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Vermont Futures Project urges 2% annual growth, sets workforce and housing targets
Summary
At a Feb. 7 General & Housing Committee meeting, Kevin Chiu of the Vermont Futures Project presented an economic action plan that sets numeric targets to grow Vermont’s working-age population and housing stock and outlines expansion and efficiency strategies to address workforce and affordability challenges.
Kevin Chiu, executive director of the Vermont Futures Project, presented the nonprofit’s recently released economic action plan to the General & Housing Committee on Feb. 7, asking lawmakers to consider both population growth and housing production as tools to address Vermont’s labor shortages and cost pressures.
Chiu told the committee the plan sets long-term targets "focused in these two frameworks, people and places," and recommends an expansion strategy to grow the working-age population to a target of "802,000 by 2035" and a places target to reach "350,000 non seasonal units by 2035," an increase of about 70,000 housing units. He said the plan balances expansion (attracting and retaining people) with efficiency strategies (boosting participation and better aligning education and training to employer needs).
Why it matters: Chiu framed Vermont’s current shortages as demographically driven. He said the state now has "fewer than 200,000…
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