Budget & Taxes (Small Business)

This bill (H 910) provides additional funding and support for Vermont businesses of all sizes and stages. It expands the Vermont Small Business Development Center's capacity, increases funding for the Micro Business Development Program and Vermont Professionals of Color Network, and updates the Vermont Training Program and Employment Growth Incentive. The bill also creates a one-year high school entrepreneurship pilot program focused on technical education. These changes directly affect Vermont businesses, entrepreneurs, and high school students seeking business skills.

This bill increases Vermont's downtown and village center tax credit program from $3 million to $5 million annually to support local business revitalization. It allocates specific funds for small business services, including $300,000 for legal support through Vermont Law School's business law center, $689,000 for expanded advising via the Small Business Development Center, and $594,000 to help microbusinesses through the Community Action Partnership. Additional funding includes $200,000 for an outdoor recreation economic study, $150,000 for the International Business Office, and $3 million for brownfields remediation. The bill also creates a task force to study business development needs and repeals the planned end of the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive program.

H 332 creates Vermont's Small Business Technical Assistance Exchange, providing grants and professional support to eligible small and mid-sized Vermont businesses. The program offers up to $5,000 per business for services like business operations, digital strategy, manufacturing upgrades, and legal consulting, administered by regional development corporations. To qualify, businesses must be for-profit, Vermont-based, with at least $5,000 annual revenue, and higher-income owners must provide a 50% match. The Exchange prioritizes outreach to rural businesses and historically marginalized groups, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Vermonters, New Americans, and others. Annual reports on program performance are required, with funding of $1.25 million appropriated for fiscal year 2026.