On Monday, April 7, the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development joined Governor Phil Scott to tour Windsor County as part of his “Capital for a Day” initiative.
Proctorsville: Cabinet Meeting
The day started early at Murdock’s on the Green, a restaurant in the heart of Proctorsville. Governor Scott reminded everyone of the importance of getting out of Montpelier and making themselves accessible to Vermonters. Cabinet members introduced themselves and discussed their itineraries for the day.
White River Junction and Windsor: New Apartments
Adding more housing across Vermont is one of Governor Scott’s top priorities. The ACCD Team visited two housing projects bringing 65 new affordable homes to the area.
Secretary Kurrle, Deputy Secretary Tayt Brooks, and Housing and Community Development Deputy Commissioner Nate Formalarie visited Mountainvale in White River Junction.
This project by Twin Pines Housing and Evernorth converted a former Fairfield Inn into 40 affordable apartments, a mix of studios and one-bedroom units.
Twenty-three percent of tenants at Mountainvale are veterans. The VA is close by and public transportation is available.
In Windsor, Governor Scott, Deputy Secretary Brooks, Economic Development Commissioner Joan Goldstein and Deputy Commissioner Brett Long visited Central & Main. This 25-unit moderate- and low-income apartment complex by Windham & Windsor Housing Trust and Evernorth benefited from two Department of Economic Development grant programs. It received a $400,000 Community Recovery and Revitalization Program grant as well as $625,000 from the State Brownfields Revitalization Fund.
Left: A bedroom at Mountainvale that belongs to a veteran.
Perkinsville: Lumber Yard/Forest Economy
Commerce Secretary Lindsay Kurrle joined Natural Resources Secretary Julie Moore an
d Forests, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Danielle Fitzko at Sheehan & Sons Lumber.
Sheehan & Sons primarily produce furniture grade wood and flooring, along with some railroad ties and interior beams. Tom Sheehan says not much of their wood stays in Vermont. It mostly is shipped out of state and internationally.
The ever-changing tariff situation has caused some confusion. He says two Canadian firms he works with told him they wouldn’t take any wood, but now they are telling him to go ahead and send shipments north.
Meanwhile Sheehan says his biggest challenge is finding enough people. He says he could take on more work if he had more employees.
Above: Logs piled up inside Sheehan & Sons Lumber
Windsor: Booming Business
Commissioner Goldstein and Deputy Commissioner Long joined a group from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, including Secretary Anson Tebbetts, on a tour of Blake Hill Preserves.
Blake Hill makes specialty jams, marmalades, and condiments. In 2023, Blake Hill produced more than one million units of preserves, quadrupling their production in seven years. Employment there has also gone from 10 people to 45.
Left: Warehouse at Blake Hill Preserves
White River Junction: Medical Technology
Quel Imaging is a small med tech firm started in 2020 by founders who met at Dartmouth College. They are developing a fluorescent material that allows surgeons to better see what they are targeting in the body – helping them to differentiate between healthy and sick tissue.
Left to right: Quel Imaging Co-Founder Ethan LaRochelle, Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Erika Hoffman-Kiess, Dep. Commissioner Long, Commissioner Goldstein, Secretary Kurrle.
Quel Imaging chose to set up shop in White River Junction because it is so much less expensive than operating near Dartmouth. They have had success hiring, bringing in talent from all over the country, but Quel leadership did raise concerns about the high cost of health insurance in Vermont.
South Royalton: Medical Devices
Governor Scott, Secretary Kurrle, Deputy Secretary Brooks, Commissioner Goldstein, Deputy Commissioner Long as well as members of the Vermont Department of Labor including Commissioner Mike Harrington, visited Nolato GW in South Royalton. The injection molding company has 400 employees, 200 at its South Royalton plant and another 200 at its Bethel facility. The manufacturer runs 24/7 and makes medical devices and pharmaceutical supplies.
Like Sheehan & Sons Lumber in Perkinsville, Nolato GW also is looking for more employees. Nolato GW offers several in-house training opportunities to help fill that need and they recruit locally, but leadership says the housing crisis is fueling their workforce challenges by making it incredibly difficult to hire talent from out of state.
Above: Machine in action at Nolato GW
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Windsor County was the seventh stop on the 2024-2025 "Capital for a Day" tour. You can read more about recent stops in Orange, Chittenden, Orleans, Caledonia, and Washington Counties.