Vermont Economy

Many Americans see Vermont as a land of agriculture, with most Vermonters being small-town, rural dairy farmers or loggers. While this may have been true of early Vermont, the reality of today's Vermont is quite different. Pre-war Vermont saw poverty and isolation; post-war Vermont saw a booming economy. It is true that Vermont's dairy industry is prevalent -- dairy products have often accounted for over 80% of Vermont's gross farm income and produce billions of pounds of milk annually (Albers 274-278). But agriculture and logging collectively only account for 3.4% of the state's labor force (Albers 313). Vermont's economy used to depend more so on agriculture and mineral resources, but today the economy relies more heavily on light industry,

Manufacturing and service industries (mainly tourism) have become the major source of income for most Vermonters (Albers 313). That being said, the scenic virtues of Vermont and its rural aura are one of the main drawing forces bringing both new residents and tourists to Vermont. In this way, farming and logging "still have an enormous aesthetic impact offering value-added attributes to tourism, recreation, and other larger and more important segments of the economy," (Albers 316).

Perhaps the initial driving force that boosted Vermont's economy was the addition and improvement of major routes and highways. The Federal Highway Act of 1956 alloted 321 miles of interstate highway (I-91 and I-89) to be completed (Albers 289). This allowed easier export of local products and import of tourists. The 1960s saw a huge boom in Vermont's population. One of the biggest and first additions to Vermont tourism was the development of ski resorts. in 1996-1997, 26 ski areas