By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Resourceful Vermonters have long looked to the forest for wood heat, building materials, and furniture, but Jim Lovinsky, owner of Sylvacurl in East Hardwick, may be among the first to see an alternative to...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Mike Rainville, founder and owner of Maple Landmark, landed his first wholesale account at age 15, when a traveling salesman noticed the wooden tic tac toe boards Mike had for sale at the Lincoln...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund The story of von Trapp Brewing begins fifty years ago in the forested hills behind the resort, where a natural spring bubbles clear water up to the surface of the earth. The spring is...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund In every industry, there are individuals who set the bar. In Vermont’s forest products industry, two of those individuals are Brian Lafoe and his son-in-law, Stan Parker, owners of Lafoe Logging. Last year, Lafoe...
The Cold Hollow Carbon project in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom is the first co-op model in the country to successfully enter a voluntary carbon market. By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Long valued for timber, recreation, wildlife habitat, and solace, Vermont’s forests...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund In the era of COVID-19, Vermonters are particularly fortunate to live in a rural state where access to the outdoors is abundant. Even people living in Vermont’s largest city and the epicenter of coronavirus...
Start-Up Whiteout Solutions Piloting Forest Inventory and Mapping Technology in Northeast Kingdom By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. Vermont’s first sawmill opened in 1738, nearly a century before the first chainsaw was invented, not to mention cars or telephones. And it...
The Rough Cut Issue No. 1, May 2020 By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. Dear Network Friends, I hope this inaugural Vermont Forest Industry Network newsletter finds you healthy and safe. I’ve started to write this many times in the last few weeks,...
One of Vermont’s oldest manufacturers shifts from wood products to personal protective equipment. By Christine McGowan, Forest Products Program Director at Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. [caption id="attachment_4748" align="alignleft" width="207"] Malcolm Cooper is the second generation owner of JK Adams, one of Vermont’s oldest manufacturers. His workshop has...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund As a young entrepreneur, Sam Hooper carefully considers every decision he makes for his business, and every dollar he spends. So when Hooper, who bought the hundred-year-old Vermont Glove last year, was faced with replacing the...
Women-only trainings target growing number of female landowners in Vermont. By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund “Learning to use a chainsaw was the most empowering thing I have ever done,” said Caitlin Gosciminski, a natural resources major at the University of Vermont. Gosciminski was...
By Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Barnet resident Calvin Willard ranks among best in U.S. When most people think about world-class athletes from Vermont, they think of Olympic skiers and snowboarders like Kelly Clark, Hannah Kearney and Sophie Caldwell. And while it’s true...
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