Saturday, December 8, 2018

Video: Springfield works to reinvent itself as hub for tech jobs


Springfield, Vermont, used to be known as the machine tool capital of the world. But as manufacturing jobs moved overseas, the region saw a decline. Now, the town is working to reinvent itself, not with handmade tools but instead with high-speed internet.

www.wcax.com



34 comments :

  1. chuck gregory12/9/18, 11:42 AM

    If anybody wants to see an example of how that works, drop in for a cup of coffee at Crow's Nest (overlooking our future park on the river downtown). The coffee is free (but you can leave a donation if you'd like); while he sells beans at the store, almost all his business is on the Internet.

    He wouldn't be in Springfield if we didn't have excellent Internet.

    How do we get the word out to other young entrepreneurs who don't like living where they are now?

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  2. I moved here based on a study of global weather patterns with regard to climate change. This part of the country, with Springfield in the bull's eye, will see the LEAST AMOUNT of negative impact due to climate change, going forward. I did the research 20 years ago, and in that time, there has been little change in the weather here, compared to the rest of the country. There's something to advertise.

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  3. Figure out a way to lower taxes and we might attract more businesses and people. I cannot afford my home anymore here. Im looking to move ASAP.

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    1. The tax rates here are roughly the same, if not lower, than most of the places "tech people" will come from. The home prices here are between 1/3 and 1/2 of those places. Do the math. It's the condition of those homes, and what's around them, that scares people away. Priority one should be getting rid of the J&L. Just knock it down and plant grass, for now. Tear down the wooden portions of the Parks and Woolson, and patch up the brick portions. Then re-pave Park st., and replace the sidewalks. Get rid of the dive rentals on Summer, River, Pearl, and Valley streets. It's these major eyesores that are holding this town back.

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    2. Care to hazard a guess what your priorities will cost? Do The Math.

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    3. Probably in the tens of millions. This town was left to rot for decades. You didn't think rebuilding it would be free, did you? If Springfield wants to move forward, it can either bite the bullet and raise the money, or suffer the consequences. If outside people and businesses have to come here, and foot the bill for everything, be prepared to give up any say in what happens here. It'll be their town, and they'll make the rules. Personally, the longer I live here, the more appealing that idea becomes.

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    4. Do you honestly think you and I (all of us) have any say in what happens NOW? We don't and we haven't for a long, long time.

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    5. GET RID OF THE INVENTORY TAX and more businesses may be interested in springfield.

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  4. chuck gregory12/11/18, 8:48 PM

    12:44, I think you've identified the biggest factor in the long range for the rejuvenation of the town.

    Lots of other people with a lot more money are going to come to the same conclusion you do, and they will look at Springfield the way the Europeans viewed aboriginal North America-- ripe for the plucking, if only the pesky natives get out of the way.

    We had a preview of this with a Utah millionaire's attempt to start a city of 20,000 in the Royalton area We're already suffering it with the political inroads created by campaign financing: Ten years ago, the total cost of the governor's race was $800,000; in 2016, it was $14,000,000.

    All we have to do is value Springfield properly and not prostitute it for the first ripoff corporation that shows up at SRDC, the out-of-staters who buy homes and leave them idle as airBnB's, and the like. Play hard to get and make them pay their fair share in all things.

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    1. Chuck, locals playing "hard to get" is why people avoid this place. It reminds me of the American Pickers show, where people think the rusted junk in their yard is worth a fortune. They play hard to get, and end up with nothing but a yard full of crap. If Springfield is to play hard to get, it first has to be worth getting. READ MY LAST SENTENCE AGAIN.

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    2. 8:58, I think you missed my sentence about the Europeans and aboriginal North America. We are quite likely to be "discovered" by a billionaire developer who will say, "Oh, a lovely town populated by rubes!" who will proceed to toss all of us out to create a Galt's Gulch for his paranoid lessers. We, of course living elsewhere, will happily commute to be their house servants at the wage they dictate.

      I suggest you read "Deer Hunting with Jesus" to see how it will affect us.

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    3. Chuck, once again you have taken the position that everyone in the town of Springfield is weak-kneed and incapable of thinking for themself. Everytime you post something along the lines of your 10:17 comment, I can't help but recall the immortal words of Stephen Stills:

      Paranoia strikes deep
      Into your life it will creep
      It starts when you're always afraid
      You step out of line, the man come and take you away

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  5. The town went down hill after the prison was built lost its charm for sure

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  6. chuck gregory12/12/18, 3:35 PM

    3:02, everyone in town is capable of thinking for him/herself; the problem is the ones who aren't capable of thinking of the community. I suggest you read "Deer Hunting with Jesus" to see how the self-thinkers of Winchester, Virginia thought of their community.

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    1. Springfield, Vermont IS NOT Winchester, Virginia, a place of endemic white poverty and a landscape dominated by rabid, demon-battling fundamentalists. Springfield may have its issues but they don't share many of them with Winchester.

      It's not surprising that you would be smitten by a book by a self-proclaimed socialist, atheist, heavy-drinking, three-times-married author who went to great lengths to explain why parts of rural America, especially in the South, are so conservative and so willing to cast their lot with right-wing politicians who swiftly turn around and bite these working class supporters in their collective ass.

      Here's another bulletin for you, Chuck. Springfield is hardly conservative and that blows your "comparison" full of holes.

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    2. George T McNaughton12/12/18, 11:02 PM

      Anonymous 4:03 while you are correct that Winchester, VA is not Springfield, VT and it is not dominated by Christian Right fundamentalists, Springfield is I suspect the most conservative town in Windsor County. And conservatives do need to think twice before casting stones at a self-proclaimed socialist for being thrice married person of questionable religious credentials given the current leader of the G.O.P. The liberal/conservative labels is not terribly helpful when discussing game changing projects being worked on for Springfield. It would be more helpful if we could leave the ideological wrangling to the Federal politicians and focus on getting things done locally since that does not appear likely to happen as we move up the political food chain.

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    3. George, I respectfully disagree with you. Springfield might be the most conservative town in Windsor County (although you would never know it based on election results), but that wasn't the point of my previous comment.

      Chuck went off on another one of his patented "we're doomed" rants and used a book as his proof; a book that describes an area very much UNLIKE Springfield.

      By the way, your comment makes the assumption I am conservative and for your proof, you used my description of the book author. Suggesting I am a conservative based on that is a very large leap of faith. I have never voted Republican in my life, but at the same time, I wouldn't say the "current leader of the G.O.P." stands alone when it comes to shady dealings and corrupt behavior. The Democrats have plenty of those as well, or have you forgotten about the party's last presidential candidate (and a host of prospective 2020 candidates?) Casting stones is an art form perfected by both sides of the political aisle.

      I agree Springfield has to put national politics aside if it is ever going to move forward. I also believe stirring up a hornet's desk based on the actions of a town in Virginia is detrimental and all too typical of the self-proclaimed "town sage".

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    4. George T McNaughton12/13/18, 9:55 AM

      4:52 actually if you look at the election results, you would know that Springfield is the most conservative town in Windsor County, although this year the Republicans did a very good job of splitting their party over a non-issue. Right now elections have become overly nationalized with people voting perceived ideologies (both sides are guilty) and it is distracting everyone from important local issues and projects. How potentially disastrous that can be was demonstrated in the Republican Governor' Primary debate where the machine shop mentality caused one candidate to attack the other candidate for supporting the most important projects for the redevelopment of Springfield. This form of "conservatism" which attacks everything that the Town tries to do to improve itself and any form of public/private partnership is what has put Springfield where it is. While there should be restraint aimed at keeping taxes in check, and fending off regulation which is detrimental, it needs to be understood that simply implementing austerity under the idea that you reduce taxes and strip regulations will produce good vigorous economic redevelopment in Springfield is male bovine waste -- it may produce some more relatively low paying jobs, but it is not going to resurrect the town.

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    5. Nice speech, George, but incorrectly railing against "conservatism" as THE reason Springfield has been put "where it is" has nothing to do with my original comment to Chuck. You do remember his Winchester comment, correct? Good, because that is what I addressed.

      Springfield's problems don't begin with national or state politics. They can be traced to a Selectboard that moves at a snail's pace to address and resolve long standing issues. They can be traced to an organization (SRDC) that talks a good game but consistently fails to deliver.

      For the record (since you continue to harp on politics), if Springfield is so conservative, explain the re-election of Alice Emmons and Bob Forguites, two liberal candidates. Explain Springfield voters favoring David Zuckerman over Don Turner. Explain Beth Pierce swamping Richard Morton.

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    6. George T McNaughton12/14/18, 9:13 AM

      9:21 What I said was that Springfield is the most "conservative" town in Windsor County, did not say that a majority of the voters were conservative. I am very well aware of what happened in the recent State Representative race it was driven by national politics. To gain a better insight as to the relative conservatism of Springfield is not that Alice Emmons and Bob Forguites won (and by the way I don't consider Forguites liberal), but how well Beth Gray did even though she lost. Although I disagree with blaming SRDC, I agree with you that we have a problem with the pace at which the Selectboard addresses issues -- there needs to be a greater sense of urgency. However, at least in the last 5 years the Selectboard has started addressing those issues -- for nineteen years before that they didn't even address those issues. I don't believe that "conservatism" whatever that means at this point in America is necessarily the problem, I do believe that do-nothingism and residual machine shop mentality is a problem.

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  7. George, I hear you and other liberals use the term, "machine shop mentality." Please explain what that describes and what other mentality we should identify with?

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    1. George T. McNaughton12/14/18, 1:23 PM

      "Machine shop mentality" usually denotes an over-dwelling on the past glories of Springfield as a machine shop town, a belief that the machine shops are somehow going to rematerialize, a discount of the importance of hi-tech capabilities, and disbelief that anything other than traditional manufacturing is going to revitalize Springfield. You do like using the term "liberal" as a label.

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    2. George, I don't believe anyone successful in 21st century manufacturing embraces traditional methodology. Having graduated engineering in the '70s I've experienced first hand technology lead frogging beyond anything we could have comprehended in our wildest imagination. Where contemporary manufacturing gets a bad rap is the "traditional," hard working, machinist with limited math and engineering skill sets is obsolete. The greatest obstacle for both machine tool builders and their customers is no available labor force with the intellect to utilize these hyper sophisticated machine tools to their full potential. You really need to visit a successful, aerospace, defense, medical, or machine tool manufacturer to learn how dated your naive, liberal views are. You do know some of the the highest wages paid in Vermont are by GE in Rutland, and General Dynamics in Burlington, right?

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    3. George T. McNaughton12/15/18, 12:12 PM

      Anon. 9:30 my comment was in response to what was meant by "machine shop mentality", not "manufacturing" in general. I agree with your definition of "traditional" "Where contemporary manufacturing gets a bad rap is the "traditional," hard working, machinist with limited math and engineering skill sets is obsolete." I believe you are making my point.

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    4. George, thank you for agreeing we are on the same page. Can we agree to say traditional, union mentality, vs. "machine shop mentality?" As previously related, where once water power attracted mills and then industry, now technology follows respected academic learning centers. Without such centers, Flint is pissing up a rope to attract brilliant young minds.

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    5. George T. McNaughton12/15/18, 9:48 PM

      Don't think "unions" have much to do with the machine shop mentality. The idea of manufacturing without highly educated workers is something I agree with though. Whether "machinests" have a good future, I am not sure -- I believe their work will basically be taken over by the controllers of the robots who will be computer engineers basically. I will stick with "machine shop mentality" and stay out of the union debate -- both political parties have basically abandoned the unions since the neo-liberal Clintons arrived on the scene. From what I am hearing the demand for computer savvy industrial engineers is so high that I don't see unions as much of an issue since if they don't like either the pay, the work conditions, or the community lifestyle they either don't come in the first place, or they don't stay. The local leaders can work to improve the community lifestyle, the rest of it is basically out of their control.

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  8. 4:03 PM: Springfield WILL turn into Winchester Virginia if the Republican Party has its way. The key to the transition is to neuter the bottom 80% by:

    --Impoverishing them . This has largely succeeded. As Springfield’s last moderate Republican pointed out, the median household income in Springfield is $42,000. This reflects the national trend of impoverishment since 1970, when most households had one income earner. Today, half of our households have both adults working and only average that amount.

    --Jacking up their feelings of insecurity. This is coming along well. since a two-adults working, two-children family needs $64,000 to live on, you can imagine they’re borrowing to make ends meet. So they worry about going under. Then they are fed stories about the War on Drugs, the rapist immigrants, the Islamofascist terrorists, and the horrors of fluoridation.

    --Depriving their children of a good education by destroying the public education system.

    --Forbidding them to be treated as equals in the market. No unions to protect them because of “right to work” laws, no ability to stand up against employers’ unpaid work time practices, no right to protection from unsafe conditions on the job.

    Then, reduced to a state of frantic peonage, they will gladly adopt the survival techniques the working class in Winchester uses: slavish reliance on ignorant and bigoted opinion leaders whose positions in the community are due to birth and/or selling out to Wall Street.

    The “shop town mentality” is a step above Winchester: it’s people who feel they are free of the above conditions (as they were in Springfield in the days of the shops), but assume that the factory owners always make the best decisions for the town. They therefore look with suspicion on people who make proposals the factory owners wouldn’t, like fluoridation.

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  9. chuck gregory12/14/18, 1:43 PM

    With a median income of $42,000, it means that half of the households cannot afford a home that would cost more than $110,000. With the average asking price of $170,000 and an average closing price of $113,000, they're simply SOL. This puts half of Springfield into the market for a overpriced/under-maintained seconds-hand mobile home financed at a rate usually starting at 35%.

    In other words, even though they aren't and they never intended to be and they don't want to be, half of Springfield households are going to look like they moved here from Winchester. And that's just the start.

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  10. McNaugton's definition of 'machine shop mentality' is a bullseye. Having dealt with unions in this God forsaken cesspool of a town I've HAD IT with the 'you owe us' mentality from the clowns of bygone eras!

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  11. Cuckhold Chuck should be required to post a disclaimer with all his comments that he IS NOT A RESIDENT OF SPRINGFIELD!

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  12. But he's so cute in his biker gear!

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    1. He gets paid $7,,500 a year to wear that gear-- and he's saved $30,000 in gas costs alone so far...

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  13. chuck gregory12/15/18, 9:21 AM

    3:12: Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh. . . (twirls mustachios, slinks off to upper right to lurk in shadows)

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