Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies

SeVEDS

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For Immediate Release:
Inquiries to Laura Sibilia at lsibilia@brattleborodevelopment.com

Windham Region Vital Projects announced

BRATTLEBORO – Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) announced the top 12 Vital Projects for the updated Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) on Monday January 12th at the River Garden in downtown Brattleboro.

SeVEDS accepted new projects and updated projects for its first annual update of the regions CEDS. The submission period was open from July 1, 2014 through September 30, 2014. Projects wishing to be included in the updated CEDS were required to provide a project overview including a detailed description of the project, establish that the applicant has the authority, capacity and the wherewithal to successfully implement the project, establish the likely outcome of the project and establish how that outcome is consistent with the goals and strategies of SeVEDS. Any private or public entity or consortium of entities was able to submit a project for consideration. Applications were only accepted from the entity(s) directly implementing the project. Any entity that submitted a project for the 2013 CEDS was required to provide an update on their project for it to be included in the 2014 CEDS. A total of 42 new and updated projects were submitted.

The new and updated project proposals will be included in the first annual update of the regions Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), as required by the United States Economic Development Administration (EDA). While inclusion of a project in no way guarantees funding of any sort, many federal agencies look more favorably upon projects which have the kind of broad support inclusion in a region CEDS indicates.  EDA often requires a CEDS be in place for a region in order for a project grant application to be considered.

The CEDS process requires that all projects submitted should be acknowledged in the CEDS.  Therefore all submitted projects will be included in the CEDS. However, certain projects have been identified and selected as vital projects.  The purpose of this Vital Project list is to publically acknowledge the top submitted projects that will result in the most significant progress towards the Windham region’s economic development goals.

A project selection committee comprised of a small group individuals that represent the region and are firmly established in their field of expertise were chosen by SeVEDS to review, score and rank project submissions received. This committee was made up of Stratton Resort General Manager Sky Foulkes, Strolling of the Heifers Executive Director Orly Munzing, ROV Technologies CFO Jill Zachary, Landmark College’s Jennifer Lann and Sonnax Industries CEO Tommy Harmon. Documents outlining the full project ranking process and scoring criteria can be found at www.seveds.com.

 

 

 

2015 Vital Projects:

  1. Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation: NEW Island Redevelopment project will remediate approximately 5 acres of downtown brownfields sites into useable industrial space
  2. SeVEDS Workforce: Job Board for employers in Windham and Bennington Counties will help build the talent pipeline for Windham Region Employers UPDATED
  3. Ironwood Brand, PreCraft, STIX: Build a rapid prototyping facility at existing shop for prefab high performance building envelopes and resilient mechanical systems UPDATED
  4. BDCC: extend electric water and sewer to new industrial regional sites UPDATED
  5. BDCC: assess existing key elements of innovation ecosystem, determine missing elements, research models for missing elements and development of metrics for evaluating success UPDATED
  6. BDCC/SeVEDS: Southern Vermont Sustainable Recruitment Project for employers and tourism entities – connects to Job Board UPDATED
  7. Sustainable Energy Outreach Network (SEON): The Board of Directors of the SEON is looking for funding to offset two years of operational expenses and non-employee compensation in support of the current and future activities of the organization. NEW
  8. Windham Child Care Association: Build a more sustainable childcare system through innovative shared practices to increase overall program quality and earnings, workforce development for childcare workers. UPDATED
  9. Strolling of the Heifers: Southeastern Vermont Food and Agricultural Innovation Center at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden, 157 Main Street, Brattleboro UPDATED
  10. Storm Petral, LLC: Storm Petral released two web based software applications in the Spring of 2014. Tempest-GEMS facilitates the financial recovery of governmental agencies and key non-profits after impact from a natural disaster. It manages federally funded reconstruction and recovery grants. NEW
  11. Rich Earth Institute: Creating a sustainable, regional, urine recycling system NEW
  12. Windham Regional Commission: Windham Region Village Water and Wastewater Need Assessment and Feasibility Plan UPDATED
  13. Marlboro College: Marlboro College proposes an entrepreneurial training initiative dedicated to improving the innovation ecosystem of Windham County. Offer support via scholarships for affected VY and supply chain employees interested in uptraining or retraining via our degree options and continuing education offerings. NEW
  14. Windham Windsor Housing Trust: The NeighborWorks HEAT Squad addresses the challenge of successfully engaging homeowners to complete home energy efficiency projects, which generates: 1) income for contractors resulting in jobs retained and created; 2) reduction in cost of living for homeowners in addition to comfort, health and retained and created; safety, and environmental benefits; and, 3) moves Windham County and the State of Vermont closer to the goal of improving the energy fitness of 25% of the state’s housing stock by 2020. NEW
  15. SeVEDS Workforce: SE Vermont Machine apprenticeship program UPDATE
  16. Mount Snow: The West Lake Project at Mount Snow consists of the construction of a 120?million?gallon snowmaking pond and associated components such as pump houses, withdrawal and intake structure, pipelines, snowmaking upgrades, a new lift and infrastructure improvements. NEW
  17. Mount Snow: The Carinthia Ski Lodge Project at Mount Snow consists of the construction of a three?story 36,000?square?foot ski lodge at the Carinthia Base Area of Mount Snow. NEW
  18. Mount Snow: The Carinthia Residential Units Project at Mount Snow consists of the construction of a up to 150 residential units at the Carinthia Base Area. NEW
  19. Vermont Distillers: Feasibility study to determine if adequate facilities exist for expansion of Vermont Maple Cream Liqueur manufacturing facility. UPDATE
  20. Windham Region Redevelopment Group: Define regional organization structure, conduct market study, conduct regional inventory of vacant commercial and industrial sites. UPDATE
  21. Wilmington Works: Legal creation of Wilmington Downtown Commercial Redevelopment Project whose purpose is to purchase 10 vacant buildings in downtown and renovate. UPDATE
  22. Sustainable Energy Outreach Network (SEON): Integrated workforce development system for the sustainable building and design sector in Windham County. UPDATE
  23. New England Youth Theater: Downtown arts campus – environmental cleanup of two contaminated buildings, construction of a second theater, conference center and outdoor amphitheater, low income housing, gap year professional theater training UPDATE
  24. Sustainable Valley Group: Green Island Project UPDATE
  25. Putney Historical Society: Next Stage Arts Project renovation of 15 Kimball Hill. UPDATE
  26. Latchis Arts: In Repair and Restoration of Façade and Replacement of Windows NEW
  27. BDCC: Leveraging broadband demand for last mile investments – increase utilization, market high capacity UPDATE
  28. SeVEDS: Performs analysis on viability of green building products and services cluster development UPDATE
  29. Landmark College: Landmark College is in the process of formally creating an online learning division within the College, specifically aimed at meeting the needs of students with LD and educators/professionals struggling to best serve students with LD. NEW
  30. Gathering Place: The Deerfield Valley (DV) region of Windham County (WC) plans to create a Livable Community for All Ages. DV will adopt a phased approach, conducting a feasibility study to establish parameters and timelines, and the development of a foundational Adult Day program. NEW
  31. Stratton Mountain Resort: Upgrade the Inn at Stratton Mountain UPDATE
  32. SEVCA/WWIB/SeVEDS Workforce: Job Readiness Program UPDATE
  33. Stratton Mountain Resort: Upgrade 3 base lodges UPDATE
  34. Town of Wilmington: Wilmington Water District Merger /Acquisition and Expand Wilmington Wastewater District. UPDATE
  35. BDCC: Biz network Route 30/West River Valley. UPDATE
  36. Stratton Mountain Resort: Add additional cell tower. UPDATE
  37. Southern Vermont Natural History Museum: Feasibility study to determine on logistics and opportunities in SoVT to relocate to accommodate significant growth. UPDATE
  38. Stratton Mountain Resort: Add 66 units of employee housing. UPDATE
  39. Arts Council of Windham County and Primetime Concepts: Regional Marketing of the HeART & Culture of Southern Vermont, Official Artisan Center of Southern Vermont facility to promote tourism, Development of SoVT Artisan Trail. UPDATE
  40. Stratton Mountain Resort: Upgrade Snowbowl lift to high speed quad. UPDATE
  41. Town of Wilmington: Twin Valley High School Building Feasibility Project phase 2; implement findings of phase 1 feasibility study to repurpose 52,000 sf school building. UPDATE
  42. Readsboro Hometown Redevelopment, Inc.: Continued restoration of Bullock building as muti use community center in downtown Readsboro. UPDATE
  43. DJ Engineering: Electric Bike Manufacture. NEW

 

 

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