A Conversation with Tim Volk

     Earlier this week, the Free Press published a letter from Tim Volk, Chairman of the Vermont Business Roundtable.  We found the letter compelling enough that we linked to it and said a few nice things about its insights and conclusions.  We decided to follow-up and called Mr. Volk in Burlington where he is President of Kelliher Samets Volk. 

Mr. Volk agreed, graciously, to answer some questions:

Q: Is it really as tough to do business in Vermont as one sometimes hears?
A: There is no easy answer to that question.  If you asked some of our members, they would say that they are ecstatic about being here.  Love the life and find doing business here is not particularly difficult. Then, you'll talk to others who are deeply frustrated by all of the obstacles you hear so much about.  Permitting.  Regulation.  And so forth.  I will say that our business - in the professional services area - has grown nicely over the last 15 years and a lot of that growth has been out of state.  Still, I can't deny the troubling signs.  IBM's withdrawal from the Roundtable as a result of its frustrations has to be a troubling sign.  Nobody needs to be told what losing IBM would mean for the state's economy.

Q: The problems that do make it hard for some businesses … can they be fixed?
A: I think so.  Basically we need an attitude adjustment.  People need to look at business as the source of jobs.  Jobs provide wealth.  And wealth is what makes it possible - through taxes -- to afford the social services people have come to expect. 

Q: How do you make that change in attitude?
A:  It's hard.  I suppose you have to look at changing the political climate.  The Roundtable is non-partisan.  We have members who are Republicans and members who are Democrats.  What they have in common is that they are pro-business and pro-growth and these are not necessarily attitudes you find among the people who have the economic flexibility to run for office.  People who have businesses to run don't have the time and, therefore, tend to be under-represented.

Q: Assume that attitudes have shifted.  What is the first, concrete policy change that should follow?
A: Well, as I wrote in the Free Press essay, the most important change we could see in the business climate here in Vermont would be the establishment of predictability in the permitting process.  That is not a call for the gutting of Act 250.  We all know what the environment means to the culture and, for that matter, the business climate of Vermont.  But we need a system that allows businesses to plan and make long-range decisions without worrying about last minute interventions from out of left field.  In that atmosphere, business will be reluctant to take on expansions or to locate here.

Q: And the chances of that?
A: I'm an optimist.  I see some softening of the old, ideologically driven hostility to business that was fashionable in the 60's.  You still encounter it in the agencies and I'd like to see government leadership encourage a more open-minded attitude among its employees. 

Q:  What will the Vermont business scene look live 5 years from now?
A: Who knows?  I'm hopeful.  If we can address some of these issues in a positive way, we have a real opportunity, with something like the Green Valley Initiative, to add high value jobs built around environmental issues and initiatives.  That would be good for business, the environment, and Vermont.

Q:  Thanks for your time.
A: My pleasure.