What laws, rules or regulations would you change or enact to encourage business to remain, grow or locate in Vermont and that dissuade them from leaving? How would those changes work?

There are a variety of issues that confront the business community and not all businesses have the same issues. The issues of a small retail store are totally different than someone who wants to produce ice cream or build high tech equipment.

I do not have a specific set of "rules" or "regulations" that can be changed to create a better climate for business in Vermont. I think the underlying issue is that of the climate and the attitude towards business.

We all need to work to change the attitude towards business. In Montpelier it often seems that one is either for or against business. You are for or against the environment. You are for helping people or against helping people. I reject that idea. The single best thing we can do as a state in order to have the environment we want, to help those who need our assistance and to maintain a high quality of life, is to create good jobs.

As Governor I would have business leaders sit with folks from the human services community and the environmental community and come up with some common outcomes. Then I would have them work together to develop strategies to reach those outcomes. As I travel Vermont, it has become very clear to me that we have a lot more in common than we have differences. Leadership is about finding these common ground issues and working together to make Vermont a better place.

There has been talk for years of permit reform and it hasn't happened yet. I don't think it will happen until the agency of natural resources does some consolidation of the number of permits they have to administer. As Governor, I would begin that process immediately. The issue in the room that no one really wants to talk about is stormwater. Until we have a real plan and have real conversations about this issue, it will remain an unspoken threat to development. If we don't deal with stormwater and indirect discharges, there is no way we will ever clean up the Lake.

I do not pretend to have the answers, but I do know that I have an approach that is based on getting to real outcomes that work for Vermonters I know that working together we can create an attitude and environment that is business friendly, while protecting our environment and delivering the services to those in need. And we can do all this at a price we can afford.