Background

The lessons learned in developing and implementing the forest products oriented Cornerstone Project was then adapted to develop a homegrown bioenergy industry. VSJF was the recipient of four congressionally directed awards (fiscal years 2005, 2008-2010), administered by the Office of Senator Leahy, totaling more than $3.6million from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The purpose of the Vermont Bioenergy Initiative was to foster the development of sustainable, distributed, small-scale biodiesel and grass/mixed fiber industries in Vermont. The intent was to produce bioenergy for local transportation, agricultural, and thermal applications, as a replacement for fossil fuel based energy. The initiative marked the first strategic effort to reduce Vermont’s dependency on petroleum through the development of homegrown alternatives. With billions of gallons of ethanol produced and blended with gasoline each year in the United States—and very little possibility of corn-based ethanol development in Vermont—we focused on a specific subset of bioenergy alternatives.

Over the life of the initiative, VSJF made 29 grants to businesses, trade associations, and research institutions, all designed to demonstrate this homegrown fuel potential and to build out the support system to enable it to advance for years to come.

At the beginning of this project, Vermont had very limited experience with the research, feedstocks, production processes, industry networks, and many other factors necessary to develop biodiesel and grass/mixed fiber pellet industries. Our investments in feasibility analyses, research and development, technology and demonstration projects, and education and outreach resources for various bioenergy feedstocks, have created a solid foundation for future efforts to build from. To learn more visit the Vermont Bioenergy website or read the Vermont Bioenergy Initiative Final Report to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Senator Leahy approached VSJF to serve as the fiscal sponsor for a mixed substrate anaerobic digester to be built at the Vermont Technical College in Randolph. VSJF received and managed three congressionally directed awards (fiscal years 2008-2010) totaling more than $1,451,500 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. These funds, coupled with over $2.7 million in low interest bonds secured by Vermont State College, enabled Vermont Tech to construct a “Big Bertha”—the anaerobic digester which processes 16,000 gallons of manure and organic residuals in order to produce 8,880 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per day.

After the Cornerstone Project had run its course, VSJF partnered with Redstart Forestry, Allard Lumber Company, Copeland Furniture, and Champlain Hardwoods to pilot the Harvest for Use supply chain pilot project. Harvest for Use describes a set of forestry and industry practices which are aimed at utilizing every tree that is harvested for its highest and best use. It involves actively managing the flow of logs through the entire supply chain from the log landing through manufacturing and ultimately, to its end user.

As consumer interest in the sourcing of forest products increased, many Vermont wood products companies were shifting their practices to take advantage of this emerging demand for sustainably managed products from sustainably harvested forests. At the same time, land ownership patterns in Vermont were creating challenges for aggregating a lumber supply for wood manufacturers that meets their needs for species, volumes, lead times, and consistency. In 2009, Harvest for Use engaged three consulting foresters, nine loggers, a mill operator, a wood broker, and a furniture manufacturer in a market development effort aimed at aggregating and shepherding Vermont-grown, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified logs through the supply chain all the way to finished product.

Unfortunately, the Great Recession hit Vermont’s wood products industry hard, and consumers reduced their purchasing of higher end products. The project ceased operation, but the lessons learned in market demand, aggregating supply, connecting links in the supply chain, crafting stories, and replicating opportunities have been instrumental in VSJF’s work developing the new Vermont Forest Product Program.

Learn more about the Vermont Forest Product Program and the Vermont Forest Industry Network.

In 2009, the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund was approached to administer the development and implementation of a food system plan on behalf of the Vermont Legislature. Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) and Rural Vermont approached a number of lawmakers about the prospect of tapping VSJF to conduct a public engagement process, analyze the state’s food system and create the 10-year Farm to Plate Strategic Plan (2011-2020).

VSJF gathered key stakeholders and launched the Farm to Plate Network in 2011 to implement the goals of the Farm to Plate food system plan. VSJF adopted the use of the Collective Impact framework, developed by Kania and Cramer, to help structure the Network.

VSJF coordinates the Farm to Plate Network to create the space for strategic conversations across multiple audiences and perspectives to make systematic food system change that no one organization can do alone to:

• Increase jobs and economic activity in Vermont’s food system;
• Improve access to healthy, local food for all Vermonters (especially low income Vermonters);
• Improve the quality of our environment (e.g., soil, water, energy); and
• Improve the ability of the local food system to support the health of Vermonters.

Learn more about the Farm to Plate Investment Program and visit the Farm to Plate website.

During the Great Recession, growing food system businesses were having trouble accessing the capital they needed to finance their growth.

The birth of the Vermont Agriculture Development Program (VADP) was a direct result of a 2008 “Moving Vermont Agriculture Forward” planning process (spearheaded by Frank Hatch from the John Merck Fund and Roger Allbee, the Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture at the time). VSJF partnered with the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board’s Farm Viability Program to launch the Vermont Agriculture Development Program. The purpose of the Vermont Agriculture Development Program was to facilitate the growth, vitality and long-term success of those Vermont agricultural entrepreneurs and enterprises strategically poised to enhance the viability and preservation of the state’s working landscape.

The program supported the growth and long-term success of Vermont‐based, value‐added agricultural enterprises that were building markets and infrastructure for other Vermont agricultural businesses. It provided critical venture coaching to a small number of select businesses each year to help them obtain the right amount of growth capital for their stage of business. The program’s focus since its inception has broadened beyond helping enterprises obtain capital for growth. The primary, overall focus of the program has evolved and is best understood as entrepreneurial capacity‐building. In 2013, the program also evolved to support forest products businesses.

Over a 6 year period, the Vermont Agriculture Development Program provided high quality services to 30 working lands businesses, helping them to increase gross and net revenue, add jobs, and strengthen their core business operations.

In 2017, the program was revamped in order to provide similar deep dive business coaching services to a wider range of businesses in Vermont.

Learn more about VSJF business coaching and other business assistance services.

The Peer to Peer Collaborative was created in 2003 by Ellen Kahler, with administrative support from the Vermont Business Roundtable. When Ellen became the Executive Director of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund in 2005, she brought the program with her to VSJF.

The Peer to Peer Collaborative was created to provide high quality, strategic advising from experienced peer advisors (CEOs, COOs, CFOs) to growth stage founders/CEOs in the economic sectors served by VSJF. These peer advisors have offered an outside, confidential perspective on the complex business and leadership challenges facing growing companies. Participating founders/CEOs have developed and implemented strategies for building a stronger operational structure, improved profitability, and have supported livable wages for their employees.

Over a 10 year period, the Peer to Peer Collaborative has provided high quality services to 19 Vermont businesses, helping them to increase gross and net revenue, add jobs, and strengthen their core business operations. In 2017, the Peer to Peer Collaborative was rebranded as VSJF peer to peer advising services, but still provides the same approach to working with growth stage companies in Vermont’s agriculture and food system, forest product, waste management, renewable energy, and environmental technology sectors.

Learn more about other VSJF business assistance services.

When the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund was formed by an act of the Legislature in 1995, it authorized VSJF to make loans, but did not provide the funding to do so. Over the years, it was always our aspiration to have a separate fund that could make high impact investments to companies in the green economy. From 2008-2010, VSJF’s Deputy Director, Janice St. Onge, investigated the capital needs of growing companies in the market sectors we serve as well as what types of investment instruments would be best suited to meet the identified needs.

After raising sufficient capital from a variety of accredited investors from Vermont and around the country, the Flexible Capital Fund, L3C was spun out of the VSJF and launched in 2011. The Flexible Capital Fund (Flex Fund) is a low profit, limited liability company that is a separate and distinct legal entity from VSJF with its own governance structure. The Flex Fund invests in growing Vermont companies that fill a gap, or strengthen the supply chain in sustainable agriculture and food systems, forest products, renewable energy, clean technology, and other natural resource sectors. By helping its portfolio companies grow their businesses, the Flex Fund accelerates the rate at which Vermont, and the region, moves towards healthy food systems, renewable energy, and climate change solutions, while preserving Vermont’s working landscapes and building resilient communities.

The Flex Fund became the first licensed lender in Vermont to offer royalty financing (a form of revenue sharing) and became a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in 2015. After having raised $4.9 million in equity and grants, funds are invested in Vermont based companies with good growth plans, a strong management team, and good market potential in the sustainable food, forest and clean tech sectors. As part of their value-add, the Flex Fund has a pool of grant funds that can be leveraged to provide business advisory services to their portfolio companies.

Learn more at the Flexible Capital Fund website.