[JimmyLane]

Originally Posted by vter

Jimmylane....great post.

thanks vter!

flu: great point about Vermont Life advertisers re-defining the content. i noticed that too.

[flu189]

For those who are interested the 2007 housing and wage report is available at housingawareness.org. They have been posting the report "Between a Rock and Hardplace" for several years now and the information is interesting. It actually reports what the majority of Vermonters already know, but for those from outside Vt it is worth looking at to perhaps inform, enlighten, or for some entertain.

[68vette]

Originally Posted by flu189

For those who are interested the 2007 housing and wage report is available at housingawareness.org. They have been posting the report "Between a Rock and Hardplace" for several years now and the information is interesting. It actually reports what the majority of Vermonters already know, but for those from outside Vt it is worth looking at to perhaps inform, enlighten, or for some entertain.

What a depressing report, but you must remember we have a higher minimum wage. It's only getting worse. There are more companies that have announced layoffs. IBM is one of them laying off another 90 employees. That should make the report look even better next year.

[flu189]

Originally Posted by 68vette

What a depressing report, but you must remember we have a higher minimum wage. It's only getting worse. There are more companies that have announced layoffs. IBM is one of them laying off another 90 employees. That should make the report look even better next year.

Did you notice when IBM announced the 90 position layoff the response from somebody in economic/development with the state? Basically it was to the tune that such losses were insignificant. Similar to when Omya announced 50 higher paying management positions were being sent out of state. I am sorry, but any losses of positions, especially from larger successful firms is a very significant breach into economic health especially in a state as small as Vt. The funny thing about IBM is that last year the state hit them with a high "software" tax which I beleive IBM questioned and might appeal. Now their physical plant/property has been assessed lower in value so the fine folks in Essex must be wondering where the shortfall in tax revenue will come from. I would love to be a fly on the wall at some of the IBM corporate meetings as it would not surprise me if they have set a threshold where they will really downsize their presence here in Vt. Business is business and as the saying goes nothing good lasts forever. Lots more discussion now on "fact finding" also on 2012 and 2015 when Vt Yankee is slated to go bye bye and the Hydro Quebec contract is up. The sad thing is that these dates have been known for quite some time and quite frankly it is a little to late to start "fact finding" to effectively have a working plan in place by that time.