What is your commitment to digital inclusion?
If you’re wondering what digital inclusion is, people with disabilities are frequently blocked from websites, apps and content that are not designed and built to be accessible. These are rights protected by both the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Digital accessibility is a civil right that most businesses fail […]
Our Moment to Lead: Vermont in the Wake of SCOTUS Decisions
By Roxanne Vought, VBSR Executive Director As seen in Vermont Business Magazine, VTDigger, The Bennington Banner, and Mountain Times For those of us who envision – and strive each day toward – a just, thriving, and transformative economy that works for all people and the planet, the final week of June 2022 was devastating. On […]
Want to Support an Equitable, Prosperous Vermont? First You Need Workforce Housing.
By Kelly Klein, founder and CEO of Groennfell Meadery and Havoc Mead As seen in the Brattleboro Reformer and VTDigger Some days I feel more like a blend of real estate agent and therapist than CEO and Founder of Vermont Craft Mead. One of our employees, having sold his out-of-state home more quickly than anticipated, is […]
The Workforce Crisis is Complex – Bolstering Basic Needs Offers a Simple Solution
By Roxanne Vought, VBSR Executive Director As seen in the Caledonian Record, Manchester Journal, Mountain Times, Rutland Herald, Vermont Business Magazine and VTDigger Talk to any business owner today and you’ll likely hear the same refrain: they’re struggling to find workers. They’ve tried everything: raising wages, sign-on bonuses, creative recruitment strategies, and they still can’t […]
A Braver Little State – Opinion piece by Paul Dragon, CVOEO Executive Director
When I was 10 years old, I was riding my new bike with my cousin in Roger Williams Park in Providence, Rhode Island. The park borders South Providence, referred to then as the “ghetto” and comprised of mainly Black people while just north was our neighborhood in Cranston: white, Catholic, and struggling economically. The dividing […]
CEOs, Speaking Out on Racial Justice is Expected from You! (Frank Sadowski)
Once upon a time, we may have fooled ourselves into believing that business leaders just needed to pay attention to their businesses and let others focus on the social issues of the day. If that ever was true, it is crucial for you and your business to know that time is long gone. Today, the […]
Op-ed: A touch of environmental optimism amidst COVID-19
Opinion Editorial by Marina M. McCoy As many people go without jobs, not being able to make ends meet, wondering what the future may hold; talking about the health of the environment may not seem relevant when you are trying to get food on the table. Which has people wondering, is climate change linked to […]
Op-ed: Corporate Social Responsibility in This Crisis
It is always easier to act consistent with your highest values when times are good, when there is at least a little financial cushion. When revenue just stops coming in – suddenly, without warning – and the world changes almost overnight, it’s another story. It is hard not to be driven by fear. It is […]
No profit in cancer prevention
Cancer epidemic benefits corporations at the cost of human health By: Rae Carter Corporations without commitments to social and environmental impact focus on turning a profit and producing products as cheaply as possible. While this sounds reasonable from an economic perspective, human health is the primary cost. Genetics and gene mutations cause cancer, but what […]
Vermont’s Forest Products Industry: In Transition and Hopeful for the Future
By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Vermont prides itself as the Green Mountain State, with nearly 80-percent of its land mass covered in forest. Healthy and productive forests are inherent to Vermont’s culture and heritage. Yet, the industry responsible for bringing us countless valuable forest products: high quality furniture, specialty […]
