Photo: Jamal Barbari, Keira Carmicheal, and Myra Jacobs enjoying a meal together as part of last year’s Invite a New Vermonter to Dinner Month initiative.
March is “Invite a New Vermonter to Dinner Month”
From Brattleboro to Rutland to the Northeast Kingdom, organizations across the state are declaring March “Invite a New Vermonter to Dinner Month.”
“March can be especially tough for someone who has just experienced their first Vermont winter, and hasn’t made a lot of community connections yet,” says Rachel Shields Ebersole, program manager for Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation’s GROW SoVermont, part of BDCC’s programming to foster thriving communities and a robust regional workforce. “Helping folks with a little extra welcome during cabin-fever season can really make a difference.”
Piloted in Windham County in 2025, “Invite a New Vermonter to Dinner Month” resulted in 54 residents sharing meals together, whether at a local restaurant or in their homes. This year, the Vermont Welcome Wagon Project, the Southern Vermont Deerfield Valley Chamber of Commerce, Real Rutland, Imagine Vermont in Addison County, Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation in Windsor County, the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph, and the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce are all teaming up to expand the initiative to their areas as well.
Local “hosts” who invite a new neighbor, colleague, or friend to a meal during the month of March can access special offers from partnering restaurants and partial reimbursements to help cover the cost of the meal.
“It’s so meaningful to a newcomer when someone reaches out and says, ‘Hey, let’s get together,’ but it’s also really rewarding for the hosts,” Shields Ebersole says. “We got amazing feedback from participants in our first year about the depth of connection they experienced.”
Host Nettie Lane described her March 2025 experience as “fantastic.” “It was truly wonderful to get to know my new neighbors,” Lane says. “We really enjoyed sharing the meal and our company. We even talked about starting a communal garden together! I also was happy to support a local business.”
“Newcomers are everywhere,” Shields Ebersole says. “Sometimes we just need a reminder to be on the lookout for them – and encouragement that we can truly make a huge difference in their lives by extending a welcome.”
Throughout the year, GROW SoVermont holds newcomers mixers, shares resources and personalized recommendations with people who have recently relocated to Windham County from outside Vermont, and matches new residents with local welcome wagon hosts who will connect with them for a hike or coffee meetup.
Interested in “Invite a New Vermonter to Dinner Month,” or other GROW SoVermont initiatives? Learn more, see special offers from our restaurant partners, and sign up to participate at sovermont.com/march.
About GROW SoVermont
GROW SoVermont is a regional partner in the statewide GROW initiative created to welcome newcomers to the region—from recent relocators to returning residents and those planning a move to Vermont. The GROW network is a program of Think Vermont and is funded in part by Vermont’s Agency of Commerce and Community Development. For more information, please visit sovermont.com.
About BDCC
Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) is a private, nonprofit economic development organization with the mission of investing in the drivers of the regional economy so that people, businesses, and communities in Southern Vermont can thrive. In addition to its private nonprofit leadership role in regional business acceleration and expansion programs and projects, economic, workforce and community development programming, BDCC also serves as the State of Vermont’s certified Regional Development Corporation (RDC) for the greater Windham County area (including Windham County and the towns of Readsboro, Searsburg, Winhall and Weston). BDCC is one of 12 RDCs throughout Vermont. BDCC’s activity is made possible in part by a grant from the State of Vermont through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. For more information, visit https://brattleborodevelopment.com/
