRossi, a company spokesperson, confirmed to Vermont Public that GlobalFoundries is “taking a set of focused actions to selectively reduce our workforce.” In a call with investors last week, company leaders said they intend to cut $200 million in costs, as the semiconductor manufacturer expects inflation, rising interest rates and falling demand to impact its bottom line.
As that demand decreases, company leaders told investors they specifically plan to cut back production of chips made on 200-millimeter wafers, which the company only produces in Singapore and Essex Junction.
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Millennials Doing Well in Vermont Overall, There’s Just Not Many of Them
(November 14, 2022 – Vermont Business Magazine)
Millennials have quickly become the leading generation of the United States over the past few years. The good news for Vermont is that the state ranks 8th in the nation as the best state for Millennials; the bad news is Vermont has the fewest of them.
Scholaroo’s new report on the Best and Worst States for Millennials has gathered data on 52 metrics that impact this generation’s decision on where to live. Considerations such as the cost of living, homeownership rate, unemployment rate, and median student loan debt, among other factors.
They have discovered that while the living standards and economic situation for many have declined over the last two years, some states proved to be more livable for millennials than others.
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Vermont Worker Relocation Incentive Program Now Open for Applications for Relocating and Remote Workers
(November 11, 2022 – Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development)
The Worker Relocation Incentive Program is now live at ThinkVermont.com. This program will provide grants of up to $7,500 to both new workers (moving to Vermont to take a Vermont job) and remote workers (moving to Vermont and bringing their job with them) to defray moving costs. The program was passed with $3 million in funding by the Vermont Legislature. The VTTA advocated in support of these grants as an added incentive for workers in tech roles to make Vermont home.
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VCF Pairs Up with Hula’s Venture Capital Fund to Invest in Tech Start-Ups
(November 1, 2022 – The Community Foundation)
The Fund at Hula, a venture capital firm that invests in seed and early-stage technology start-ups, has partnered with Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) to create a new fund, VCF at Hula. This collaboration couples two entities who share a commitment to advance economic and community development in the state.
VCF at Hula will prioritize investing in local startups who have the greatest potential to generate venture returns, create jobs in Vermont, advance economic activity, and make positive change with innovative solutions for their respective industries. VCF at Hula is aiming to raise $3M and is open to additional elective participation through December 15th, 2023.
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$26.5M in Grants Approved to Expand Broadband to Thousands of Vermonters
(October 25, 2022 - Department of Public Service)
The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) approved three grants totaling $26.45 Million to bring broadband to more than 4,000 underserved Vermont addresses. The source of the grant funding is the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
$9.1 million has been awarded to the Maple Broadband/Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom (WCVT) partnership to expand fiber-optic broadband into parts of rural Addison County, including Bridport, Ferrisburgh, New Haven, Panton, Waltham, and Weybridge.
$8.35 million has been awarded to WCVT to start the first phase of their build-out to bring broadband to 1200 underserved addresses in towns that are not part of a CUD. WCVT is adding full build-out in the town of Charlotte and full build-out in the town of Bolton. WCVT will also begin partial build-out work in seven other towns.
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Vermont Named the Safest State in America by WalletHub
(October 25, 2022 – WalletHub)
WalletHub recently compiled a list of the safest states in America, and Vermont came out on top of the rankings. Neighboring states Maine and New Hampshire ranked second and third on the list.
In order to determine the safest states in which to live, WalletHub compared the 50 states across five key dimensions: 1) Personal & Residential Safety, 2) Financial Safety, 3) Road Safety, 4) Workplace Safety, and 5) Emergency Preparedness. Under those categories they looked at 53 key safety indicators.
Vermont scored the highest on residential safety and workplace safety.
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New Companies Are Riding Vermont’s Health Tech Sector Boom
(October 19, 2022 – Seven Days)
Vermont earned a pushpin on the global health technology industry map decades ago when homegrown entrepreneurs founded BioTek Instruments, the Winooski life science instruments company now known as Agilent, and IDX Systems, the South Burlington health information technology firm. While those businesses have since been sold to bigger, out-of-state companies, Vermont has been incubating a new generation of cutting-edge health tech enterprises.
Investors have poured millions of dollars into these companies in hopes of getting in on the ground floor of the next game-changing software, medical device or biological product. A new venture fund, Features Capital, has even popped up to invest in health tech startups.
Since it can be hard to know whom to pay attention to in a world as fast-evolving as tech, Seven Days spoke to the leaders of five Vermont companies in various stages of growth: Vernal Biosciences, PanicMechanic, Biocogniv, Voi, and Healthy Design.
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Vermont Technology Alliance Membership Update
The Vermont Technology Alliance works on behalf of its members and is able to carry out its mission through the support of its membership.
Joining as a new member are Hula as a Partner Member-Sponsor and renewing as a new Partner Member-Sponsor is Marvell. We appreciate the foundational support for the VTTA and our work on behalf of Vermont’s tech economy from our annual Member-Sponsors. Also joining as a new member is individual Alex Wonnell.
Not a VTTA member yet? Then why not join now? Find more information and register here. You can also contact us at [email protected].
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Featured Member – NRG Systems
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We are NRG Systems, a subsidiary of ESCO Technologies Inc. We revolutionized the way wind resource assessment was done 40 years ago. Today, this heritage of innovation informs everything we do. We are dedicated to designing and manufacturing smart technologies for a more sustainable planet – that means more renewable energy, cleaner air, and a safer environment for all.
Our hardware and software offerings are designed to be exceptionally user-friendly, improve data accessibility, and simplify workflows at all stages of wind and solar project development. We also provide a range of design, installation, and operational services to support our products for truly turnkey solutions. Our resource measurement systems, turbine control sensors, Bat Deterrent Systems, and Lidar remote sensors can be found in more than 170 countries.
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Useful Information & Links |
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Short Term Forgivable Loan Program
As of November 1, the Short-Term Forgivable Loan Program application is open to all business sectors. Businesses with fewer than 500 employees, operating since March 13, 2020, and suffering economic harm from COVID-19 may apply.
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DeltaClimeVT seeks entrepreneurs for Energy 2023 Cohort
The DeltaClimeVT climate economy business accelerator is seeking innovative, early-stage, energy companies addressing the decarbonization of buildings, transportation, heating and industrial processes through electrification, biofuels or other renewables. Entrepreneurs will work directly with Vermont utilities to contribute to Vermont’s 90% renewable by 2050 and Burlington’s Net Zero by 2030 goals over three months of intensive work sessions.
This will be the seventh cohort for the accelerator program that will bring together 7-10 early-stage energy companies from across the U.S. and Canada to work together over three months while competing for a $25,000 non-equity prize for the top venture.
To learn more and apply, visit deltaclimevt.com. The application period ends February 5, 2023.
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Online Professional Development Courses
The VTTA has partnered with MindEdge to offer easy-to-access, affordable, online professional development courses. Whether you are looking to expand your skill set, earn professional credits, or learn something new, these courses are an option to gain essential and in-demand skills on your own time, at your own pace, and from any location. As a bonus, VTTA members save 10% on all offerings.
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VTTA Career Center
Vermont Technology Alliance member companies are hiring, and when you visit the Career Center on the Vermont Technology Alliance website you can browse and search for these job openings and subscribe to updates. The Career Center on average features 200+ tech and non-tech jobs with Vermont Technology Alliance member businesses. Jobs available from VTTA members are listed at no charge in the Career Center as a member benefit.
Find the Career Center here.
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Advertise in the Vermont Technology Alliance Newsletter
Feature your business or organization as a sponsor or with an ad in this newsletter and support the VTTA.
Each month, reach an audience made up of leaders, innovators, supporters and partners of Vermont’s growing and dynamic tech sector.
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The VTTA Thanks Its Member/Sponsors
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