Members of the 2025 SoVT Get on Board Cohort (photo, BDCC staff)
Southern Vermont – Have you ever wanted to change or start something in your community, but didn’t know how to make it happen? Are you already serving on a nonprofit or municipal board, but feel like you need to know more about how things work? Would you appreciate the opportunity to meet fellow Southern Vermonters who are interested in serving their community? SoVermont Get on Board is enrolling now! This program is designed to cultivate and support local volunteers, building the knowledge and connections needed to help participants become confident members of local boards and community organizations.
Four in-person sessions will take place on October 3, October 17, November 7th and November 14th in towns across Southern Vermont. Participants will explore the region, make connections with
like-minded people, and learn from state and regional nonprofit leaders, panelists with deep experience in local government, and scholars of government and community development.
In talking about their experiences with the program, prior participants mentioned that the program helped them better define their purpose in volunteering for local committees, and helped them learn more about the function of nonprofit boards and local government. They especially appreciated the connections they made with others through the program, as well as the chance to visit interesting places in Southern Vermont. Justin LaSelva, a 2025 participant from Whitingham, noted that, “living far away from everybody else, unless you make an effort to get out there it can be hard to meet other people who are interested in things, so this was a good way to put like-minded people together.”
Tuition for the program, which includes breakfast and lunch at each session, is $200. Scholarships and sponsored seats are available and can be requested as part of the application process. While everyone (and especially those new to community involvement in Vermont) is encouraged to take the full course, it’s also possible to drop into individual units based on interest and need for $55 per workshop.
For more information on the course, to apply, or to register for the webinar please visit www.sovermontzone.com/get-on-board or contact Meg Staloff at BDCC at mstaloff@brattleborodevelopment.com or (802) 257-7731 x 222. Applications for the full course are being accepted on a rolling basis now through September 26th.
About the Southern Vermont Economy Project (SVEP)
Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation’s Southern Vermont Economy Project provides training and technical assistance to increase local capacity, skills, and resources in the Southern Vermont Economic Development Zone (encompassing Bennington and Windham counties, and the town of Weston) in order to advance local projects critical to Southern Vermont achieving regional community, economic, and workforce development goals. SVEP is funded in part through the USDA Rural Community Development Initiative. For more information please visit: https://brattleborodevelopment.com/svep/
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/
About Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS)
Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS), a nonprofit 501(c)3, is an affiliate of Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (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 has subsequently partnered with Bennington’s Regional Economic Development Group to develop the 2019 and 2024 Southern Vermont Zone CEDS. For more information visit: www.seveds.com.
