VERMONT EB-5 REGIONAL CENTER DIRECTOR A PANELIST AT SELECTUSA INVESTMENT SUMMIT ACADEMY

Vermont EB-5 Regional Center Executive Director Brent Raymond accepted an invitation from U.S. Ambassador Thummalapally to speak at the 2015 SelectUSA Investment Summit Academy held on Sunday, March 22nd, ahead of the two-day SelectUSA Investment Summit from March 23-24 in National Harbor, Maryland. Mr. Raymond participated in the panel discussion entitled “EB-5: How Does it Fit with FDI Development?” The focus of the panel was to educate economic development organizations from around the United States regarding EB-5 best practices.

Since 2007, Vermont has attracted over $420 million in foreign direct investment capital utilizing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) EB-5 visa program. USCIS is a component of the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Projects approved under the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center include Country Home Products in Vergennes, Jay Peak Resort projects, Mount Snow in West Dover, Quechee Village, Seldon Technologies in Windsor, SouthFace Village at Okemo in Ludlow, Stowe Aviation in Morrisville, Sugarbush in Warren, and Trapp Family Lodge & Brewery in Stowe. The Vermont EB-5 Regional Center is owned and operated by the state of Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development (ACCD). ACCD late last year entered into an agreement with the state of Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR) to utilize their expertise in securities law to help monitor and administer the growing program.

The ACCD/DFR arrangement is similar to the way they share responsibility for Vermont’s gold-standard captive insurance program.

ACCD owns and operates the Vermont EB-5 Regional Center as an economic development tool to stimulate job creation and livable wages for Vermonters.

Mr. Raymond discussed the job creation and other positive economic impact the EB-5 program has provided the state of Vermont. He cited a July, 2014 Economic Review & Revenue Forecast update prepared for the state of Vermont Emergency Board and Legislative Joint Fiscal Committee. For the first time in history, Orleans County was shown to have the highest rate of job growth since both the last cyclical peak and the cyclical low point of the recent recession. The forecast report stated Orleans County was, “Benefiting from widely-publicized EB-5 supported projects” and also that “Orleans County is also one of the few counties in which the labor force has grown since the last cyclical peak.”

Source : Vtdigger

States

• Vermont