February 23, 2009 Out of a job? Check out Burlington, VT Play video

(NECN: Anya Huneke, Burlington, VT) - While most of our region is experiencing job layoffs and rising unemployment, Vermont's largest city is bucking the trend.

Alyx Lyons has been the policy and public affairs manager at the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation since October, a position she is not only happy, but thankful to have.

She started work just weeks after the stock market crashed, just as businesses across the country were starting to lay off rather than hire employees. But, she had at least two things in her favor: the field and the city in which she was working.

VEIC promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, an industry that is growing. The company is also one of dozens in the city of Burlington, including General Dynamics, Burton Snowboards, Gardner's Supply, Dealer.com, and the Chittenden County Transit Authority, currently looking to hire and/or expand.

Bruce Seiber of the Community and Economic Development Office or CEDO says amidst the economic downturn, many businesses in Burlington are, in fact, doing well.

Seiber says it's due, in part, to an economic development strategy launched by the city 25 years ago. He says CEDO works closely with small businesses to help them find space and funding, get technical support and think about strategic planning. The city also has been redeveloping its waterfront and promoting its tourism industry, and has double the average number of people working on economic

Certainly not all sectors of the Burlington economy are thriving, including retail. But overall, Seiber says the city is weathering the economic storm, and may emerge even stronger.