Press Release: Sessions Announced for the Southern VT Economy Summit May 20, 2025 at Mt. Snow Resort in Dover, VT
Photo: Kelly Fletcher Photography – attendees at a prior Summit
Southern Vermont community and business leaders: Plan to join hosts Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) and Bennington County Regional Commission (BCRC) at Mount Snow in Dover, VT, on May 20 for the 8th annual Southern VT Economy Summit!
The agenda for the event is now live and can be found at www.sovermontzone.com/summit, along with a link to register.
The theme of this year’s Summit, “Adapt and Thrive” is centered around the findings of the 2024 SoVermont Zone Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS), which stresses the need for our region to foster a shared culture of adaptation in the face of rapid economic, technological, and environmental change.
Keynote speaker Josh Wright of Lightcast, a global leader in labor market analytics, will open the day by presenting findings from the recent report, “The Rising Storm: Building A Future-Ready Workforce to Withstand the Looming Labor Shortage.” This report helps us situate Vermont’s ongoing experience of demographic and workforce trends in a national context and provides insight into trends and solutions that will help us adapt ahead of the next bands of this demographic ‘perfect storm.’ Following the keynote address, hear from local experts in the healthcare, construction and education sectors as they speak about how their industries are already making key adaptations to the current workforce realities.
Throughout the day-long event, breakouts will cover topics on a wide variety of subjects. Panels are designed with multiple audiences in mind. Municipal leaders may wish to attend a panel discussion about community-based adaptation to climate trends, a discussion about engaging the community to support meaningful change, a workshop focused on building effective multigenerational teams, or a panel detailing how public-private partnerships can lead to a thriving regional economy. Business and community leaders can choose from a panel discussion about how small businesses can become employers of choice on a limited budget, learn about creative pathways to rural business transitions, or join a hands-on workshop to increase their understanding of financial tools needed to support rural businesses and community development projects.
The final sessions of the day are set up as roundtables and interactive discussions where attendees can make connections with speakers, funders, and colleagues from across the state and region. We have also invited representatives of our federal delegation to update participants on the latest from Washington, D.C. We hope you’ll leave the Summit with a plan to put new ideas into action in your community, and a network to help you succeed!
BDCC and BCRC host the Summit on behalf of the Southern Vermont Economic Development Zone. The Summit is part of the Southern Vermont Economy Project, which helps build capacity, expertise and resources in the Zone, with support from the USDA Rural Community Development Initiative.
The Summit is made possible in part by this year’s Summit Sponsor Brattleboro Savings and Loan, keynote sponsor MSK Engineers and session and special event sponsors Vermont State University, the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, M&T Bank, the UVM/Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships, VELCO, Weston and Sampson Engineers, Community College of Vermont, Vermont Community Foundation, The Richards Group, Vermont Economic Development Authority, Efficiency Vermont, the Vermont Community Loan Fund, Stevens and Associates/M&S Development, the Better Business Bureau of New England, and Merritt and Merritt Law. Find a full list of sponsors at the Summit website, www.sovermontzone.com/summit.
