Advance Vermont asks Commerce & Economic Development committee to fund My FutureVT with $350,000 base appropriation

Tom Chaney, executive director of Advance Vermont, told the Commerce & Economic Development committee on Feb. 18, 2025, that the nonprofit is asking the legislature to make funding for My FutureVT permanent with a $350,000 base appropriation so the statewide career-and-education navigation website can continue operating and expand outreach.

My FutureVT is a state-focused online “one-stop shop” of career and education resources (myfuturevt.org) that Advance Vermont launched in May 2021 and maintains in partnership with state agencies and other workforce organizations. Chaney said the site has had roughly 120,000 users since launch, reaches about 1,000 students and 500 professional navigators in outreach each year, and reports high user satisfaction: “9 out of 10 actually say something’s changed for them,” Chaney said, describing outcomes ranging from clearer education plans to program applications.

The request to place $350,000 in the budget base is intended to cover two staff positions plus ongoing technical, content-curation and outreach costs, Chaney said. He described the labor-intensive work of keeping an accurate inventory of postsecondary education and training programs and coordinating with partners such as the Department of Labor, the Agency of Education and the Agency of Commerce (ACCD). “Having sustained funding that we can count on is going to allow us to do some really good planning and make sure that we have expanded content, functionality and resources,” Chaney said.

Committee members asked for program details and whether the request appears in the governor’s proposal. Chaney said prior support had been provided as one-time appropriations; the My FutureVT request is not included in the governor’s budget. He told the committee the $350,000 aligns with prior funding levels and would allow Advance Vermont to prioritize outreach to underserved groups including first-generation students, people of color, low-income and rural Vermonters.

Chaney said My FutureVT complements statewide workforce goals and related initiatives, including a program referred to in the discussion as “age 34” and the responsibilities being assigned to a new office of workforce development. He said the site contains an inventory of postsecondary programs that the office will be charged with compiling and that My FutureVT is positioned to coordinate with JobLink once that state system is available. Chaney noted that Advance Vermont is also working with HireAbility Vermont on tools such as an onboarding video to increase navigator use.

No formal vote or committee action on the appropriation was recorded during the presentation. Committee members praised the website’s accessibility and usability when they reviewed it during the meeting. Chaney said the organization’s ability to plan and expand has been constrained by the stop‑start nature of one-time funding and a recent cut that removed a staff position focused on outreach.

Advance Vermont asked the committee to include the $350,000 base appropriation in its budget letter to the legislature; any formal funding decision would follow the committee and full legislative budget process.