Investing in Vermont: A Vermont Credit Card and Lower Credit Card Fees for Vermont Businesses
July 14, 2008 Press Statement:
The VermontCard is a new way to invest in Vermont and to lower credit card processing fees to save money for Vermont businesses.
Vermont’s economy is looking more and more like a leaky bucket, with financial resources, natural resources and human resources being drained away. We need to start plugging the holes in the leaky bucket of our Vermont economy, find ways to keep more of our dollars here to invest in Vermont, and grow our local economy.
The Vermont economy is the weakest it has been since 2002. Doing nothing is not an option. We need new strategies, new solutions. If we think and act outside the box and build Vermont-based solutions, we can raise revenue to invest in Vermont and we can do it without raising taxes.
The VermontCard does this. It helps invest in Vermont and lower our cost of doing business. It brings us together, keeps dollars in Vermont, saves our businesses money, and raises needed revenue without new taxes.
The VermontCard will be a credit card that invests a percentage of every purchase in a fund used to support local agricultural and renewable energy projects.
The VermontCard is for Vermonters and for those who love Vermont, no mater where they live. We appreciate it when visitors to Vermont spend money at our local businesses. Imagine how much better it will be if some of each purchase comes right back to support Vermont farmers.
A portion of VermontCard funds will also pay to educate Vermonters about responsible credit management. The card is not a means to encourage credit card use. But, credit cards are a fact of life for consumers and businesses. Many cards offer so-called rewards. The VermontCard will simply reward Vermont and Vermonters - our farmers and our energy future - by investing in Vermont with every purchase. We will partner with a local financial institution to gain the best terms, conditions and rewards. People in Vermont and around the country will be proud to carry the VermontCard.
We will bring Vermont merchants together to lower their credit card processing fees. Processing fees are a growing cost for businesses. And most are paid through out-of-state firms, so that money also leaves Vermont. We should lower the fees and do what we can to keep that money in state.
We will organize Vermont merchants into a network to work directly with a local Vermont credit card processor. Working together we can reduce processing fees by up to 20% for many Vermont businesses. The merchants will save money and the money they pay will stay in Vermont supporting yet another Vermont business, a Vermont-based credit card processor.
NOTE: An image of the VermontCard is here.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 14, 2008
CONTACT: Meg Brook - 802-343-2604