Welcome to the September 2019 SRDC Newsletter.
Look for a "Save the Date" for SRDC's Annual Meeting, which will be coming up in November. In the meantime, enjoy the fall and the colors!
Economically Speaking Serving the communities of: Andover, Baltimore, Cavendish, Chester, Ludlow, Reading, Springfield, Weathersfield, Windsor and West Windsor
Taking a Quick Breath By Bob Flint
Executive Director
Working on a large brownfield cleanup project. Helping a local business recover from a devastating fire. Facilitating an “Opportunity Fund” commercial building sale. Acquiring a regional Revolving Loan Fund. Assisting a local company with a regulatory issue. Attempting to stitch together a large development project. Welcoming people from around the country to the region to visit the BRIC project.
Those are just a few of the things we’ve been working on since Monday!
The pace of activity has been incredible, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. There are a lot of good things going on in the region and we’re doing our part to help.
As you’ll see in this newsletter, there are a lot of other things coming up over the next month or so, including our Annual Meeting, a regional Workforce Summit as well as an informational meeting about the Working Communities Challenge.
Many thanks to our staff (Sandy, Heather, Paul and Cynthia) for their hard work over the past several weeks as well as to Paul Cioffi, who’s jumped in to help with some of our work in Windsor. As always, thanks to all of our partners, including the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission, who’s involved in many of our adventures.
Last weekend, our friends at Vermont Timberworks lost their facility in North Springfield due to fire. As of this writing, we believe we have located temporary space for the company to resume operations shortly. We have been working with Doug and Dan since Sunday morning and will be with them as they rebuild a new building in Precision Park.
OK – break over, back to the tasks at hand! Thanks, as always, for the support and let’s keep working together to help make Great Things Happen Here in Southern Windsor County!
WORKING COMMUNITIES CHALLENGE INFORMATION MEETING – 10/8 IN SPRINGFIELD!
The Working Communities Challenge (WCC) advances local collaborative efforts that build strong, healthy economies and communities in northern New England’s rural towns, regions, and smaller cities. With a focus on economic opportunity for communities and residents with low incomes, this unique three-year grant competition is supported by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the State of Vermont, national and local philanthropy, and private sector employers.
WCC is a two-phase, three-year grant opportunity to strengthen Vermont’s rural towns, regions, and small cities. The WCC will support cross-sector teams working collaboratively to build strong economies and healthy communities by addressing how systems work to benefit residents, especially residents with low incomes. Letters of intent are due November 1, planning grant proposals are due December 13.
SRDC and SWCRPC are hosting an informational meeting about WCC on Tuesday, October 8th, in the Great Hall at One Hundred River Street in Springfield from 9 - 10:30 am. For more information, and to register, call us at 802-885-3061.
The partners in the East Central Vermont Economic Development District are working with a CEDS Strategy Committee to complete the 5-year update to the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy report for our region. We will be reaching out to organizations in the region for feedback over the next several months as this process moves forward. The intent is to have the CEDS plan update completed next spring for review and adoption at the Annual Meeting of the ECVEDD in May.
Exciting times here at BRIC! The campus will be open for full-time access and use very soon.
We have been awarded more grants for programming and development and have soft launched our actual physical space (a big deal for those that have been waiting and working on this for years). It's shaping up to be a pretty exciting fall.
We will host our public Grand Opening and Open House on October 10th and look to be rolling from there on out. After the official opening, people will be able to register for membership in our coworking community and we will start to offer events and programs related to our mission of promoting tech entrepreneurship and hub for technology innovation in the Springfield region. For updates on coming events, please check the website www.bricvt.org and our Facebook page. If you want to test it out with a free day of coworking access, simply drop by and we'll get you set up.
Please do stop by and check out our space at 60 Park Street. We greatly appreciate all of the support to date and look forward to helping to drive more jobs and opportunities in tech for our area.
Additionally, we hope to have our Campus Manager and Program Manager positions filled by the end of October. That will allow us to get ready to launch our investment fund and entrepreneurship center program before the end of the year.
More great news to come in the weeks and months ahead!
Trevor Barlow
Executive Director
Black River Innovation Campus P: 802-230-7720 C: 303-819-157 www.bricvt.org
Innovating at the speed of light!
From Debra Boudrieau, VtSBDC Area Business Advisor -
I just had the opportunity to talk to my fellow advisors in West Virginia (SBDC’s – the Small Business Development Centers are funded in all 50 states and the Protectorates) about the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and why we use it in Vermont as one of the most important tools we have. And it made me want to remind everyone of this amazing tool.
The BMC was developed by a Swiss entrepreneur to answer the need to be more fluid and responsive in the 21st century to business planning.
We, at VtSBDC, use the BMC with our clients for a variety of reasons including:
Assessing a new idea.
Assessing a product or revenue stream addition.
Examining any and all business concerns.
A re-evaluation of the business in general.
The beauty of the model and the reasons that my clients like it so much is that is a road-map and a planning tool all on one page. And it replaces (in most instances) the need for the full narrative sections of the traditional business plan. So it is dynamic, quicker) so therefore more responsive to the market), comprehensive and frankly…fun. And it works for every business type.
If you’d like to take a look at your business through this lens make
an appointment with me @ dboudrieau@vtsbdc.org
The Business Model Canvas :
Vermont PTAC, Counselor: Ed Williams
Springfield: Mon., Tues., Fri., 802-885-3061
Brattleboro: Wed., Thurs., 802-257-7731
Call us today at (802) 728-1432 or Email us at vmec@vmec.org
One of MFG Day's goals is to improve the public perception of manufacturing
Manufacturing Day / Month (MFG DAY) is scheduled for Friday, October 4 and throughout the month of October. Please forward this email to friends, family, legislators and community leaders, and encourage them to learn more about manufacturing and the many opportunities our manufacturers provide in Vermont! Locate a local event using this link and plan to attend one or more events!
As of this writing, the following organizations have graciously agreed to open their doors, whether to the public or by invite-only, or are hosting specific events on behalf of their organization (some are in September and one is in November):
Champlain Mini Maker Faire (2 events), Community College of Vermont, Ellison Surface Technologies, Fab-Tech, First Light Technologies, GE Aviation, Hubbardton Forge, Logic Supply, Manufacturing Solutions, Inc., Maple Landmark Woodcraft, Super Thin Saws, The Mint, Vermont Chamber of Commerce, Vermont Creamery, Vermont Evaporator Company and VMEC (more below on our October 17 event). And it's not too late to add your company or organization to this list!
SRDC, once again, is partnering with the River Valley Tech Center and the River Valley Workforce Investment Board on activities throughout the month of October to tie in with "Manufacturing Day".
Local MFG DAY events will be educating the public and highlighting the critical importance of manufacturing to Vermont's economy, while also drawing attention to the many rewarding, high skilled and good paying jobs and career opportunities that manufacturing provides. Join us by supporting local manufacturing and our future. Let's show what modern manufacturing means and help inspire the next generation of Vermont manufacturers.
Questions? Please contact 2019 MFG DAY/ MONTH at this link or Robynn Albert, VMEC Marketing and Training Manager, at (802) 793-2078 or ralbert@vmec.org.
SRDC Staff
Bob Flint,
Executive Director
Paul Kowalski,
Senior Project Manager
Heather Hartford,
Assistant Director
Sandy Clifford,
Office Manager
Cynthia Porter,
Finance Manager
SRDC Board of Directors
Doug Gurney
Patti Putnam
Dale Williamson
Rick Bibens
Bob Kendall John Tansey
Jason Thom
Nate Cobb
Ex-Officio Board Members
Caitlin Christiana
Kristi Morris
Tom Kennedy
Main Supporters
Town of Springfield
Town of Chester
Town of Windsor
Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development
Members Acrylic Design
All Seasons Constr.
Berkshire Bank
Bibens Home Center
Black River Produce
Community Bank
Countryside Alarm
Drew's Organics
Dufresne Group
Efficiency Vermont
Graham & Graham, PC CPA
Gravity Renewables
Green Mountain Power
Gurney Bros. Constr.
HB Energy Solutions
IVEK
JELD - WEN
Kelley Sales & Service
Lawrence & Lober Electric Services
Lamb & McNaughton, PC
Lawrence & Wheeler
Lovejoy Tool
Mascoma Savings Bank
NewsBank
Okemo Mountain Resort
Okemo Valley Chamber of Commerce
Peoples United Bank
Image - Tek Mfg.
Prudent Living
River Valley Credit Union
Springfield Automart
Springfield Hospital
Springfield Printing
Springfield Realty
Town of Cavendish
Vermont Packing House
Vermont Timber Works
Von Bargen's Jewelry
VTel
WIC
Winstanley Enterprises, LLC
Woodbury Florist
Wright Construction
From our Members
I am very proud to announce that David Fox, forensic auditor at Graham & Graham PC, recently passed his Certified Fraud Examiner testing and is now officially David W. Fox, CFE.
David previously graduated from Castleton State College, worked for the Albany NY office of the FBI and joined our firm in December 2017. David now lives in West Windsor/Brownsville VT with his new bride, Shawna Fox.
In addition to his professional talents, David hits several home runs per game and plays outstanding defense while in center field, on Robinson Field. I am not sure which trait (business or athletic) is more important.... Jeff
The work of the Springfield Regional Development Corp. is made possible, in part, by a grant from the State of Vermont via the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
