IBM’s recent announcement of its technique for recycling silicon chips into solar panels, is the kind of environmental-related news that fits in with Vermont’s high-tech ambitions and green sensibilities.
Vermont is developing a high-tech industry, mostly composed of small firms and solo individuals attracted to its rural environment. As part of that, the state this year embarked on an effort to provide ubiquitous broadband access to its residents. It hopes the move will hope foster economic development, including high-tech.
Patrick Martell, who was hired just this year as first full-time executive director of the Vermont Software Developers Alliance, estimates that there are 2,800 developers in the state and says the number may double in two years. Vermont is currently home to about 620,000 people in an area of 9,600 square miles.
One of the reasons for that growth, says Martell, a former CIO of a family-owned ski Al’s Snowmobiles, a snowmobile-parts company in Newport, is the growing demand for “Vermont-crafted software.”
“The people who live and work here have a sense for quality all around them whether it’s in maple syrup, fine furniture or software,” said Martell, a native Vermonter. Martell said the IBM announcement fits in with the state’s environmental focus as well. IBM said it developed a new process to repurpose the silicon for other uses, citing as “inspiration” a shortage in silicon for making solar panels. IBM is one of the state’s largest employers, with 5,600 employees in Burlington.