vt.Buzz ~ a political blog

Political notes from Free Press staff writers Terri Hallenbeck, Sam Hemingway and Nancy Remsen

6.19.2007

Trying to find China business

Gov. Jim Douglas phoned in from China this morning for a conference call with media. It made, I'm sure, riveting live radio on Charlie & Ernie's show in WVMT.

The governor ate jelly fish yesterday, and didn't particularly like it. But he thinks he and his 16-person delegation are making solid connections with Chinese leaders and businesspeople that will translate into business for Vermonters.

How will he measure success of the trip? Douglas didn't have specifics. He's offered a bunch of invitations to leaders there to visit Vermont. He's got deals in the works he doesn't want to reveal lest he put them in peril.

He met with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, he said, and not many other governors and the like get to do that. "It is significant that he chose to give our delegation some of his time," Douglas said.

Douglas said he was impressed with Chinese officials' knowledge of Vermont's geography and environmental ethic. Douglas, in turn, was impressed by the hotel's motion sensors in the halls and escalators, but not by the jelly fish.

- Terri Hallenbeck

posted by vt.Buzz | 10:41 AM |

Comments:

if only gov. doesless spent as much time stimulating small businesses rigt here in Vermont!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:41 PM, June 19, 2007

JIM = JOBS?

So far, since he has become Governor we have lost high paing jopbs and gained only low paying service jobs!

Let's see - Douglas left for China to recruit business for Vermont - and another NE Kingdom manufacturer closes shop and puts 114 Vermonters out of work.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:46 PM, June 19, 2007

No time for that when his campaign schedule is so full.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:46 PM, June 19, 2007

If only the Vt. Legislature wouldn't spend so much time making Vermont enemy territory for business.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 5:32 PM, June 19, 2007

At the end of the day, the Governor has to work with the anti-business legislation that the Legislature continues to churn out.

And they don't seem too interested in passing any legislation that will help encourage more jobs.

So please tell us - exactly what should the Governor be doing to prevent this NE Kingdom shop from leaving town, when they have explicitly stated that the state's anti-business climate (i.e. taxes and regulations) are the reason they are leaving?

The Governor isn't a king - he can't just overturn bad laws in an effort to keep businesses in the state - that's the Legislature's job.

Oh - and when the Governor does work to keep our state business friendly, he is attacked!

You can't have your granolla and eat it too.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:14 PM, June 19, 2007

Tons of small businesses in Vermont support our legislature.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:31 AM, June 20, 2007

Oh yeah - the NFIB is right behind Symington and Co.

You could probably list the 'tons' of small businesses you cite right here in this blog (the list is so short). They pale in comparison to the thousands of small businesses that suffer every day under the oppresive regulatory burden our friends under the golden dome impose upon them.

Signed,

One very pissed off small business owner

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:22 AM, June 20, 2007

One right wing business owner can't speak for them all.

Open your eyes. Look around. Lots of Vermont grown businesses support the current legislature -- and are let down by Douglas's political games.

Signed,

A True Vermont Business Owner.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 10:59 AM, June 20, 2007

You keep saying "lots" and "tons" - but I'm not seeing them.

Who are you talking about - Unilever?

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 11:46 AM, June 20, 2007

I would imagine NRG, Grosolar, and probably most every enviro-based company...seventh generation?

But then, there are plenty of store owners and such.

The problem with those business owners who are crying foul is that one needs to separate those who feel there should be no regulation and no taxes at all in order to make as much money as possible at whatever costs (greed) versus those who realize that they do get some benefit from both the regulations and taxes and that reasonable profit is ok.

Cast aside those greedy corporate exec wannabe individuals and you will find that business owners are doing fine.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:26 PM, June 20, 2007

Um - sorry, but you clearly are not a business owner in VT. (and working as an executive director of some state-funded non-profit doesn't count).

I own a restaurant. Does that count me as a "greedy corporate exec wannabe"? If you think so, stop reading.

When I opened up my liquor license renewal this spring (right at the height of mud-season), I discovered that the fee had DOUBLED! Not a 10% increase, not 15% - no, I mean 100% - DOUBLE!!

That's not the Governor's doing. That increase is courtesy of our fine Legislature. This Democrat is voting REPUBLICAN in the next election.

This state is spiraling out of control.

Oh - you cite NRG systems? Hmmm... Campaign Finance reports - where does a signficant sum of Democratic funding come from??? Who benefits from all this wonderful new legislation that the Legislature is pumping out? Put it together. Now - I have to go wash some dishes and clean my kitchen.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 12:46 PM, June 20, 2007

"sorry, but you clearly are not a business owner in VT"

But, I clearly am.

"Oh - you cite NRG systems? Hmmm... Campaign Finance reports - where does a signficant sum of Democratic funding come from???"

Actually, Bush and the republican controlled congress did more for Vermont's enviro-based companies than the State legislature.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:02 PM, June 20, 2007

Unbelievable! You obviously are not aware how the legislature and governor work.

The Governor PROPOSES changes to the fee bill each and every year.

The Legislature reviews the Governor's proposal before it is approved THEN THE GOVERNOR SIGNS THE BILL IN APPROVAL. In many cases, the proposed fee increases are necessary because the budget the Governor proposed assumes the fee increases.

Last year HUGE increases in all Motor Vehicle fees ($9-10 million)was courtesy of the Governor - as was this year's $2.4 million increase in fees including those for restaurants and bars.

The Governor deserves as much if not more blame for all the fee increases!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:08 PM, June 20, 2007

I am well aware of how the fee bill works. Look it up yourself. See who introduced it (the Democratic controlled Ways and Means committee) and who voted for it. The roll call is right here:

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/database/status/rcdetail.cfm?Session=2006&RollCallID=3660

Don't see too many Democrats voting against it.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 1:43 PM, June 20, 2007

Everytime people who favor the energy bill are asked about the business community's position, they cite NRG Systems. This shows how low the support actually is in the business community for this bill.

No disrepect to NRG Systems, but they support the energy efficiency bill only because they got a special tax break from the legislature this year (in a separate bill) and because the owners of NRG don't like the Governor because he's too cautious on wind power development. I happen to agree with NRG on their attitude toward the Governor on wind power development (I support aggressive development of wind power), but I disagree with their support for the energy efficiency bill because of its slam-tax on Vt. Yankee. You dodn't have to fund this bill with that punitive tax.

Seventh Generation? Gimme a break. That company is practically a fraud. The owners are New Yorkers who own a 7,000 square foot McMansion in Charlotte. Ask Alan Newman, the owner of Magic Hat, about how he was treated by his former business partner in that venture.

No, the truth is only a very small handful of business "support" this bill. The vast majority of the business community, including small and meduium sized business and not just IBM, is against it. But only because of the arbitrary tax that was slapped on VY to pay for it.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:00 PM, June 20, 2007

BRAVO!!!

I think everyone and their brother knows that NRG systems and its founders support H520. So, stop boring us with the continuing reference to them as being representative of Vermont's business commmunity.

Lets keep in mind that NRG Systems were the money behind the ridiculous H520 ad campaign last month.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:09 PM, June 20, 2007

Who's talking about H520?

H520 was never referenced until after NRG was mentioned.

The question was to list businesses that support the legislature. That doesn't mean across the board or on every issue. It also doesn't involve opinionated characterizations of morality of said companies. If you want to go there, I'm sure one can easily find fodder from IBM, VY, GD, and many others.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:55 PM, June 20, 2007

Sorry, but not all business owners are republicans. Bush/Kerry election very clearly brought out that fact.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:03 PM, June 20, 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A proposal to hit oil companies with $29 billion in new taxes advanced in the Senate on Tuesday, targeting the money to energy conservation, wind turbines, electric hybrid cars and clean coal technology.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 3:08 PM, June 20, 2007

People need help installing solar and then they will do it. California has the right idea.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:28 PM, June 20, 2007

If you want Vermont to be pro-business you had better change the leadership in the state house and
senate.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:12 AM, June 21, 2007

If you want Vermont to be pro-business, you better put in a east-west highway, cell towers on every hill, underground fiber along every road, move Boston 100 miles closer, and built a canal down to Portsmouth.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:34 PM, June 21, 2007

China can have Killington.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:37 PM, June 21, 2007

"If you want Vermont to be pro-business, you better put in a east-west highway, cell towers on every hill, underground fiber along every road, move Boston 100 miles closer, and built a canal down to Portsmouth."

This is typical knee-jerk Progressive baloney. It's not all or nothing, totally black or totally white. No, you don't have to rape the state in order to be a little less hostile to business than the Legislature currently is.

Knowing that once you're here, the state will NOT whack you with a sudden, new, punitive tax whenever they need money to pay for a program -- that would go a long way to making business feel a little welcome here.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 6:50 PM, June 21, 2007

We need Jeb Spaulding.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:14 PM, June 21, 2007

A perfect example of how our state is crushing small businesses:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070621/OPINION/706210320/1006

And no, I don't want to hear about how great NRG Systems thinks our state is to do business in.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 2:37 PM, June 22, 2007

"This is typical knee-jerk Progressive baloney.It's not all or nothing, totally black or totally white. No, you don't have to rape the state in order to be a little less hostile to business than the Legislature currently is."

No, that's logistics, geography, and understanding of the infrastructure requirements of modern business.

Take Maine, New Hampshire, and New York. The bottom halves of the states are doing fine, yet the upper halves are in the same boat as Vermont. The only part of Maine that's doing well is the bottom coastal area. The bottom of NH is doing well because of coastal infuence, the closeness to Boston and the fact that so many people live in NH, but work in Mass. NYC's and the coastal port influence the bottom half of NY. The middle of NY is a similar to VT, while the upper part over to Buffalo gets some influence from the Great Lakes and the ST Lawrence. Not that Buffalo is any great thing.

Vermont is just plain out of luck and whether it be South or North, suffers from remoteness.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 4:22 PM, June 22, 2007

That maybe somewhat true. But the fact that IBM and Husky are here show that Vermont can attract business when it decides to try not to be hostile. Moreover, while we may never be Boston and NYC (which is a very good thing), we could still be far less hostile to business while preserving our environment.

Slamming VY to pay for H520 is a perfect example. This tells business: we hate you, don't come here.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 8:09 PM, June 22, 2007

There were other funding sources -
Shumlin just would not hear of it!

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:36 AM, June 23, 2007

The only reason IBM is in Vermont is because Watson liked to ski.

# Posted by:

Anonymous | 9:37 AM, June 25, 2007