The third and fourth generation owners of Monument Farms Dairy navigate the business, the legacy, and the future of one of Vermont’s last independent dairy farms. If the James and Rooney family could bottle and sell the authenticity, quality, and humility behind Monument Farms Dairy, they...
Jared Reynolds at the Vermont Forestry Accelerator thinks so, and he has a plan. By Christine McGowan, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund One of our country’s great legacy industries, the forest products industry hasn’t changed much in the past century. But that’s something Jared Reynolds, manager of the...
[caption id="attachment_6593" align="alignleft" width="203"] A Regional Approach to Food System Resilience - NEFNE Report[/caption] The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) is providing important leadership for a new initiative called New England Feeding New England (NEFNE), aimed at increasing 30% of the food that is produced and...
Last year was an historically hard year on Vermont farmers and food businesses. A late spring frost resulted in significant losses for fruit growers, the July floods inundated farm fields of all types, though produce and hay crops were hit especially hard, and global grain...
Butterfly Bakery of Vermont Finds Inspiration in the Working Landscape What do goat’s milk caramel, ginger cashew granola, maple hot sauce, and raspberry almond cookies all have in common? Aside from the fact that they’re all made at Butterfly Bakery of Vermont, there is a common...
An alternative to importing fuel for heat, Richford VT sawmill produces clean burning, locally sourced wood pellets. Christine McGowan, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Efficiency is the lens through which Phil Gervais sees business. After 15 years working with multinational corporations around the world to find greater efficiency...
Junction Fiber Mill founders blend quality and tradition with the “punk rock side of knitting” at their custom processing mill in Vermont. Peggy Allen likes to knit. Amanda Kievet likes to knit. The two met over a skein of yarn Peggy was selling at the Norwich...
Food Connects in Brattleboro, Vt. is among a group of New England food hubs that are building a sustainable, regional supply chain. Richard Berkfield, executive director of Food Connects, has a vision that someday soon, Vermont farmers and food producers will be able to supply more...
Tapping into excess renewable energy, Medley Thermal (acquired by Antora Energy) reduces carbon emissions and energy costs at the Northern Vermont ski resort. Even as an engineering undergrad, Jordan Kearns, founder of Medley Thermal, knew he wanted to build something “big, new, and good” in the...
Connection, community, and sustainability at the heart of Karin Bellemare’s vision for a “new, old general store” in Middlesex. “There’s something larger going on here than bagging greens,” said Karin Bellemare, owner of The Roots Farm Market in Middlesex. “There’s a community connection.”...
Do you love to work outdoors? Enjoy making things with your hands? Love to drive big machines, or want to use technology to solve environmental problems? A career in Vermont’s forest economy could be a great fit for you!...
Starting a business with the intention to support local agriculture is the easy part. Growing that business in a way that is both profitable and true to those values can be a challenge. Erika Lynch and Julie Morton, owners of Babette’s Table in Waitsfield, dug...
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