Economy

MAINTAINING Burlington as a regional population, government, cultural, and economic center with livable wage jobs, full employment, social supports, and housing that matches job growth and family income.

Burlington understands that sustainability depends on stimulating and maintaining economic growth and vitality.  To that end, realizing the Legacy vision depends on the hard work and excellence of many key stakeholders, including:

Community and Economic Development Office: CEDO  is a department of the City of Burlington charged with working with the community to foster economic vitality, as well as  preserving and enhancing neighborhoods, ensuring the quality of life and the environment; and promoting equity and opportunity for all residents of Burlington.  CEDO’s business development specialists support economic growth in practical and concrete ways: through targeted tax incentives; business loans; a business calling program; an award-winning business guide; a downtown program; hands-on help with business planning, licenses and permitting; help with lowering energy bills; help finding space; an online registry for Minority and Women Business Enterprises; and help accessing a high speed telecommunications network.

Burlington Business Association:  The BBA is the voice of business in Burlington, Vermont.  It advocates for business, offers networking opportunities for members, and promotes the economic vitality of Burlington.  The BBA, a non-profit business association founded in 1978, has 200 plus members including both businesses and non-profit organizations. The majority are located in Burlington, but it welcome members from outside the city who share the mission to promote the economic vitality of Burlington.

The Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce: The CRCC promotes and supports a healthy environment that makes the Burlington region and Vermont the ideal place to live, work and do business.  To accomplish this goal, the Lake Champlain Chamber and its 34 staff members: provide socially responsible leadership to improve the region and state’s economic environment; serves as a coalition among business, education and government to address public policy issues and represents their interests in Montpelier via a Government Affairs team; promotes the region and its quality of life;  provides its nearly 2500 members with quality services that are responsive to their needs and that will enhance their ability to succeed.  More than 87% of its member businesses have 25 or fewer employees.

Legacy also celebrates the work of our stakeholders whose various projects and activities have a profound economic impact on our community. For example:

Fletcher Allen Health Care, in partnership with Champlain Initiative, Sisters of Providence and Catholic Charities of Vermont, has co-sponsored a Bridges Out of Poverty training for 170 community members.   Working with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, Fletcher Allen and the Vermont Children’s Hospital established a refugee clinic. The refugee clinic is open two days a week and serves approximately 600 children every year.  Fletcher Allen and the Vermont Children’s Hospital continue to work with VRRP to ensure that new immigrants have access to high quality medical care, regardless of insurance.

New Guide to “Doing Business in Burlington”

Burlington is one of the “Top Ten Cities for the Next Decade” and is one of the best spots to start a business. “Doing Business in Burlington” Green Guide is the  place for new entrepreneurs to receive a step-by-step walk through of all they need to know when starting, relocating, and expanding a business in Burlington. Guides are now available at all City of Burlington Offices, including the Fletcher Free Library and CEDO.

The Social Equity Investment Project (SEIP) is a social development resource created to help Vermont leadership and communities’ better address growing cultural diverse and socio-economic issues which impact quality of life for all populations. The goal is to move Vermont beyond the challenging and transformational crossroads recognizing commonality and a shared vision.

Thus, far the SEIP has proven to be valuable resource even beyond Vermont. In March, the SEIP received the 2nd place 2009 City Cultural Diversity Award presented by the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-LEO). The SEIP was awarded nationally to honor its community leadership in developing creative and effective programs designed to improve and promote cultural diversity through a collaborative process with city officials, community leaders and residents. The SEIP model will be placed in the National League of Cities data base for national best practices.

Champlain Housing Trust: An evaluation by Champlain Housing Trust in Burlington, Vermont, the nation’s largest community land trust, shows that the community land trust model of shared equity has expanded access to home ownership while also providing permanent affordability. Resale restrictions have succeeded at maintaining affordability, even when home prices increased. More than two-thirds of the 205 residents who exited the land trust have “stepped up” to full home ownership after realizing their land trust equity gain.

INDICATORS

The following indicators illustrate the degree to which we are realizing the 2030 Legacy Vision…