Skip to main content

We help Vermont businesses grow and adapt through coaching, accelerator programs, supply chain coordination, and practical tools. Our services are tailored to entrepreneurs in agriculture and food, forest and fiber, energy, waste management, and environmental technology—supporting innovation and resilience across Vermont’s economy.

Recent Business Assistance News

Ag & Food
September 29, 2025

New England Food Businesses Invited to Join 2025 Local Food Count

Regional campaign invites retailers, grocers, institutions, distributors, food hubs, and restaurants to help strengthen local food systems by tracking local food purchasing and sales. Food and beverage establishments and organizations…
Dave Ducharme and Mateo Kehler. Photo by Hannah Natalya.Ag & FoodForestryStaff Articles
February 17, 2025

The Forest for the Cheese

Jasper Hill brings Vermont’s forested and pastoral landscapes together in its award-winning cheeses Dave DuCharme always wanted to work in the woods, following his parents, grandparents, and brothers into careers…
Ag & FoodStaff Articles
February 15, 2025

New England Feeding New England Project (NEFNE)

VSJF continues to provide important leadership for the New England Food System Planners Partnership, a collaboration between seven state-level organizations, six state agricultural, economic and environmental department representatives and Food…

Vermont Business Assistance Services

Business Management Coaching

Business Coaching Agriculture

We offer three types of services, each designed to meet the different needs of our clients and their desired depth of engagement – deep dive business coaching, short-term intensive coaching and small group coaching, including our Tools of the Trade program. Our deeply experienced, entrepreneurial business coaches combine their collective expertise to take your business to the next stage of development and profitability.

Learn more about Business Management Coaching.

Apply Now

Tools of the Trade – Business Coaching for Energy Pros

Tools of the Trade

This business training program for weatherization and clean energy contractors is designed to improve executive business skills and enhance core operations. Participants learn to master a proven framework for building and sustaining their energy services business, recruiting and retaining their workforce, and capitalizing on Vermonter’s growing interest in renewable energy and energy-efficiency oriented solutions that address the global challenge of extreme weather events.

Learn more about Tools of the Trade.

Business Accelerators

DeltaClimeVT business accelerator

VSJF’s unique Energy and Forest Business accelerators serve startup and seed-stage ventures focusing on energy, forest-based and climate economy innovation. Each year, a cohort of 8 seed-stage companies (8 energy/climate and 8 forest-based) with innovative solutions and products are selected to participate in one of our two rigorous business accelerators.

Our accelerator programs are centered around the ecosVC Lens of the Market® ACCELERATED curriculum, designed to ensure participating startups produce a well-grounded case for their business and are able to articulate a compelling plan for success to investors.

Working closely with experienced business and investors, each cohort focuses on growing their businesses and making connections. At the end of each program, one company is chosen by their peers to receive a cash award, and various companies are selected for pilot projects to further test their products.

Business Sense Resources

Business Sense

Business Sense is a no-fluff source of information that gets right to the heart of what small business owners need: essential tools and informational resources to help their businesses grow. Written by our team of business coaches, this six-module series shares their decades of experience in areas such as financials, operations, sales and marketing, human resources, leadership, and governance. Business Sense provides entrepreneurs and small business owners in various sectors, including agriculture, forestry, waste management, renewable energy, and environmental technology, with recommendations and practical advice to help their businesses not only survive but thrive.

Learn more about Business Sense Resources.

Supply Chain Coordination

Vermont agriculture & food systems

We help Vermont businesses grow by coordinating supply chains that connect producers, service providers, and capital partners. Our goal: remove bottlenecks, spark collaboration, and open new markets. Our work spans agriculture and food systems, forest products, waste management, renewable energy, and environmental tech—creating value at every step of the supply chain. Visit our industry pages to learn more about current projects.

Learn more about our Supply Chain Coordination work in the Agriculture and Food Systems industry.

Learn more about our Supply Chain Coordination work in the Forest & Fiber industry.

How We Work

The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) brings together private sector stakeholders to:

  • Identify and address supply chain challenges
  • Facilitate collaboration across enterprises
  • Share market intelligence
  • Build infrastructure and services that benefit entire sectors
  • Advance novel technology and approaches to industry scale development
  • Support the next generation of innovative entrepreneurs and their businesses