WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP
Could 2018 be the year that marks the rise of female leaders? In a book exploring women’s leadership, authors Marla Solomon and Kerry Seacrest focus one chapter on rural Vermont. Describing the state as a “mixture of progress and stalemate” parallel to the nation, the authors highlight Vermont’s second-place ranking for women legislators (41 percent) while at the same time experiencing the nations lowest growth rate for female owned firms (30% between 1997 and 2014 – half the national average. As one solution, the authors emphasize building networks of support through Women’s Leadership Circles.
Despite common narratives surrounding Vermont out-migration, the state achieved the highest rank in the 2017 United Movers Study for inbound immigration. 68 percent of moves to and from the state were inbound—though Vermont appears to be more attractive to older, somewhat wealthier retirees who want to be close to family, rather than young professionals seeking job opportunities. Check out the Vermont Biz article for more in-depth analysis. Also check this fact sheet from Public Assets for another perspective.
LABOR SHORTAGE
Workers from Mexico are a critical part of Vermont’s dairy industry. The same is true around the United States. New research indicates a significant negative trend in the agricultural labor supply from rural Mexico. The study points to a number of factors like increased border enforcement but also falling birth rates, increased education levels and growth in other opportunities for this key part of the state and nation’s labor force.
INCOME INEQUALITY GROWING
Although Vermont’s economy achieved minor growth in 2016, the effect on median household income was negligible—while wages for wealthier citizens got a boost. The State of Working Vermont 2017 report indicates that the state’s income inequality is growing, with 1 in 9 Vermonters facing poverty. In accordance with the aging population, the labor force is dwindling and aging—and 24,000 Vermonters are unemployed, underemployed, or demoralized.
Amy Trubek discusses the phenomena of Vermont maple syrup and how it represents the identity of Vermonters.
MAPLE SYRUP PRODUCTION
Vermont currently produces 41 percent of the nation’s maple syrup, and up to nearly 12 percent of the state’s available trees have been tapped—a significantly higher figure than that of other maple-producing states. A recent study analyzed the potential effects of climate change on maple syrup production. Under the harshest climate change scenario (GFDL-A1Fi), Vermont would need an additional 1.5 million taps to make up for the projected loss of syrup.
TREATMENT WORKS
An experimental study conducted by three researchers from the Vermont Department of Corrections examined rates of recidivism in Vermont’s sex offenders following a prison-based cognitive-behavioral treatment program. The study examined 195 adult male sex offenders with similar risk of recidivism who were referred to treatment; 49 did not complete the program and 90 refused treatment altogether, leaving 56 that finished the program. The researchers found that the inmates that completed the treatment had a sexual re-offense rate of 5.4 percent, with that figure jumping to 30.6 and 30 percent for those with some and no treatment, respectively.
NEW BOOKS
In the Country of the Blind follows the dependent life of a forty-year-old blind man in the Northeast Kingdom during the 1970s, with several references to specific Vermont natural landmarks. Author Edward Hoagland, who has owned a home in Barton since 1969, had a brush with blindness in his adult life.
Woodstock, Vermont is the setting of Bryan Mooney’s holiday tale, Christmas in Vermont: A Very White Christmas. The story follows Jack Reynolds, an Iraq War veteran who struggles to maintain lasting happiness upon his assimilation back into U.S. culture—and finds peace through spreading holiday joy with new friends who help ease his agitation. Mooney paints a simplistic, uplifting picture of Vermont life.
