Southern Vermont Economy Summit
May 28th, 2020
Conference Program
Connectivity Breakfast
Sponsored By AARP Vermont
Have breakfast with local, regional, and state leaders on connectivity and hear updates on CUD formations in our region, funding opportunities, and regional efforts.
Please register separately for this breakfast event.
Power In Numbers: Using Economic Data to Understand and Shape our Future
Keynote Speaker: Josh Wright, Community Insight Division at Emsi
Sponsored By the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development
Josh leads the economic and workforce development team at Emsi, a leading source of labor market data for communities, colleges, and companies. Emsi's mission is to use data to inform and connect people, educators, and employers.
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Josh writes and presents on the subjects of data best practices and emerging trends in economic development and regional workforce analysis, including recent work on analyzing regional skills clusters to market and match local talent to companies. Josh and his team look at the best way to diagnose and treat regional supply and demand gaps and help people find the right career paths.
Preparing Young People to Thrive Here
What Does It Really Mean to Grow My Business?
"Employer of Choice" is the Only Choice
Investing in Ourselves: Opportunity Zones
We say we want young people to stay or move here, but what can we do to really send that message and support them? Young people are our Vermont's most precious resource. Learn from educators who are working to attract, retain and nurture the next generation of talented people by integrating career development into high school and college experiences.
Is your business the right size? Does it feel too small to achieve your goals, too big to manage? This session looks at the pros and cons of taking a business to the next stage with real stories from real entrepreneurs.
Southern Vermont's job market is more competitive than ever. To recruit and retain talent, employers are investing in everything from compensation and traditional benefits, to workplace culture and not-so-traditional benefits. Hear from employers and employment experts about investing wisely to build (and keep!) the team you need.
The newest tool in the federal toolkit to help communities, Opportunity Zones can fund public and private projects to help communities reach their goals for revitalization and growth. Dive deep on the workings of Opportunity Zones through specific project examples.
Lunch
Sponsored By Green Mountain Power and VELCO
Emerging Leaders of Southern Vermont Awards
"Small stories. Just the right size for our wonderfully small state"
Keynote Speaker: Bill Drew, Founder and Chief Storyteller at Kipling Road
Sponsored By Stevens & Associates and MSK Engineering
Every day, we try to get our teams, co-workers, bosses, clients, vendors, partners, contractors and prospects to listen to us, understand us and ultimately follow us. And in many cases, buy from us. We are all in the persuasion biz. Storytelling is the simplest and most direct route to persuasion. To be more specific, small stories. Creating a big library of small stories is the key. Most of us have little or no training in how to get better at storytelling. The good news is, everyone is a born storyteller. So we start from that spot and build up. Before you know, you’ll be better at persuasion because you will become better at storytelling. Small stories, that is.
Coming to America...via Vermont!
The Grow-Your-Business-Nitty-Gritty Workshop
Success & Struggle: Young and Free in SoVT
Writing Our Next Chapter: Storytelling Workshop
Many rural communities are experiencing renewed vitality by welcoming new Americans. Hear first hand from some new Vermonters about the journey to their Vermont home, what brought them here and what it's like to build a new life here.
The morning session focused on what growth is like from the inside. We saved the nuts-and-bolts conversation for the afternoon. Should you grow? Can you grow? Are you ready? Come ready to assess your own business path forward.
What millennials want and need, from the mouths of actual millennials. What really influences young professionals choosing to move or move back? How can southern Vermont make it easier for young people building a life here?
It's the start of a new decade! Where will your community or organization be in 2030? This is a storytelling workshop for participants to work on writing that next chapter.