Vermont's Thriving Nonprofit Sector Supports Economic Development

It is widely known that Vermont’s economy includes an extensive nonprofit sector. There is a difference of opinion as to the value of the nonprofit sector to the economy. I have heard comments that the nonprofits sector does not contribute as fully to Vermont’s economic health as the for-profit sector. This does not ring true to me, and it raises many of the same issues addressed in my prior blog postings.

There are approximately 2,700 nonprofits operating in Vermont. I draw this number from a recent news release by Marlboro College on March 3, 2008 – other sources indicate there may be as many as 4,000 nonprofits, so 2,700 seems to be a conservative estimate. According to Marlboro College, nonprofits account for about 11% of Vermont’s economy and employ about 12% of Vermont ‘s workforce (Marlboro College news release, 3/8/08). Vermont nonprofits include organizations serving a Vermont mission or community and those serving a regional, national or global mission or community.

As a current director or volunteer with several Vermont nonprofit boards, and a former director of others, I know firsthand that Vermont nonprofits draw dynamic, highly educated professionals to employment in mission-based positions that pay livable salaries. Nonprofit directors and staff actively participate in their home communities and become engaged in community affairs. They live within the constraints of nonprofits salaries and yet still inject disposable income into Vermont’s economy. The nonprofit organizations they lead and drive build Vermont’s infrastructure beyond what the state and federal governments can or will accomplish. Nonprofits attack social problems such as affordable housing, homelessness, transportation for the poor, elderly, handicapped and infirm, access to healthcare, healthful lifestyle and prevention, conservation, and education, among others. Nonprofits improve our community immeasurably.

In prior blog postings I have discussed ways for Vermont to attract entrepreneurs and businesses that can locate anywhere, to grow, prosper and create jobs in Vermont. One of the primary ways to a attract individuals and companies that can locate anywhere is to provide a strong community with a strong sense of place, an appealing lifestyle and standard of living, and a critical mass of engaged, dynamic residents who are excited about their respective livelihoods and their community. A thriving nonprofit sector enhances all of these qualities in Vermont.

I was speaking with a Vermont resident who is pursuing a highly successful career in the entertainment industry, who has lived in many locations around the world and the United States, and who chooses to live in Vermont and travel to New York, Los Angeles and various locations around the world as needed for work. The unequivocal message from this professional is that Vermont’s community, environment, education system and economy make it an ideal place to live, compared to virtually any place in the United States, for someone who can live and work anywhere. This is excellent news for Vermont. And our many nonprofits are responsible in large part for so many of the things people love about Vermont - our conserved lands and parks, our compassionate treatment of the homeless, the relative good health of our population, the services available for the handicapped and elderly, the exciting mission-based activities carried out in Vermont.

Will Patten currently serves as Executive Director of a nonprofit organization, Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, www.vbsr.org. A lifelong Vermonter, he has experience as an entrepreneur in southern Vermont and as an executive with a large corporate employer in Vermont, Ben & Jerry’s. He is an appointed member of the Vermont Commission on the Future of Economic Development, www.snellingcenter.org/cfed. The commission has held public meetings around the state seeking public input about the future of economic development and the role of community and public programs to support economic development. Will reports that the public input has focused on the importance of social infrastructure – healthcare, public transportation, affordable housing – in the state’s future economic development future. Will says the role of Vermont nonprofits in the development of the state’s social infrastructure is critical and undeniable, and the importance of social infrastructure to economic development is equally clear.

So let’s applaud and celebrate the strength and breadth of Vermont’s nonprofit sector and its current and future contribution to our economic development. Let’s recognize the role of nonprofits in our economic and social health and wellbeing, and welcome them into the business community as joint venturers in Vermont’s economic development. Let’s recognize that “profit” can be realized in nonmonetary forms and that yes, our communities and our economy profit from our nonprofit sector in vital ways that the business sector could not replicate.