BDCC & SeVEDS Annual Meeting Celebrates 70 Years of Regional Economic Development
BDCC honors community leaders and celebrates 70 years at its annual meeting. (Above)
BDCC & SeVEDS Annual Meeting Celebrates 70 Years of Regional Economic Development
Local employer receives honors; Pieciak and DVFiber celebrated for community contributions
BRATTLEBORO, VT – The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) and Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) hosted their joint annual meeting. The event was held at the former Vermont Bread building in Brattleboro on October 17. BDCC recently purchased the building in order to provide more available industrial space for businesses looking to grow or relocate to the region.
This year’s annual meeting was a celebration of BDCC’s 70-year history. The organization formed in 1954 to build what is now the Book Press building in order to provide space for the Alan S. Browne publishing company to expand locally, rather than leaving the region. BDCC continues to serve the important role of providing and facilitating the development of commercial and industrial real estate; its mission has also expanded to include, in partnership with SeVEDS, workforce and community development initiatives and regional collaboration on economic development strategies. Highlights from the past seven decades can be found in BDCC’s annual report, which has just been released online at https://brattleborodevelopment.com/bdcc-seveds-annual-reports/.
The BDCC and SeVEDS annual meeting also celebrated the many partnerships that make economic development possible in our region. Following remarks by BDCC President Craig Miskovich and Executive Director Adam Grinold, Miskovich introduced the evening’s keynote speaker, Larry Cassidy, who has played a key role on many local boards, including serving as board chair for the Brattleboro Retreat, as well as leading major initiatives with statewide impact. “It’s difficult to do good and lasting work,” Cassidy said, “but BDCC has been doing it every day for 70 years.”
Several awards were presented for outstanding contributions to Southern Vermont.
SeVEDS Chairwoman Wendy Harrison presented DVFiber with the 2024 SeVEDS Leadership Award for Excellence in Economic Development. Harrison said, “By connecting over 600 customers and building more than 200 miles of fiber (so far!), DVFiber is playing a crucial role in providing essential connectivity for telemedicine, education, remote work, and local businesses.”
Leader Distribution Systems, a major regional employer that was also recognized by Pepsi with their 2024 Northeast Regional Bottler Award, was presented with the BDCC Founders Award. Craig Miskovich praised CEO John Leader and his family for their consistent commitment to the community, calling LDS “a shining example of what it means to be a community-focused business.”The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by BDCC board member Tracy John to Joseph Pieciak, Jr., founding partner and owner of local accounting firm Downey, Pieciak, Fitzgerald, & Company. Since moving to Brattleboro in the late 1960s, Pieciak served as President of the Chamber of Commerce, was recognized as Person of the Year by both the Vermont CPA Society and the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce and served on the Vermont Economic Progress Council for Governor Howard Dean. He also spent thousands of hours volunteering for the United Way, Windham County Humane Society, and creating the Teen Center out of the old Flat Street Club, which has now evolved into the Boys and Girls Club.
About BDCC and SeVEDS:
The 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. BDCC 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 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/
Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) is an affiliate of BDCC that grew from a 2008 grassroots effort, initiated by BDCC, to understand and create long term strategies needed to reverse the economic decline of the Windham Region and plan for the economic impacts from the closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. In 2014, after multiple years of regional input, education and data gathering, SeVEDS received federal approval for the Windham Region’s federally recognized S.M.A.R.T. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). SeVEDS partnered with Bennington’s Regional Economic Development Group in 2018 to develop the 2019 Southern Vermont Zone CEDS. For more information visit: www.seveds.com
