(Over the last week, Rep. Warren Kitzmiller of Montpelier has been a punching bag over at Vermont Tiger for daring to speak against the GOP mantra that Vermont is an abyssmal place to do business. I invited him to offer his response here. – promoted by odum)
A recent editorial about me in The St Albans Messenger said, “A Vermont legislator stood before a meeting of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce this week and told attendants that if profitability was their sole concern then, well, that was a pretty “myopic” view of life.”
That is not altogether true. I spoke quietly to a single reporter, unheard by any of the audience. I never spoke to the gathered crowd.
The quote, though, is close to accurate even if incomplete in its context. My actual words as quoted in the original article were, “If the only thing you’re looking at is profit . . . that’s a very myopic view of life.”
Based on that quote, The Messenger’s editorial continued to say, “we have legislators who do not understand the importance of profitability.” Where did that come from? Did any of my words imply that I do not “understand the importance of profitability”? I am amazed that so much can be read into a single phrase, and I’m saddened so many inaccurate assumptions were made from it without speaking to me.
That is not what I speaking about at all. I was speaking to the reporter of the many benefits of doing business in Vermont; the quality of life, the value of community, the strength of our schools, the recreational and cultural opportunities, etc. Then I said that if the only concern of any business was profit, that was a myopic view of life.
I stand by what I said.
I have been a small businessman my entire life. I have struggled to meet payrolls, suffered through bad seasons . . been there, done that. I served three different terms as President of the Vermont Retail Association. To imply that I do not know the value of profit is incredulous!
I believe if profit is the only concern of a business, that means the business does not value anything else, not the community in which they work, the schools their children attend or their customers. When business generally whines about the high tax burden, the burdensome regulatory environment, whatever, it concerns me by sending a signal that they care less than they should about being good corporate citizens.
I believe that the vast majority of Vermont businesses are not so myopic in their views, are happy to be here, want to be good members of our communities, and they enjoy the lifestyle that Vermont offers. Certainly, they want to earn a decent profit . . . but profit alone is not what motivates them. They are fully willing to bear the shared burden of life here in Vermont.
A couple of visionary folks with a good idea will find fertile ground here. Vermont understands small business . . we are small . . . and those folks will find it easier to begin a new business and succeed in Vermont than they will in many other spots around the country.
We have a Department of Economic Development that works hard to attract business to Vermont. When people spend their time constantly bashing Vermont’s business climate, they seriously diminish recruitment efforts and run the danger of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. How can economic development happen when business is saying, “Goodness, don’t come here! Things are awful!”
I firmly believe that the business climate in Vermont is not awful, and people who enjoy living and doing business here are not wrong . . . we simply have many of the same challenges that every other state has. However, Vermont offers benefits that many others states can’t begin to match, and we should be willing to recognize them.
I challenge each of you to read the article in which I was quoted. It appeared in the Times Argus on December 2, 2007. Get the overall sense of the article from the beginning, and I think you will see what I mean.
Surely we have challenges. I am sympathetic to the needs of our business community. We must work on the challenges, and I will do my part in the Commerce Committee.