Job Club Magazine - Economic Development

1. SMART Holdings USA – SMARTvt.org Issue # 36, Spring 2017
B U S I N E S S S T A R T - U P A D V I S O R :
S T A R T I N G , G R O W I N G , O P T I M I Z I N G
Biz Lauches Moving People
SMARTvt Member - niche moving state visitors affordably
The name beguiles its form and function.
Affordable Transportation launched in
2016 to make theme-based transportation
like weddings, sports, shopping, arts, and
fun accessible and affordable for everyone.
SMARTvt.org – SMART Holdings USA
John Mayer, Mark Renkert, Michael Kipp, Michael Hussey, Gabrielle Meunier
drive SMART Holdings USA economic Development Engine Crea;ng US
Companies and Jobs . SMARTvt created a task force that provides resources,
educa&on, training, financing solu&ons to business startups for approved plans.
About SMARTvt.org. Vermont's largest solu*on provider featuring teams of
subject-ma#er experts with one voice as one firm; SMARTvt.org, a global
Vermont’s Power Center for Business Idea Creation
Happenings
SMARTvt’s Ken Martin buys fleet to
meet transporation needs of Vermont
tourism’s destination business.
Sean O’Connell – Now A Network
Television “Creative” – mixed media
design for NBC Universal in NYC.
Promoted to VP Finance – Racing
Executive Vern Sharrow- BK Brad
Keselowski Racing
…..Hopeful Thoughts of Spring …..
Transportation Guru, Kenneth Martin
of Hinesburg, utilizing his knowledge
as expert in public transportation saw
a niche and jumped at the chance. “I
have always enjoyed transportation.”
consultancy offering sustainable socially responsible applica2ons such as Hands-
on Engineering, Accoun-ng, Finance, Marke-ng, New Product Development,
Research, Medical Devices and Technology, Pharmaceu8cals, Telephony, E-
enterprise, IT / IS implementa1on - service, Merger & Acquisi/on, LBO, Business
Valua%on, Forensic Accoun%ng, SEC Compliance,
Petrochemical Extrac/on, Defense Systems, and
global manufacturing enterprises.
Larry Crist, CEO of Bending The
Curve – Stopping VT Family Collapse+
Carolyn Smith, Healthcare Executive
Manager To Lead SMARTvt’s HIE/
HIT Applications Education Division
SMARTvt Jean Twombly Retires to
Vermont – providing IT services to
growing VT Firms
SMARTvt’s New Vice President of
Data Innovations Matt Wilcox
Appointed VP of Finance.
Elegance in Motion – Carved
Solutions Expands, Dawn Lancaster,
CEO Leads The Way

2. 2
SMART Holdings USA Issue # 36, Spring, 2017
Nerium Biotechnology, Inc. (NBI) holds a unique
position in the international pharmaceutical sector:
NBI has a well-defined Nerium oleander plant-based
product that represents the "first of its kind" botanical
drug containing cardiac glycosides (oleandrin) for potent inhibition of
the proliferation of cancer (Anvirzel™). Texas University Research at
the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center has demonstrated that components
of Anvirzel® are active on dual pathways at the cellular level to
promote apoptosis and/or autophagy (cell death) in human
tumors but not normal cells. The findings led to the publication of
numerous peer-reviewed journal articles that describe Anvirzel® and its
components (oleandrin). These publications present the ongoing
research conducted by Robert A. Newman, Ph.D., as Founder and Co-
Director of the Pharmaceutical Development
Center, Department of Experimental
Therapeutics, at M. D. Anderson Cancer
Center in Houston, Texas. Today, Dr. Robert
Newman remains actively involved in continuing research and clinical
evaluation as Scientific Advisor to Nerium Biotechnology, Inc. From
this research analytical methods have been developed for the
characterization and quantification of the cardiac glycosides oleandrin,
odoroside, neritaloside and the aglycone oleandrigenin, all contained in
Anvirzel®. He has applied this analytical method to the determination
of oleandrin in human plasma following administration of Anvirzel®.
SMARTvt & Nerium Supporting Breast Cancer Research
Nerium A Technology Innovator
… Affordable Transportation, Ken Martin
One of Vermont’s biggest success stories: growing jobs expanding the economy.
There are at least 8,000 Scheduled and Charter Transportation Service Companies in the US employing >60,000 people and valued at >$2B
according to IBIS World Data Aggregators.
Bus transportation grows at roughly the rate of inflation <2% and thrives during economic boom and stalls during economic downturns.
Entrepreneurial innovators, like Hinesburg, Vermont’s Kenneth Martin, a Transportation Guru with three decades of expertise, saw a niche,
bought of fleet of vehicles, self-financed the launch, hired a Director of Operations and his business functions at maximum capacity serving the
New England with Specialty Theme-based Destination Transportation.
With the coming of Spring, Martin is receiving increased inquiry for wedding transportation services. And, surprisingly, Summer Youth
Programs, have him scrambling to meet demand.
The Scheduled and Charter Bus Services industry has a moderate to high level of capital intensity, with the average industry operator expected
to spend $0.30 on capital for every $1.00 spent on wages. The vast majority of industry capital spending is on the purchase and maintenance of
bus fleets. A new bus is a form of fixed capital that must be used to transport passengers over a long period of time in order to recuperate the
cost of its purchase. In addition, industry operators usually make very heavy use of the buses they own, sometimes for days or weeks without
stopping, to operate as many routes as possible with a limited bus fleet. Such heavy usage requires substantial spending on routine bus
maintenance and less regular larger repairs.
Between 1995 and 2014, annual spending on buses by US transit agencies ranged between $1.4 billion and $3.1 billion. This extreme range in
spending has resulted in many manufacturers going bankrupt, leaving the market, or being acquired by competitors. Today, only three
major transit bus manufacturers remain serving the heavy-duty transit bus market, and a similar number serve the market for small- to
mid-sized transit buses. Yet despite the many companies that have left, recently the industry has seen notable new entrants bring battery-
electric bus technology to the US market.
Martin says, “One of the greatest threats to transportation is insurance cost." He also says there are unfair disadvantages in the market place
with insurance rates for fleets of school buses who run as “no-profits” being charged significantly less than for profit charter services. You
have to carefully weigh your options because it is not possible to pass the higher insurance cost to your clients. Martin says he’ll double his
fleet size every two years and employ 50+ drivers by 2019.
Martin, however, has found a unique balance of people, profit, and planet with major plans for re-newables, energy conservation, and best
practices employment.

3. 3
SMART Holdings USA Issue # 36, Spring, 2017
Bending The Curve Graphic AnalysisBending The Curve, Larry Crist
The State of Vermont, is a top US State the seizes children
from parents. While some are happy with the distinction. It is
important to note that many children are seized from parents
and no report of abuse or crime have been committed and no
true investigation by Law Enforcement has been completed –
yet the children are removed.
The damage to the family is massive.
The trauma to the children is massive and never heals.
The cost to the tax payers is staggering.
One man, the former CEO of The American Red Cross,
Larry Crist has a plan. He can heal families, decrease cost
by 75%, and better communicate with investigators.
Larry Crist seeks to “Bend the Curve” and save VT
Taxpayers $26.4M
Crist explains: Vermont has experienced 10 to 20 percent
increases in the number of children coming into state custody
over each of the past five years, with most of these children
younger than age five. Vermont’s rates of custody and in the
termination of parental rights are consistently among the
highest in the nation. Changes in leadership, increases in funds
and the addition of state social workers have failed to stem
custody rates. We propose a change in the states approach to
child protection; one that reduces the number of children
coming into custody, reduces the associated workload of state
agencies, cost significantly less, while strengthening families
and ensuring the wellbeing of Vermont’s children.
Vermont’s child protection system was created 40 years ago,
with a primary focus on abuse and neglect. Today, this same
system is tasked with addressing new challenges arising from
widespread Opioid dependency among the parents of infants
and young children. This new challenge requires assessing
“risk” of abuse or neglect, a determination requiring extensive
assessment, expertise from medical and social service
agencies, and a working relationship between families and
state social workers.
Today’s child protection system contains few of the elements
necessary to address risk. State employees are neither trained
to conduct detailed family assessments nor are they integrated
with community service agencies which have the capability to
do so. In instances where families are offered services, they
are required to coordinate those services while navigating a
system that requires a level of executive functioning absent in
most families. The relationship between state workers and
families at risk of losing their children is one of mutual fear.
The default position for state government is to either leave a

4. 4
SMART Holdings USA Issue # 36, Spring, 2017
child in the home with little certainty that they will be
adequately cared for, or take the safer course of action by
recommending custody. As a result, caseloads continuously
rise.
We do not propose altering the state’s mandate to ensure child
protection, or altering the structures of the agencies currently
charged with that mandate. What we do propose is as better
way of carrying out the mandate. It enumerates failings and
challenges inherent in the current system and offers
straightforward solutions to each. Over a four year period it
has been demonstrated in three different pilot projects (the
Rapid Intervention Pre-Natal Parenting Project, Strengthening
Families Initiative and the Integrated Family Services pilots)
that establishing a Bending the Curve Team that includes an
attorney, a service coordinator, DCF social worker and
community agencies working in a coordinated system with
performance metrics and a chain of command, BEFORE a
custody affidavit is filed with the State’s Attorney, can reduce
custody rates for very young children by 30 percent.
The Problem:
The current child protec/on system is in crisis. It takes too
many young children into custody too soon, does too li3le for
them and spends too much money in the process.
! Caseload increases of 10 to 20 percent annually.
! Ranks 6th in the na)on in the permanent removal of
children.
! Lacks coordina,on, performance measures &
accountability.
! Lacks effec)ve front end strategies, including in-depth
assessment tools.
! Operates in an atmosphere of fear on the part of families
and state workers alike.
! Terminates parental rights far more frequently than
occurs in all neighboring states.
! Returns 50 percent of the children back home a1er
removing them.
! Has created extensive judicial backlogs.
! Operates as a closed system immune to scru-ny, new or
innova&ve approaches.
! Spends at least 30% more than is necessary.
! Operates under extreme, con1nuous stress.
! Subjects children, needlessly, to trauma from family
disrup'on and foster care.
A Be%er Approach - Bending the Curve Ini/a/ve (BTC):
Establishing the Bending the Curve Ini4a4ve in any given
county would cost $225,000, but would save >$625,000 in
the first year; while reducing caseload. Within a year, this
program could be replicated resul1ng in similar savings state-
wide. This model can achieve the following outcomes:
! Reduce the custody rate and associated costs for young
children by 30%.
! Shorten the length of stay for those children who do
enter foster care.
! Provide the State with enhanced informa*on to stem the
current prac*ce of removing children too soon, or leaving
others in unsafe homes too long.
! Ins$tute system-wide coordina+on, accountability and
performance measures.
! Reduce overall workload in the offices of the A6orney
General, Defender General, State’s A1orney, Judiciary and
Dept. for Children & Families.
! Open the child protec.on system to con.nuous quality
improvement.
! Reduce the current hos-lity and fear between state
workers and families.
! Address Vermont’s deficit regarding front end strategies.
! Bring Vermont into line with outcomes in neighboring
states and na(onally.
Ac#on Steps:
1. Establish a Bending the Curve Team that includes an
a"orney, a service coordinator, DCF social worker and
community agencies working in a coordinated system with
performance metrics and a chain of command, BEFORE a
custody affidavit is filed with the State’s A(orney. This ensures,
thorough front-end ve&ng of each case, coordinated services
and a level of accountability not present in the current system.
In pilot projects, this formula has repeatedly achieved
significant caseload reduc0ons. The addi0on of an a&orney and
services coordinator are cri-cal elements of the team.
2. The development of performance measures for par5cipa5ng
agencies and families is the second key, along with ensuring
that the Bending the Curve Team has input into any Affidavits
before submission to the State’s A2orney. The result being a
reduc&on in judicial hearings and custody rates.
Goal:
Divert 12 – 25 children from state custody in a given county.
Based on pilot projects, a diversion rate of at least 30% is
within the program’s capability, with 50% of the avoided cost
being state funds (50% are federal funds).
Average foster care cost = $ 25,000 per child per year *
BTC Cost in a given county = $ 225,000 annually
Annual Caseload decrease savings (of which 50% are state
funds):
12 children = 15% reduc0on = $ 300,000,
16 children = 20% reduc1on = $ 400,000
20 children = 25% reduc0on = $ 500,000
25 children = 30% reduc1on = $ 625,000
* The average foster care costs does not take into account the
related costs incurred by the Defender General’s Office,
A"orney General’s Office, State’s
A"orney’s Office or Court costs.

5. 5
SMART Holdings USA Issue # 36, Spring, 2017
….. Get Ready…. Start Your Engines
Vermont Racing Expert, Vern Sharrow, with Thunder Road Roots,
now is an Executive on the Keselowski Racing Team in South
Carolina.
Sharrow, a former Senior Executive in Finance with Northern Power,
uses his CPA skills to keep the Kesolowski Racing Team in top form
able to skillfully buy the best resources to keep their performances in
the top tier.
NASCAR is increasingly turning to finance guru’s like Sharrow as
large declines in their fan base started to erode profitability.
The 2008 Economic Collapse Hurt NASCAR’s Fan Base the most
with millions of lost jobs, $4 per gallon gas, and giant economic
buying pattern contractions.
2007 The Year That NASCAR Peaked….. now with declines as high at
49% - International Speedway Corp. and Speedway Motorsports Inc.
— the publicly owned corporations that operate 20 of the Cup series’ 23
tracks — have seen attendance revenue fall. According to a review of
the companies’ annual reports, ISC’s attendance revenue is down 49%
from its highest point, in 2007; SMI’s is down 46% from its peak, in
2008.
What happened on Wall Street hurt Main Street and NASCAR in 2008.
Says George Pyne, CEO of Bruin Sports Capital during a recent
Bloomberg discussion, “No question the economic reverberations of the
collapse of 2008 has resulted in as much as a 2/5th’s decline in
NASCAR’s fan base. Our fans, says Pyne, of Massachusetts, our those
who fought in wars, lost jobs, and suffered the most and recovered the
least during the last 10 years. However, just as we have added new
drivers, refreshed teams, and heralded new female drivers…. our efforts
are gong to grow the fan base back.”
Just as the Great Depression sent psychological shockwaves through 80
years, the Great Recession will do the same says, Labor Behaviorist,
Mark Renkert, a researcher who studies consumer behaviors. The Great
Recession will likely permanently change the lower tier of socio-
economic demographic. Buying behaviors will change for these
people’s “forever” adds Renkert. “You don’t forget $4 per gallon
gasoline, the fear of job loss, home foreclosures, having the electricity
turned off, and losing your health.
Sharrow says Keselowski Racing is poised for great things this season
with new merchandising and fan building give-aways. “I miss
Vermont,” says Sharrow, “but I love racing. For us – racing and
NASCAR is a Family Building Activity adding, “Charlotte, NC is a
happening place and great place to be in a racing family.”
A new horizon: leaders, like Vern Sharrow, of Brad Keselowski
Racing have emerged who are rebuilding fan bases, making
things affordable again, using social media and other unique
venues to refresh the image…. and bringing new efforts for home
entertainment viewing and NASCAR merchandise and
messaging to fans.
Based in Statesville, North Carolina and led by Monster
Energy NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series
champion Brad Keselowski (@Keselowski), Brad Keselowski
Racing (@TeamBKR) fields the No. 19 and the No. 29 Fords
in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
BKR aims to provide young talented drivers the opportunity
to improve their skills with a professional, competitive team.
Vern Sharrow, Charlotte, NC – BKR Racings

6. 6
SMART Holdings USA Issue # 36, Spring, 2017
SMARTvt’s Curtis Ostler Leading
Major Development Program seizing
opportunity, expanding services, creating
new products and building new alliances.
Governor Phil Scott, recognizing the
importance of Vermont Tech intensified
efforts to modenize offering. Vermont
Tech is ranked 15th among the Best
North Regional Colleges for 2017 by
U.S. News & World Report. In the public
college category, Vermont Tech ranks 8th in the North region,
making it one of the top 15 public colleges in the north for the fifth
year in a row. The college is also ranked 7th in the North region
among the Best Colleges for Veterans. Vermont Tech is one of just
two Vermont schools to rank in the Veteran's, best northern
regional colleges and best public college categories.
Says SMARTvt.org’s CEO, Michael J. Kipp, “Mr. Ostler
represents the very best of what Vermont talent can bring to an
organization. We are certain that his community building expertise
and his unceasing passion for making the world a better place will
inspire all.
SMARTvt is proud to support and endorse and recommend Mr.
Ostler in his new leadership role. We look forward to his
contributions,” says SMART Holdings USA Chairman, Mark
Renkert.
Ostler has a Manufacturing Leadership background that sold
product directly to the White House. He mentors adults in the APL
Program and is an Advising Board Member of SMARTvt.org.
Additionally as a Senior Strategist Ostler is a noted advisor to
growing non-profits.
Ostler holds and undergraduate degree from Johnson State College,
hold a leadership position with the Central Vermont Chamber of
Commerce, and resides in Waterbury.
Data Innovations – VP Finance, Matt Wilcox
Matt Wilcox was named VP Finance for Data Innovations in a
recent move.
Data Innovations, a provider of software for medical
laboratories based in Burlington in 2015 was purchased
by Roper Industries, the parent company of Sunquest
Information Systems Inc, a maker of laboratory
information systems. Data Innovations is a portfolio
company of Battery Ventures, a global investment firm.
Data Innovations, founded in 1989 provides middleware
to help manage operations in clinical and blood
laboratories. The company has more than 4,500
customers in 83 countries.
"Data Innovations has a 25-year history of developing
connectivity solutions that enhance the capabilities of
instrument manufacturers and laboratory information
systems.
About Data Innovations
Founded in 1989, Data Innovations (DI) is a major clinical
and blood laboratory middleware company. With a focus
solely on laboratory data management, DI offers a
complete middleware system to manage laboratory
operations, including pre-analytical, analytical, and post-
analytical sample processing and non-clinical tasks such
as equipment maintenance and specimen archiving. Data
Innovations is headquartered in Burlington, VT with
offices in Florida, Belgium, Brazil and Hong Kong.
Source: SAN FRANCISCO, CA - (Marketwired -
February

7. 7
SMART Holdings USA Issue # 36, Spring, 2017
SMARTvt Program Graduate
Sean O’Connel, Motion Graphics Guru – A Note To Followers
NBC Universal Studios – New York City
Since the election, O’Connell’s work has been comprised of
political graphics working closely with the NBC News team, mostly
MSNBC. Much is routine. Says O’Connell, “Much of what I do is
“Meet the Press,” and “Nightly News.”
(http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/ )
Adding, “We just launched with Lester Holt and NBC Nightly
News. A couple of those spots are attached. We really wanted to
showcase Lester, as he really is a Jack-of-all-trades at NBC. He has
this personal side and warm touch with people who have usually just
gone through something devastating and emotional. Not to mention
he really has a steel trap of a brain, so we just really wanted to sit
down with him and just let the cameras roll and chat about stories
and moments that have really stuck with him over his years as a
journalist and news anchor.”
O’Connell says working in New York City is the “epicenter of
brainiacs” and as a consequence a rising tide lifts all ships, saying,
“we all get smarter and better every day.”
Describing Holt O’Connell says, “It was amazing hearing him
recount these stories that stuck with him in great detail and then
going back and looking through hours and hours of footage trying to
find they story he was referencing only to find that he had re-caped
it years or months later in a shot by shot detail sort of way. It was
truly amazing. That was a great project to have worked on, and I think
O’Connell describes another project - the "Rokerthon". Rokerthon
started as Al Roker wanting to break a Guinness world record 3
years ago. Says O’Connell, “So what we did was create a week
around Al Roker broadcasting the weather for a full 24hrs straight.
We live streamed the event and got tons of media impressions. Al
had special guests appearances from some of the fellow Today
Show hosts, and describes as fun event that we decided to do every
year. This year O’Connell’s 3rd
involves Roker visiting colleges to
try and break individual Guinness records with college students who
submit ideas. O’Connell – “We actually won an Emmy for our
Rokerthon 2 spot last year.” O’Connell describes a program where
they used Roker and a Goat to create a theme that became a social
media megastorm and hugely popular and funny.
O’Connell closes his note to SMARTvt with:
“Lately we are providing weekly topicals. I was tasked with
updating and refreshing the today topical spot graphics and so our
first one was to promote a sort of day after a recap of the Academy
awards. I decided to take the look and feel very modern and stylish.
Something that previously had failed wth the branding team for the
TODAY Show. This time around they seemed to "love" it and love
the energy it had.
Moving to New York City from Vermont proved to be a brilliant
move for O’Connell after years of earning poor wages for
Vermont’s companies that failed to grasp the power of multi-media.
Says O’Connell’s father, Tim, “We would have loved to keep Sean
in VT but… he has done so very well… it is a pity we parents don’t’
live in a state that values our college graduates.
Below O’Connell in his NYC Design Studio with his dog.

8. 8
SMART Holdings USA Issue # 36, Spring, 2017
Started in 2005 Carved Solutions is a Corporate Brand Building
Partner to Business and CEO, Dawn Lancaster is expanding her
Williston Location.
Corporate Gifts, leveraging the spirit of reciprocity has a long
tradition of cementing relationships on the path toward balancing
people, profit and planet
Carved Solutions makes personalized soaps, candles, and other high-
end household items and launched Pure | Energy Apothecary, a soap
line intended for the mass market.
As a leading e-commerce developer, located at Avenue C in
Williston’s Industrial Park, Lancaster says “Corporate Gifts, as an
industry, grows from 8 – 13% per year dependent on economic
times,” and the data supports her posit according to “The
International Journal, 2006, 11:1, 43-45” Corporate Gift Giving is
responsible for growing businesses in powerful ways – when the
medias are silent –gifts continue to send powerful brand and buying
messages creating unique bonding experiences.
Carved Solutions has expanded penetrating big box clients and
delivering products across the United States to roughly 2,000+
retailers, including the likes of Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, and
Neiman Marcus.
Their products have earned accolades and attention from the likes
of O magazine and the talk show The View.
Where Are They Now ?
SMART Co-Founder Jean Twombly,
SMARTvt's Web designer, since 2012 has managed multiple
IT consulting projects for CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield of
Owings Mills, MD; the BC/BS Federal Employees Program
Operations Center (FEPOC) in Washington, DC; and John
Hancock Insurance headquartered in Boston, MA.
At CareFirst, she was engaged in projects implementing the
Affordable Care Act of 2010. She created interactive online
training, standard operating procedure, and compliance
modules for the division, conducted multi-day training
sessions and testing for employees and management, and was
a key member of the testing team for proprietary IS systems.
As a consultant for the FEPOC, Jean managed service level
requirements projects for the BC/BS Service Benefit Plan of
the US Office of Personnel Management, compliance and
testing projects related to new IS installations, and presented
executive summaries to senior management for a variety of
team projects.
In 2015, she assumed team leadership as a consultant for new
interactive Internet applications at John Hancock
Insurance. She led planning meetings with cross-
functional managers, presented current
and desired future-state documentation, obtained approvals for
installations, managed third party vendors, and scheduled roles
and responsibilitie for two business analyst contributors.
As of mid-2016, Jean returned to the Burlington, VT area to
manage several design and construction projects and is again
actively engaged with the SMARTvt and The Bench
operations teams.