BDCC Celebrates 70th, Honors Local Leaders at Annual Meeting
Q: What do you get when community leaders in a Southern Vermont town come together for the common purpose of keeping an employer from leaving the region?
A: A happier workforce, a more vibrant economy, a stronger community, and the BDCC.
In 1954, the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) was formed to build what is now the Book Press building, providing the space needed by the Alan S. Browne publishing company to expand its operations locally so it wouldn’t have to leave the region and take good-paying jobs with it. Over the 70 years that followed, the BDCC has broadened its service area to include all of Southeastern Vermont and significantly increased its programming. Yet throughout all the growth and changes, the organization has remained true to its original mission: to help the region’s people, businesses, and communities thrive.
This commitment was on full display at their recent annual meeting, held in tandem with Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS). The robust gathering took place on October 17th at the former Vermont Bread building in Brattleboro. BDCC recently purchased the building in order to make more industrial space available for businesses looking to grow or relocate to the region.
The event also celebrated the many partnerships that make economic development possible in the region. Following remarks by BDCC President Craig Miskovich and Executive Director Adam Grinold, the evening’s keynote speaker, Larry Cassidy, offered his observations. Cassidy has played a key role on many local boards, including serving as board chair for the Brattleboro Retreat and leading major initiatives that have statewide impact. “It’s difficult to do good and lasting work,” Cassidy said, “but BDCC has been doing it every day for 70 years.”
Business and Community Leaders Honored
At the event, several awards were presented for outstanding contributions to Southern Vermont. SeVEDS Chair Wendy Harrison presented DVFiber with the 2024 SeVEDS Leadership Award for Excellence in Economic Development. Said Harrison, “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 (LDS), a major regional employer that was recently 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.
An Updated Classic Unveiled
As part of its 70th anniversary celebration, the BDCC, known for successfully renovating and revitalizing buildings, transferred their skills to a historic publication—the 50th anniversary newspaper published in 2004 to celebrate half a century of BDCC accomplishments. The 70th retrospective was expanded to include the legacy of more recent staff, board members, and partners. The publication also highlights the achievements that shaped BDCC into the “cornerstone of support and development” that is it today, working to “foster connections that have empowered countless individuals and organizations to drive economic growth in our region.”
Notable among those achievements are the issuance of the original bond that helped Browne publishing build the brand-new Book Press on Putney Road, and the revitalization of the Cotton Mill building. As Corky Elwell, Brattleboro’s Town Manager from 1960-89, said of the Cotton Mill, “It really kept the lifeblood going because it was continuing to provide employment to folks. It retained the tax base. The building could have become useless,” he continues. “The good thing about BDCC taking over buildings in the area is that it keeps it on the tax rolls and keeps people employed.”
While the BDCC continues to serve the important role of providing and facilitating the development of commercial and industrial real estate, its mission has expanded to include, in partnership with SeVEDS, workforce and community development initiatives and regional collaboration on economic development strategies. The BDCC often takes on on projects that require years of effort and critical partnerships to come to fruition. Examples of this include making broadband widely available to rural residents and partnering with the Ethiopian Community Development Council to resettle refugees in Southern Vermont. More highlights from the past seven decades can be found in BDCC’s annual report, which is now available online at https://brattleborodevelopment.com/bdcc-seveds-annual-reports/.
“Seventy years of success is certainly something worth acknowledging,” says BDCC’s Executive Director Adam Grinold, “but our focus remains squarely on the future. We are committed to continuing our relentless work to ensure that the people who love Southern Vermont have an opportunity to thrive here.”
More About BDCC
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 Southeastern 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.
More About SeVEDS
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 to 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.
