GROW VERMONT RELOCATION ASSISTANCE

Overview

As part of a statewide network to attract and retain Vermont residents, Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation is participating in Think Vermont’s GROW program, funded by the legislature as part of the Department of Tourism and Marketing’s annual budget. 

The GROW program will provide one-on-one support to workers who are looking to move to the state, along with events and programs for newcomers through the Vermont Welcome Wagon. Relocation resources can be found via BDCC’s SoVermont website.

We’ll also be strategically connecting new and potential residents with partners for:

• Employment opportunities
• Rentals and home-buying searches
• Ways to volunteer and get involved locally
• Business location assistance
• … and help with figuring out things like trash pickup and broadband connectivity!

Staff Contact: Rachel Shields Ebersole, 802-257-7731 x 218

For Partners

We’re all involved in the welcome … add a SoVermont badge and link to your website, and send your new residents, employees, and neighbors our way for help getting settled in the region. 

Here are some other ways to help ease the way for newcomers:

Towns

• Make sure your town website has a “New here?” page with basic information on utilities, communications, and annual town events
• Add a profiles section to the town newsletter to introduce newcomers

Employers

• Ask new hires “from away” about their family’s needs – Does their spouse need a job? Can you introduce them to their children’s new principal?
• Give folks extra time to relocate before starting work

Landlords and Realtors

• Introduce new residents to other people you know on their street
• Show new residents the town office and website and explain what’s available there

Chambers and Downtown Orgs

• Send new residents a welcome packet
• Partner with us to host welcome events for newcomers

Individuals

• Sign up to be a Welcome Wagon host
• Invite a new colleague or neighbor to a community event
• Learn more about Vermont’s population shortage and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development’s efforts to address it

Background

When our region doesn’t have enough people, everyone’s quality of life is affected. Schools have trouble hiring teachers; assisted living facilities are short-staffed; local committees can’t find enough volunteers. The data and community conversations that went into our regional comprehensive economic development strategy (CEDS) identified growing our population as essential to a thriving economy and reversing decades of population decline.

BDCC has been doing relocation and retention work for many years as part of a suite of workforce and community development programs driven by our CEDS. These programs currently include career readiness programming for high schoolers, the Southern Vermont Young Professionals, upskilling for adult workers, and refugee resettlement. We’ve also run and participated in a wide range of related initiatives, from the state’s Stay to Stay program and Think Vermont to the regional SoVermont collaborative marketing campaigns, Vermont Welcome Wagon, and our own Targeted Expertise Recruitment and Retention support for employers. Strategies and best practices have evolved through work with regional partners such as village and downtown organizations and chambers of commerce.

“We would like to thank the staff of BDCC for reaching out and supporting our family as we considered and then navigated relocating our family from Columbus, Ohio to Dummerston, Vermont. We found that being long distance made the area difficult to explore and we were limited to using community pages on social media to help us navigate our many questions and concerns about the area – the feedback a mix of helpful and not helpful, encouraging and discouraging. We were considering postponing our trip to look at real estate in favor of spending another school year in Ohio when Ms. Lang reached out to offer “no strings attached” support. There was a sense of relief to see a face like this representing Brattleboro and the staff she connected me with spent hours talking to me and answering questions about the area and helped me identify other services that were influential for our family’s needs. This influenced, not just our understanding of the area, but our mood around possible relocation. We rescheduled our real estate trip and within a week of visiting had put an offer on a home in Dummerston. It was a quick decision, but with a new viewpoint of the area, we felt confident in the community we choose to relocate to and are happy to call Brattleboro our “forever” home and community.”

    The Green Family relocated to southern VT based on employer recruitment