BENNINGTON — Bennington County and Windham County are coming together to develop a first-ever joint strategy to guide the Southern Vermont region's economic future.
The outcome of this process will be an action plan with specific projects and programs intended to spur economic and community development throughout the region to create job opportunities, improve quality of life, and address major issues facing residents and businesses.
Initiatives identified during this process will be eligible for federal, state, and other funding and will benefit from public recognition and opportunities for partnerships and collaboration.
For Bill Colvin, acting director of the Bennington County Industrial Corp., the beginning of this process marks an important milestone.
"We are delighted to be moving forward with a Southern Vermont Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy in conjunction with our partners in Windham County. We have worked hard in the Bennington region to build capacity and understanding of how to do regional economic development over the past three years, and we sincerely appreciate Brattleboro Development Credit Corp and SeVEDS for including Bennington County in the next iteration of its already successful Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy planning and implementation efforts."
"We are pleased to be updating our original, award-winning Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy and very excited to be including our Bennington County partners going forward," said Brattleboro Development Credit Corp. Executive Director Adam Grinold. "Vermont's two southernmost counties share a number of demographic, geographic and economic characteristics. This will help in developing a shared understanding throughout Southern Vermont about the most urgent issues affecting economic growth. While we anticipate much of the 2019 CEDS will be implemented regionally, we will look for opportunities for new joint ventures."
"What we have learned in Southern Vermont is that no one is coming to save us, collaboration is the key to success for rural economic development planning, and that means there is room for everyone to participate," said Laura Sibilia, Brattleboro Development Credit Corp.'s director of Regional Strategies. "We have seen almost 800 jobs created and $38 million projected GDP growth to date from the implementation of the 2014 Windham Region S.M.A.R.T. CEDS and look forward to improving our planning and strategy development for the 2019 CEDS. This is a tremendous opportunity for businesses, residents and service providers across Southern Vermont to come together to identify assets and challenges within our control and develop data backed strategies to improve Southern Vermont's future."
Funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the strategic planning process had the official kick off at the 2nd annual Southern Vermont Economic Summit on May 30, and is continuing through the summer and fall with a series of public meetings.
Camoin Associates, a nationally recognized economic development consulting firm, has been selected to assist with the development of the strategy. "The energy in the room at the Southern Vermont Economic Summit was a clear indication that the time is right for the region to make some changes to address the challenges facing area residents and businesses," said Rachel Selsky, Camoin's Senior Project Manager.
Meetings scheduled
The first set of public meetings will be in both Bennington and Windham. Residents and business owners are invited to attend any sessions that are convenient for them.
The meetings in Bennington County will held be June 18 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Bennington Firehouse, and on June 18 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Manchester Town Hall
The sessions will be interactive and engage participants in discussions around the assets and opportunities in Southern Vermont that make the area attractive and competitive for businesses and residents.
For more information about the Economic Development Strategy process, contact Sibilia, at 802-257-7731, ext. 217, or Jonathon Cooper at 802-442-0713, ext. 312
