Businesses across Vermont are hiring, but they can’t find enough Vermonters with skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. To address this growing problem, Governor Shumlin proposed an $8 million innovation investment in the University of Vermont and the Vermont State Colleges.

This one-time investment from the Higher Education Trust Fund will still leave the fund ten percent higher than last year. In Vermont, we hear a lot about the need to invest in innovation and the future workforce; this is an opportunity to back our words with action.

Under the Governor’s proposal, the University of Vermont will use its one-time investment of $4 million to undertake the following:

1. Expand successful university-industry partnerships, giving seniors the opportunity to get hands-on job experience with businesses and nonprofits.
2. Create an international center of excellence in complex systems at UVM that will enhance economic growth. The new multi-million dollar Sandia National Laboratory is just one example of the kind of innovation this investment will stimulate.
3. Develop a program that facilitates the re-entry of critically needed science and engineering professionals back into our workforce. By targeting women who have temporarily left their fields, often to raise families, we can help retain already skilled workers.

The Vermont State Colleges will use its $4 million to:

1. Allow more high school students to enroll full-time in college during their senior year, saving their families money and getting a head start on finishing a college degree.
2. Create an applied educational institute supporting the renaissance in the agricultural and food production sectors.
3. Improve access to CCV and VTC in southern Vermont by supporting a consolidated academic center in downtown Brattleboro.  Both CCV and VTC School of Nursing now operate in antiquated leased space; this investment will be an economic shot in the arm for downtown Brattleboro, which has been hit hard by fires and floods.

STATUS: Higher Ed Proposal in Budget