For companies to grow and scale in the Green Mountain state, OnLogic founder Lisa Groeneveld says Vermont needs more housing.
Vermont’s entrepreneurial spirit is widely celebrated, but what does it take to scale a business in the Green Mountain State? This series explores Vermont’s unique advantages and how employers are navigating current challenges such as housing, affordability and workforce.
By Emily Bradbury
Lisa and Roland Groeneveld founded OnLogic (then Logic Supply) in 2003. At the time, they were living in Massachusetts and considering locations for their budding computer manufacturing business. “We were nothing in Massachusetts,” said Lisa. “No one was ever going to care if we stayed there. But when I called Vermont, everyone went out of their way for us. The clear message was, Vermont is open for business.”
Twenty-two years later, Vermont is still going to bat for OnLogic, says Lisa, helping the company access the financial incentives, building permits, and employee training opportunities that have helped them stay and scale. “The whole state of Vermont is in it to win it,” she said. “We’re small but mighty. If you can’t swing it here, there might be legitimate reasons, but don’t blame Vermont until you’ve explored every possible resource.”
Recognized globally as a leading manufacturer of industrial computers, OnLogic currently employs more than 250 people. With customers like NASA, Universal Studios, and General Motors, their computers fill a niche in the computing industry with a product that is more “rugged” than a typical computer.
Built to function in a variety of extreme environments such as high heat, freezing cold, high vibration environments, and warehouses with high airborne particulate volumes, OnLogic customers work with the company to specify exactly what they need from their computer equipment. “We know our customers well, so we design computers that meet 90 percent of the use cases and then they come in and tweak the last 10 percent to suit their environment.”
For North American customers, those computers are all built at OnLogic’s new 150,000 square-foot facility in South Burlington. European manufacturing is based in the Netherlands.
Growing in the Green Mountains
The company’s success, says Lisa, is in part due to the support of economic development programs available in Vermont. “The Regional Development Corporations (RDCs) in Vermont are the absolute linchpins,” said Lisa. “They made it obvious that we could do business here.”
OnLogic originally opened in Waterbury and moved to South Burlington in 2007, where they connected with the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation (GBIC), Chittenden County’s RDC. “We heard from Curt Carter at GBIC about the Vermont Employment Growth (VEGI) program, the Vermont Training program, and the Vermont Manufacturing Extension program,” said Lisa. “We got access to landlords who were renting, introductions to our congressional delegation, introductions to the governor. The list goes on and on. It was this constant drumroll of ‘Vermont wants you here.’ It was him reminding us: ‘Here are the resources, Vermont is ready.’”
“Of all the companies that I have worked with over the years,” said Curt, senior vice president at GBIC, “OnLogic has been the most open to accepting help and appreciative of that help.”
By 2015, they were growing rapidly and ready to expand. “That was the other big thing GBIC did for us,” said Lisa. “They helped us coordinate our expansion and then later the construction of our new facility. It has certainly been a labor of love, but now we have what we need. We want to be a billion-dollar company in this space.” OnLogic moved into its new global headquarters in South Burlington in 2024.
“It hasn’t always been easy for Vermont to compete for OnLogic’s expansions,” said Curt, “but by pushing all of Vermont’s economic development programs, we have fortunately been successful.”
As challenging as it was to build in Vermont, the Groenevelds say that Vermont gave the company a competitive advantage. “When you start a business in Vermont, you fly under the radar in your industry,” she said. “When you look at some of the cool businesses in Vermont, they’re stealthy. And then suddenly, the industry takes notice and wonders, ‘Wait, who are you? We’re going to crush you.’ But now we’re too big to crush.”
She also points to the work-ethic of Vermonters as another competitive edge. “In Vermont, we’re able to find highly-skilled, hands-on technicians pretty easily,” she said. “There are a lot of people who are good with computers, they’re patient, they’re hard working. I’d put our assembly team, our production team, our customer support team up against any team in our industry. They’d lap them.” Recruiting for positions that require industry expertise, however, can be more challenging as OnLogic’s competition is largely based in Asia and the southwestern United States. And, says Lisa, the lack of affordable housing only exacerbates the problem.
An employer’s perspective on housing
Committed to Vermont and poised for continued growth, the Groenevelds have become outspoken on affordable housing. “The housing issue is the most intractable of the issues facing Vermont employers because it has a lot of opposition,” she said. “I’m calling it out. It’s a very ‘Not In My Backyard’ attitude. It’s mystifying to me that someone would oppose housing when we have people living outdoors in negative 20-degree temperatures. I don’t want to hear the excuses. If you oppose housing in your neighborhood because you don’t want to look at an apartment building, then you oppose putting a roof over someone’s head.”
The lack of housing impacts the company at every level. Young people coming from area colleges and universities tend to have housing, but once they get that first promotion or find a partner and want to move up to something nicer, they’re stuck. Highly compensated individuals with comfortable six-figure salaries can’t find a house. And if they do find something, they may not want to pay a premium for a house that would cost much less in another state.
“We need housing all over,” said Lisa. “I am very encouraged by some of the work happening at the State and the approach to dense development around key centers in Vermont. Please let’s not forget the rest of Vermont, they need housing too. But I think the path forward is having density where density makes sense.”
Lisa says the company has lost out on many excellent hires because of housing. “It’s a shame because once they get here, they plug in,” she said. “They start paying their taxes, they put their kids in the schools, they learn how to use a chainsaw. You know, they become Vermonters.”
“I want us to open our arms a little wider”
If Lisa had a magic wand to fix the housing problem, she says she would give it to Kevin Chu at The Vermont Futures Project and get back to building computers. The Vermont Futures Project recently released The Vermont Economic Action Plan to “create a sustainable trajectory for our state.” “But it depends on housing,” said Lisa. “If we have housing, we have people. And if we have people, we finance the other things we need like affordable childcare, public schools, and more affordable health insurance. We have to welcome people in.”
That last point–making Vermont a more welcoming place–might be where Lisa would take the magic wand back and use it herself. “I want us to open our arms wider,” she said. “Anyone who wants to be here is a Vermonter. Let’s not distinguish between the people who were born here and the people who want to be here. Let’s ban the word flatlander. As an employer, that’s the community I want my employees to be a part of. I love this place. We should be rocking it. We should be 800,000 to a million people just being good to each other. When Vermont does things that are remarkable, the rest of the country notices. That’s our opportunity.”
About GBIC
The Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation helps solve problems with leading employers to create economic well-being for Vermonters. For more information: gbicvt.org.
