BDCC & SeVEDS Annual Meeting Focus on Cultivating Change
Yates, Tarmy and Leary receive 2022 Honors; Reed, Elwell and Bonin’s Pandemic Era Work celebrated
BRATTLEBORO, VT – The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) & Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) Boards of Trustees, Members, and Staff hosted this year’s annual meeting at the future site of Grateful Greens in the BDCC Building in Brattleboro. The September 15th in person meeting, the first since 2019, celebrated changemakers in the region. BDCC President Bob Stevens and Executive Director Adam Grinold spoke to Members and invited guests about the accomplishments of the past year, and the many partnerships that make this work possible.
Grinold introduced keynote speaker Richard Berkfeld from Vermont Food Connects. Berkfeld reflected on the evening’s theme of cultivating change and profound changes that have occured in his family and his endeavor Vermont Food Connects since the pandemic. Berkfeld noted that the event coincided with the one year anniversary of the loss of his wife Angela, a beloved mother and community member and that FoodConnects has grown to a New England scale during the pandemic, recently doubling the size of their physical footprint in Vermont.
Six awards were given out during the evening program. SeVEDS Chairwoman Wendy Harrison presented Chloe Leary, Executive Director of the Winston Prouty Center, with the 2022 SeVEDS Leadership Award for excellence in economic development leadership. Chloe’s community development work with the Winston Prouty Center includes redevelopment of the former Austine Campus, state level advocacy to develop, sustain and support childcare workers and child care centers and ongoing master planning work to develop 300 units of mixed income, mixed generation housing at the campus.
Long time civil rights leader Curtiss Reed and former Brattleboro Town Manager Peter Elwell were jointly presented the 2021 SeVEDS Leadership Award by SeVEDS Vice Chairwoman Meg Streeter for their work promoting community and organizational conversations on diversity and inclusion is a longtime civil rights leader, executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversityfor over 20 years; the CEO of the CRJ Consulting Group and has engaged in diversity training for 1000’s beginning with a request from the Vermont State Police.
Peter Elwell retired as Town Manager of Brattleboro after serving since 2015. Peter left a lasting legacy not only in Brattleboro, but across Southern Vermont as he helped lead and encourage a number of roundtable conversations on race and diversity. His work as part of the Equity Collaborative was paired with efforts to increase diversity amongst the town’s department leaders, correcting civil war plaques, and helping the town acknowledge the ongoing harmful effects racism had on residents’ lives.
Outgoing Brattleboro Downtown Alliance Director Stephanie Bonin was presented the 2020 SeVEDS Leadership Award for her work to lead development of the Everyone Eats Program locally and across the state. The program benefited Vermonters who became food insecure, restaurants whose operations were deeply disrupted and Vermont food producers.
Mark Tarmy, was presented with the BDCC Founders Award by BDCC Board Member Mark Richards. Tarmy was heralded for creating value added jobs and promoting a climate that enhances the economic vitality of the region. Richards pointed to the Tarmy’s recent involvement in the ongoing refugee resettlement efforts, including providing space where the newly arrived refugee relocation agency is housed as evidence of his repeated investment in community efforts.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dan Yates outgoing President and CEO of Brattleboro Savings & Loan by Bob Stevens. Yates’ previous service on the Downtown Alliance Board, SeVEDS, the Windham Windsor Housing Trust, Latchis and Brattleboro Museum and Arts Centerand the Ecovation Hub and decades as a community banker was cited during the event. Stevens also recalled that during a period of significant challenges in the region, it was Yates’ challenge to others on these boards that it was up to them to step forward to meet the challenges the community was facing head on.
About BDCC and SeVEDS:
The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation is a private, nonprofit economic development organization that serves as a catalyst for industrial and commercial growth throughout Southeastern Vermont, including Windham County and the towns of Readsboro, Searsburg, and Weston. BDCC serves as the State of Vermont’s certified Regional Development Corporation (RDC) for the greater Windham County area. BDCC is one of 12 RDCs throughout Vermont. 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 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 submitted the Windham Region’s federally recognized S.M.A.R.T. Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for federal approval. For more information visit: www.seveds.com
