BDCC & SeVEDS periodically publish reports, studies or plans. These publications are designed to increase understanding of the region’s economic conditions and inform data-driven program and project development.
The BDCC & SeVEDS Annual Reports provide an overview of the BDCC’s work in the previous fiscal year. The annual report is largely focused on Windham county data and looks to quantify the BDCC & SeVEDS’s impact on the region. The annual report also looks at each of the BDCC’s programs to assess their impact on the community. Previous annual reports can be found at the same link.
BDCC celebrated 70 years serving the Windham County community in 2024. To celebrate, BDCC updated a historic publication that marked a previous milestone: a 50th anniversary newspaper published in 2004 to celebrate half a century of accomplishments. The 70th anniversary retrospective adds the legacy of more recent staff, board members, and partners to that of our predecessors.
UNDERSTANDING THE REGIONAL ECONOMY
The 2023-4 Brattleboro Economic Data Report was first produced by BDCC & SeVEDS at the request of the Brattleboro Selectboard in 2019, and updated in early 2024. It contains a general overview of economic conditions based on publicly available data sources.
A Regional Data Report published fall 2021 provides information on the regional economy in areas such as workforce, employment, housing and demographics. It also provides information on where to find additional data relevant to local or regional economic factors.
State and federal agencies provide data and analysis which can be used to understand regional economic and demographic conditions and trends:
The Vermont Department of Labor https://labor.vermont.gov/labor-market-information, http://www.vtlmi.info/profile2023.pdf
The Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/
U.S. Census and American Community Survey https://data.census.gov/ • Windham Regional Commission http://www.windhamregional.org/
Vermont Futures Project https://vtfuturesproject.org/data-dashboards/
VHFA Vermont Housing Finance Agency https://housingdata.org/profile/snapshot
Census On The Map https://onthemap.ces.census.gov/
WORKFORCE RESEARCH & INNOVATIONS
BDCC workforce development staff published an article about BDCC’s Welcoming Workplaces programming in the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Journal in April 2024. Welcoming Workplaces supports employers in attracting, retaining and nurturing an increasingly diverse southern Vermont workforce.
SoVermont Workforce Center of Excellence Brochure: This brochure provides information about, and an overview of, the various programs conducted by the Southern Vermont Workforce b of Excellence, including the high school Pipelines and Pathways Program, the Paid Internship Program, the Southern Vermont Young Professionals, and the Targeted Recruitment and Retention. It also highlights the regional partnerships in workforce development.
The 2019 “Good Jobs” White Paper published by BDCC’s Workforce Center of Excellence. With declining birth rates, low unemployment rates, dropping workforce participation, and limited progress in addressing poverty or addiction, we can no longer afford to merely focus on today’s job vacancies. Instead we must think bigger, longer term, and system wide. It is now time to focus on the quality and quantity of those jobs today, tomorrow, and years in the future.
Pipelines and Pathways Fall 2019 Report and Scope and Sequence. An overview of the high school career development program as well as the materials for students, parents and educators to plan career awareness and learning throughout high school.
Apprenticeship Project Report: This 2016 outlined the feasibility of developing apprenticeship and training programs for regional employers with the ultimate goal of using such a program to recruit, attract, train, and retain workers in the Windham region. Currently, apprenticeships are used primarily among plumbing and electrical firms, but the report argues that these types of training programs could be useful to other businesses going forward, as the need to add skilled workers continues to grow.
Internship Program Report: This report focuses specifically on the internship program, providing background on the project’s goal of matching local students with an internship opening at a local business. It also looks at employer participation in the program and what industries have been participants.
Targeted Expertise Recruitment Task Force Report: In 2016 BDCC in collaboration with New Chapter convened a special Task Force comprised of CEOs, workforce partners, state officials and subject experts. The goal was to understand the challenge of recruiting and retaining workers with specialized skills and talent. This report provides an overview of the Task Force findings and recommendations which form the basis of BDCC’s ongoing recruitment assistance efforts regionally and in collaboration with state agencies.
RESOURCES FOR EMPLOYERS
BDCC’s 2021 Guide to Recruitment and Retention offers both concrete and big-picture steps employers can take to hire and retain quality talent in a tight labor market.
Employers’ Guide to Childcare in Windham and Southern Windsor Counties
UNDERSTANDING LABOR DEMAND
In order to define the workforce challenges faced in the Windham Region, the SeVEDS 2014 Workforce Report was conducted. This was a unique opportunity to survey some of the largest businesses in Windham County and use the data for a detailed examination of local workforce. The primary purposes of this project were to define challenges in terms of a gap in workforce skills, and to analyze local job potential and opportunity in the following 5 years.
In 2019 a new initiative was launched to conduct “real time” workforce demand surveys. The first Hiring Needs Assessment Report began with a look at Accounting and Bookkeeping administrative roles in the region. In 2020 two more assessments were conducted. The second Hiring Needs Assessment Report looked at demand for Manufacturing and Production workforce. The 2020 Hiring Needs Assessment Report focused on jobs requiring CDL (commercial drivers licenses) credentials. In 2021 an informal Hiring Needs Assessment was conducted to understand construction and trades workforce needs in the region, to complement statewide labor research on this sector.
SOUTHERN VERMONT ZONE, EDD, STRATEGIC PLANNING & PROGRAMMING
Southern Vermont Economic Development Zone Report: The Southern Vermont Economic Development Zone consists of the 44 towns across Bennington and Windham County. The report lays out the Zone’s problems as well as its assets and provides an assessment of each as well as a vision for the region going forward.
Southern Vermont Economy Project: Strategies, Accomplishments and Impacts Utilizing the USDA RCDI Grant: The Southern Vermont Economy Project, funded by USDA RCDI grant, came to a close at the end of June 2019. This three year project worked with municipalities, nonprofits, and regional organizations to increase their capacity around economic development and workforce development projects. A final presentation was put together, showing the impacts, strategies, and accomplishments over the past three years.
BUSINESS INNOVATION & GROWTH
Business Accelerator Feasibility Study: The business accelerator feasibility study was completed in 2016 and assessed whether a traditional business accelerator would be feasible in Southern Vermont. While the outcome was that there were not enough resources and business activity to support an accelerator, the report did make different loan recommendations that have informed BDCC decisions going forward, specifically pertaining to the Instig8 program.
Instig8 and Xclr8 Report: This report examines the Instig8 program, a BDCC initiative designed to help local entrepreneurs start or grow a business. The report includes best practices (such as broadly accessible workshops, mentorship opportunities, and a clear path forward for all businesses), a SWOT analysis of the region, and the need for a program such as this one in Southern Vermont.
VERMONT YANKEE CLOSURE AND RECOVERY
In 2014, the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant powered down. Southern Vermont was the first region in the country to take proactive steps to understand and mitigate the loss of this major economic driver. Find out more about the region’s groundbreaking efforts to plan, secure resources and implement innovative recovery efforts.
MORE
This BDCC Report on Internal Projects from 2017 summarizes the BDCC’s projects which includes the CEDS, Ecovation Hub, Instig8, and SVEP. This report on internal projects includes brief summaries of nine different reports; the full reports are individually linked on this page.
The CEDS is a guide for the continuation of successful economic development projects that will help foster the creation of new projects to aid the region’s economic situation and prepare a comprehensive inventory of economic and community development projects and job creation prospects in the region.
2024 SOUTHERN VERMONT CEDS REPORT
The 2024 Southern Vermont CEDS has been submitted for approval to the federal government. Visit SoVermontZone to access the executive summary, complete documentation, economic data as well as annual CEDS projects.
In 2019, Windham and Bennington Counties combined to create a joint comprehensive economic development strategies. The 2019 Southern Vermont CEDS is designed to serve the entirety of Southern Vermont. The 2019 Southern Vermont Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy was accepted by the EDA in 2019. As referenced in our application for funding to conduct the work and create this new CEDS, the 2019 plan created by Windham and Bennington County stakeholders is a long term strategy to grow the Southern Vermont Economy Zone – a region facing significant economic challenges established by the Vermont State Legislature in 2015. The 2019 Zone CEDS is intended to replace the 2014 Windham Region S.M.A.R.T. CEDS.2014 WINDHAM CEDS REPORT
Windham Regional CEDS Report: A Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) is “a region’s playbook for engaging in collaborative, region-wide transformation of the economy in order to raise productivity, create wealth and increase prosperity for residents.” The 2014 CEDS linked exists to be the first step in reversing economic decline in the region by providing guidelines on how the Windham region must proceed if we are to remain competitive going forward. Having this document to encourage regional cooperation is crucial in a smaller place like Windham County where each town must rely on surrounding towns to create a sustainable economy.
The Windham Regional Commissions (WRC) publishes a Regional Plan as well as sub-regional plans relating to areas such as transportation: http://www.windhamregional.org/publications
In partnership with the University of Vermont, WRC helped to develop a statewide online publication with mapping of infrastructure and other elements relating to land use. https://verso-uvm.github.io/Vermont-Livability-Map/
BDCC is Southeastern Vermont’s private, nonprofit, rural Economic Development Organization that serves as a catalyst for economic success so the people, businesses, and communities here can thrive.