[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 138 (Tuesday, September 13, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5666-S5667]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING THE VERMONT CENTER FOR EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Vermonters are proud of the innovation and 
creativity that generate successful businesses in our small State. And 
for years, Vermont's tech incubator, the Vermont Center for Emerging 
Technology, VCET, has been providing space for entrepreneurs to take 
the next steps in driving their startup businesses. As demonstrated in 
a recent profile of VCET in the New York Times, any objective observer 
can see Vermont as more than just an outdoor enthusiasts' playground--
but also as an oyster community of emerging technologies and innovative 
thinking in building smart cities and the infrastructure to go with 
them.
  It is no secret that Vermont is full of entrepreneurs eager to take 
the next steps in their respective fields. From ice cream to craft 
beverages, digital forensics to game programming, our State is home to 
many successful business endeavors. The Vermont Center for Emerging 
Technologies plays a key role in expanding Vermont's tech network while 
addressing the skilled labor shortage in the State. At its helm is 
president and fund manager David Bradbury, whose vision for the city of 
Burlington as an east coast Silicon Valley has driven the nonprofit's 
development and success.
  Housed in a brick building in downtown Burlington, VCET is powered by 
a city-owned green energy grid with an enviable fast internet 
connection. The small but skilled team not only manages the Vermont 
Seed Capital Fund to administer initial funding for high-opportunity 
businesses and teams but also provides mentoring and advice to new 
startups. In collaboration with other Burlington-based companies and 
nonprofits, including BTV Ignite and Vermont HITECH, VCET encourages 
technology pioneers to dream big. With the help of local colleges 
offering courses in high growth fields, students learn the skills 
needed to thrive in a fast-changing economy. In turn, Vermont employers 
benefit from a larger pool of skilled technology workers, while 
employees gain access to better jobs and benefits.
  The success of David's vision to grow Burlington into a technology 
hub while addressing the lack of skilled workers is rooted in something 
deeper than the rapidly expanding field of technology. Vermont's 
community and socially focused values bring neighbors together to 
benefit from shared experiences while providing local, sustainable, and 
accessible services. Corporate responsibility and attention to green 
energy reflect Vermont's commitment to lessening our environmental 
footprint while promoting energy conservation and efficiency. Whether 
encouraging Vermonters to pursue their passion for technology or 
forging new paths in the field, VCET is spurring economic development 
and technology jobs throughout our Green Mountain State.
  I ask unanimous consent that a New York Times article from July 20, 
``A `Smart' Green Tech Hub in Vermont Reimagines the Status Quo,'' be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From The New York Times, July 20, 2016]

    A ``Smart'' Green Tech Hub in Vermont Reimagines the Status Quo

                         (By Constance Gustke)

       Inside a plain brick building in Burlington lies the 
     Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies, a buzzing hipster 
     incubator that looks as if it could be in Silicon Valley. It 
     is powered invisibly by forces that any city would envy: a 
     green grid that is highly energy-efficient and a superfast 
     one-gigabit internet connection.
       ``People would kill for this internet connection,'' said 
     Tom Torti, president of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber 
     of Commerce. ``For us to grow our tech network, we needed to 
     double down on fiber network.'' The new Burlington economy is 
     going to be knowledge- and skills-based, he added.
       This digital superhighway runs through beautiful 
     Burlington, a small city sandwiched between the distant Green 
     Mountains and the 125-mile-long Lake Champlain. It is an 
     outlier as far as emerging technology hubs and so-called 
     smart cities go. But Burlington, which has a lower 
     unemployment rate than Silicon Valley, is now spawning a wave 
     of technology pioneers.
       The technology center, called VCET, provides free advice, 
     mentoring, seed money and gorgeous co-working spaces that are 
     available to entrepreneurs for a low fee. Students can use 
     these spaces free, so Max Robbins and Peter Silverman, 20-
     year-old college students, are starting their business, 
     Beacon VT, there. It is similar to the dating site OkCupid, 
     but for employment, matching students with employers.
       ``We're trying to give people an unfair advantage,'' said 
     David Bradbury, president and fund manager at VCET. ``There's 
     nothing too big that you can't dream here. And the snowball 
     is moving faster.''
       An ultrahigh-speed internet backbone even helped Burlington 
     form a partnership with US Ignite, which aims to build the 
     next generation of internet apps, to form BTV Ignite. Its 
     goal is to mindfully build on the city's network and further 
     innovation, said Michael Schirling, who heads BTV Ignite.
       ``Smart cities and new technologies have the potential to 
     change everything,'' said Mr. Schirling, a former Burlington 
     police chief ``When you put in the right building blocks, you 
     get a collision of ideas, which can become self-generating. 
     It's attitude and infrastructure.''
       A result is that Burlington, once a timber port, has a 
     stunningly low unemployment rate of 2.3 percent. On the 
     downside, the city is also experiencing a skilled-labor 
     shortage; hundreds of coding jobs alone languish on job 
     boards. Burlington was named a TechHire city by the White 
     House in 2016 to help link local employers with local 
     workers, and to help these workers get the skills they need 
     for a fast-changing economy. The designation does not come 
     with funding, but it does help Burlington get grants for free 
     training.
       The TechHire mandate in Burlington is to train 400 
     technology workers through 2020.
       ``We want younger people to know that there are career 
     opportunities here,'' Mr. Torti said. ``We're trying to grow 
     our work force rather than importing it.''
       A nonprofit organization known as Vermont Hitec is a 
     crucial part of that vision.
       It works in partnership with local companies to offer boot 
     camps online and in classrooms that teach skills such as 
     medical coding and programming that lead to good-paying jobs 
     with benefits.
       Vermont Information Processing, which develops software for 
     the beverage industry, has been working with Vermont Hitec so 
     that it can retrain or recruit employees as its business 
     grows and it becomes less interested in outsourcing.
       Colleges like the University of Vermont, which offers a 
     biotechnology program, and Champlain College are also helping 
     solve the employment puzzle Champlain College offers degrees 
     in high-demand careers like digital forensics and game 
     programming, along with a special program for federal 
     employees who can get online degrees in high-growth fields.
       ``We're responsive, nimble and entrepreneurial,'' said Don 
     Laackman, president of Champlain College. ``There's a 
     connection between employment needs and sources offered.''
       Burlington got its first push into technology start-ups 
     when IDX Systems, a health care software maker, was founded 
     there in 1969. It was sold to General Electric about 10 years 
     ago.
       ``IDX created a lot of wealth and talent, and these people 
     could be angel investors,'' Mr. Bradbury said. ``It was a 
     tipping point.''
       The next wave of innovation has come from internet 
     companies like MyWebGrocer, which offers digital grocery 
     services, and Dealer.com, which offers digital marketing 
     services for the auto industry. Dealer.com became a legend in 
     Burlington after it was sold for $1 billion a couple of years 
     ago. Mike Lane, one of Dealer.com's founders and its former 
     chief operations officer, who is now on the VCET board, is an 
     angel investor who has funded eight start-ups. One of his 
     investments is Faraday Inc., which uses data analytics to 
     help companies target customers.

[[Page S5667]]

       ``In the future, there will be several $50 million to $100 
     million exits here,'' Mr. Lane said, ``along with other 
     larger ones mixed in.''
       He credits Vermont's community and socially conscious 
     spirit with his success. ``We didn't buy the philosophy that 
     we had to be in a hot spot,'' said Mr. Lane, who returned to 
     Vermont after working in Cambridge, Mass. ``Even Zuckerberg 
     realized that he could have been anywhere to build 
     Facebook.''
       That can-do spirit also inspired Marguerite Dibble, 26, who 
     began her firm GameTheory while she was still a student at 
     Champlain College. Its mission is to use gaming to inspire 
     behavior changes, such as teaching teens financial literacy.
       ``In Burlington, I can call anyone and learn from their 
     experience,'' said Ms. Dibble, who was born in a small 
     Vermont town with no ZIP code. ``The degrees of separation 
     are lessened here. There's a shared Vermonti-ness.''
       The energy to power GameTheory's innovation comes from 
     Burlington's green grid, which is owned by the city. The 
     state has long been one of the country's greenest. But in 
     2014, Burlington upped the ante by turning only to wind, 
     water and biomass to power the city--one of the first cities 
     in the nation to do so. There are also incentives for 
     reducing energy. Landlords, for example, can choose to have 
     free energy audits, and more than 100 have done so.
       Other Burlington businesses also work hard to save energy 
     on their own. Seventh Generation, which makes environmentally 
     conscious household products and was founded in Burlington, 
     gives its employees bonuses for helping reduce greenhouse 
     gases. Like many other companies in Burlington, Seventh 
     Generation also aims to be socially responsible and was 
     formed as a B Corp, which means it has to meet social, 
     environmental, accountability and transparency standards.
       With this focus on energy efficiency, the city's 
     electricity rates have not risen in eight years, said Neale 
     Lunderville, general manager of the Burlington Electric 
     Department. ``And there are no rate increases on the 
     horizon,'' he said, ``since we're not chasing the next 
     kilowatt-hour.''
       Electric cars even have their own parking spaces with 
     chargers.
       Burlington will eventually become a net-zero city, said the 
     mayor, Miro Weinberger. ``Our isolation promotes a commitment 
     to pride and place,'' he said.
       The city that helped propel Senator Bernie Sanders also has 
     its own nonprofit urban farm called the Intervale Center. The 
     land was once an abandoned dumping ground with old tires and 
     cars. That space now contains 350 acres with bee hives, 
     commercial farms, greenhouses and other projects. Through its 
     food hub, local foods are delivered to area businesses and 
     individuals.
       Intervale's farm incubator, a five-year program, even 
     teaches new farmers the ropes, said Travis Marcotte, 
     executive director of Intervale Center. ``They then 
     transition out of the Intervale,'' he said, ``So we're 
     spinning off whole farms.''
       It is a hopeful message, Mr. Marcotte said.

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