Vermont Chamber Statement on Revised Guidance Allowing Future Online Lodging Reservations

Vermont Chamber Statement on Revised Guidance Allowing Future Online Lodging Reservations

Today, Governor Scott amended his Stay Home, Stay Safe Order to allow Vermont lodging businesses to re-engage their online reservation systems immediately to book reservations beginning on June 15 or later.
 
Responding to the amendment, Vermont Chamber President Betsy Bishop said, “After listening to impacted businesses throughout the state, the Vermont Chamber urged the Governor to change his guidance and allow lodging properties to make future reservations while still adhering to his Stay Home, Stay Safe order. No other state has imposed this level of restriction on the lodging industry, so we are pleased that the Governor revised his order. This action will help lodging businesses, many located in rural communities throughout the state, recover once the order is lifted.”
 
The Vermont Chamber will continue to work with state leaders to elevate business community concerns and swiftly address issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vermont Manufacturers Answer the COVID-19 Call to Action

Vermont Manufacturers Answer the COVID-19 Call to Action

By Chris Carrigan, Vice President of Business Development for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce

Vermont, along with the rest of the world, is dealing with an unprecedented public health emergency. The toll on our communities and businesses has been significant.

As the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts supply chains and reveals shortages of emergency health care supplies needed by hospitals, Vermont’s manufacturing community is stepping up with innovation, commitment to community, and action.

To support the fight against COVID-19, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, partnering with state and federal government agencies, is engaging manufacturers to quickly locate urgently needed medical supplies and to identify manufacturers who can retrofit and adapt their operations to manufacture essential personal protective equipment (PPE), medical devices, and life-saving medicines.

Personal protective equipment, including N95 masks, ventilators, and hand sanitizer, top the list of most-needed supplies. And Vermont manufacturers are stepping up to the plate. GlobalFoundries has donated N95 masks to Vermont Emergency Management and is providing technical specifications for additional items. Generator is prototyping, testing, and planning the production of PPE including face shields, N95 masks, and ventilators. Vermont Teddy Bear is sewing more than 4,000 face masks so that N95 masks can be reserved for health care workers on the front lines. And distilleries around Vermont, including Green Mountain Distillers, SILO Distillery, Barr Hill by Caledonia Spirits, Mad River Distillers, and Smugglers’ Notch Distillery are producing hand sanitizer and giving it to those in need. Additional manufacturers from Manufacturing Solutions Inc., Fulflex and Revision Military to Collins Aerospace and Stephens Precision have also stepped forward with readiness to aid in the production of PPE. 

It is also important to recognize the essential work being done by Vermont’s cluster of medical device manufacturers.  From Bio-Tek and Chroma Technology to GW Plastics, IVEK Corporation, and Micro Wire Transmission Systems, these manufacturers are in motion producing essential consumer health products and medical devices for Johnson & Johnson, Boston Scientific, and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. 

Vermont Chamber work also extends to Canada, and, in partnership with our neighbors to the North, we are tapping cross-border supply chain contacts to identify manufacturers with excess supply and who can aid in the production of PPE.

​As we collectively deal with this pandemic, the manufacturing community is Vermont strong and playing an instrumental role in the fight against COVID-19. According to a Vermont Chamber survey, essential manufacturers are still hard at work. Ninety-seven percent of respondents are using social distancing for their operational employees. Eighty-nine percent are using site visit controls. Eighty-three percent are limiting travel. Sixty percent are implementing shift schedules and 17% are conducting temperature screening. These and additional measures are being taken by our manufacturers to ensure the welfare of employees and continue production of critically needed medical supplies.      

For more examples of how Vermont manufacturers and businesses are helping during the pandemic, visit our blog post.

Chris Carrigan is the Vice President of Business Development for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, whose mission is focused on creating an economic climate conducive to business growth while enhancing Vermont’s quality of life. Chris Carrigan lives in South Burlington.

Congressman Peter Welch Heard From Over 150 Businesses at Vermont Chamber Tourism Town Hall

Congressman Peter Welch Heard From Over 150 Businesses at Vermont Chamber Tourism Town Hall

Congressman Peter Welch heard from over 150 businesses in the state’s tourism industry during a remote Vermont Chamber Tourism Town Hall on April 2 about how COVID-19 is affecting Vermont. The Town Hall, recorded here, was an opportunity for tourism businesses to further Congressman Welch’s understanding of COVID-19’s impact, share ideas, and help shape what future assistance will look like.

Congressman Welch thoughtfully responded to questions submitted by registrants and committed to taking the issues and ideas back to Congress with him.

Congressman Welch said, “It’s a hard time in Vermont and around the world as we face the COVID-19 pandemic together. Public health rightly remains the urgent priority of legislators, but it is also our responsibility to help Vermont’s businesses survive. Vermont’s tourism businesses are owned by our neighbors, our friends, and our families. We need to listen carefully to their concerns and be strong advocates during these challenging times.”

The industry asked Congressman Welch to help them with grant funding rather than loans to help them re-open and re-hire once the Stay Home, Stay Safe order is lifted. Other issues were funding tourism promotion during the recovery, addressing the disincentive to return to work in the new unemployment insurance law, and speeding up the access to SBA loans.

Amy Spear said, “Tourism represents one of the largest contributions of out-of-state money into the state’s economy, bringing significant revenue to communities statewide. When our tourism industry is impacted, as it is now by COVID-19, the impact is felt throughout Vermont. The Vermont Chamber is hard at work keeping tourism businesses informed of changes to the way they do business and pushing for financial and regulatory relief to keep the industry on solid ground.”

Vermont Chamber Letter Urges Immediate Action for Restaurants

Vermont Chamber Letter Urges Immediate Action for Restaurants
Below is a letter Vermont Chamber President Betsy Bishop sent on March 19 to Governor Phil Scott urging immediate action for restaurants.
 

March 19, 2020

The Honorable Philip B. Scott, Governor
109 State Street, Pavilion
Montpelier, VT 05609

Dear Governor Scott:

These are trying and unprecedented times for Vermont and specifically for our restaurant members and their workers. As the state’s only restaurant association with over 330 establishments and outreach to countless more throughout the state, we are very concerned about the economic impact the closure of these businesses will have on our rural communities and downtowns.

The majority of these restaurants are small, independently owned businesses that have been part of a growing and thriving food and beverage industry that helps attract nearly 13 million visitors a year to Vermont.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have maintained an informed perspective on issues that are critical to Vermont’s businesses and have received numerous contacts from these restaurateurs asking for relief as they close their businesses, lay off their workers, sanitize their facilities and worry about the future of their business, their workers, their families and their livelihoods.

I am writing today to request the immediate abatement of the February and March rooms and meals tax payment, the first of which is due March 25, 2020. Vermont’s restaurants are struggling. They need your support and this is the best way to invest in these Vermonters to ensure that they have a chance of re-opening in the future and hiring back their staff, and pay their expenses which continue to mount. This abatement would also be a much-needed investment in Vermont’s rural communities and thriving downtowns. Time is of the essence to decide to help these small business owners across the state. There are other issues that need to be addressed as well including freezing the unemployment insurance experience rating on these businesses and extending the state tax filing deadline by 90 days. We also encourage you to appropriate an extra $2 million in tourism advertising to promote Vermont as a destination. As we imagine the future, we will need to tell visitors that we are “open for business” and we will need resources to do that in a crowded marketplace.

I am available to discuss this at any time or to coordinate a call with key restaurant owners so you have a complete understanding of the magnitude of economic pain in our state.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this important matter. These initiatives could save this industry. We need your leadership and collaboration with legislative leaders to make this happen.

Sincerely,

Betsy Bishop
President
Vermont Chamber of Commerce