Jasper Hill brings Vermont’s forested and pastoral landscapes together in its award-winning cheeses [caption id="attachment_7205" align="alignleft" width="253"] Dave DuCharme always wanted to work in the woods, following his parents, grandparents, and brothers into careers in the forest economy. Photo by Hannah Natalya.[/caption] For a few months out...
VSJF continues to provide important leadership for the New England Food System Planners Partnership, a collaboration between seven state-level organizations, six state agricultural, economic and environmental department representatives and Food Solutions New England (FSNE). NOTE: This story originally appeared in the VSJF Impact Report 2024. Click...
Vermont’s forest products industry generates $2.1B in annual economic output in forestry, logging, processing, construction, woodworking, and wood energy. Source: Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation NOTE: This story originally appeared in the VSJF Impact Report 2024. Click here to read the entire report. The forest...
Vermont is a leader in the nation with its aggressive goals, including requiring utility companies to use only clean energy by 2035. But the system isn’t set up to make the energy transition easy. Adopting new technologies is expensive and requires deep analysis while startup...
The vast majority of businesses (93%) in Vermont have fewer than 20 employees, many of which fall into VSJF’s sectors of food and agriculture, forest products, climate technology, and waste management. Supporting these businesses is crucial—they are the backbone of Vermont’s economy, providing a significant...
Because agricultural activity exists in every county of the state, in both rural communities and our more urban centers, we all have a stake in our ability to produce more of what we eat every day. Vermont needs a prosperous, food secure, and equitable food...
Building houses, community, and solutions to extreme weather events one straw bale at a time. When Ace McArleton started New Frameworks in 2006, his idea was to offer natural alternatives to traditional building materials that were healthier for humans and the planet. Using materials such as...
Rockledge Farm plans for sustainable growth that is integrated with nature. When Scott Duffy purchased his grandparent’s hilltop farm in Wethersfield, Vermont in 1987, his wife looked around the empty farmhouse and suggested that he “get busy building a dining room table” so the young family...
Pushing the creative boundaries of the Windsor chair, George Sawyer is bringing traditional techniques to modern chairmaking. Growing up, George Sawyer would often join his father, Dave, in the small woodshop at the family’s farmhouse in Woodbury, Vermont. Most days, his dad was alone in the...
Jenny and Giacomo Vascotto bring Italian “cucina povera” to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. “The problem with pasta,” said Giacomo Vascotto, “is that there are so many brands out there, but how many can you name that are exceptional? Probably none.” The founders of Trenchers Farmhouse in Lyndonville, VT,...
The founder of WheelPad L3C, Lineberger and her team create fully accessible housing for veterans, seniors, and people with spinal cord injuries or debilitating illnesses. Julie Lineberger, founder and president of WheelPad L3C, received an unwelcome phone call in 2010 that would change the trajectory of...
Northern New England has an opportunity to develop a new bioeconomy that will transform forest management, and commercialize products made with sustainably harvested wood that will contribute to the rapid reduction of single-use plastics in demand by consumers worldwide. The 2024 Vermont Forest Industry Summit offered...
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