For Kelley Faucheaux, the urge to move back to Vermont felt like a migration.
Faucheaux, a customer service specialist, put everything she owned into storage less than a month ago and made the move back to Vermont, where she lived for several years before heading to Florida in 2007 to get married.
Faucheaux didn’t have a job yet, or a place to live, but to her, Vermont made sense.
Fresh on the heels of a divorce, and with an adult son living in Burlington, Faucheaux said hearing that Vermont’s looking for more people to call its own was all it took to remind her of what she loved about her life in the Green Mountains.
She found herself at Burlington’s Stay to Stay Weekend reception Nov. 8, hoping to meet others looking to call Vermont home.
Kelly Faucheaux returned to Vermont after several years in Florida.
Stay to Stay Weekends are coordinated by the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing to encourage more people to consider making their Vermont vacations permanent. Stay to Stay attendees spend the weekend in a bustling Vermont city or village, attend networking meetings with employers and realtors, and get to know the community that could become their new home.
Faucheaux heard about the Vermont Department of Economic Development’s Remote Worker Grant Program, which offers relocation expenses reimbursement to new Vermont residents who work remotely. That planted a seed.
She thought, “Wow, move back to Vermont? It sounds rewarding either way, whether you get paid or not. I think it’s actually time for me to get back there,” she said.
Faucheaux snagged a job in customer service at Burlington International Airport, and started Nov. 7, the day before the Stay to Stay reception.
“What I can say right now is, I already know that I’m going to like it a lot, because it’s kind of like a boutique international airport. It makes it more of a family type feel,” said Faucheaux. “I can just tell already that I’m going to enjoy it.”
At the reception, she could be heard chatting to other potential new Vermonters about her love for her new home.
“I think it’s a great place to raise a family. There’s so much for kids to do here. I feel like there are a lot of things in other places that kids are exposed to that are just not great for their upbringing. In Vermont, there’s a lot more options when it comes to activities that are healthy. I’ve always felt that I learned how to eat better in Vermont, I learned how to be more active in Vermont. There’s always a lot of support in every direction,” she said.
Vermont’s vistas struck a chord, too.
“I love the change in seasons here. I think that in Vermont, the beauty is a full 360 (degrees), and you can really literally look in any direction and see beauty, and that’s what’s so appealing to me about Vermont. It doesn’t matter how cold it is, it’s just beautiful, any time of year,” Faucheaux said.
Her son agrees. He moved to Vermont before Faucheaux, and she says living in Vermont has been beneficial for his epilepsy.
Faucheaux says she feels at home back in Vermont already, and part of that is due to the strong community she’s becoming part of in Burlington.
“People are real. It’s just the best thing I can say about Vermont. People are real. There’s nothing fake about it,” she said. “I am happy to be back, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for me in Vermont.”
Callie Morris and Kiel Newhaus of Colorado are exploring a permanent move to Vermont.
You don’t have to have lived in Vermont beforehand to want to make the move. Callie Morris and Kiel Newhaus, both current residents of Colorado, got to Vermont about two hours before the Stay to Stay reception began.
“Vermont was always a place I’d wanted go and wanted to see and visit,” said Newhaus, a college adviser at Colorado State University. After a trip nearby, “I’d always kind of wanted to come back. The way it looks in the pictures online, it just makes it seem awesome.”
“It has a very homey feeling,” Morris said. “It’s a very historic feeling, but also very inviting.”
Newhaus is excited about the opportunities to get outside. He’s into skiing, and “having that close, but then I also love the lake, and just everything that’s around,” was important, he said.
When considering a place as a contender for their new home, Morris says, “for me, it’s all about the people. If the locals are welcoming and really nice, that’s probably No. 1 for me.”
More than 60 people attended the Nov. 8 Stay to Stay reception, and several have already made the move to Vermont. Since the Remote Worker Grant Program was announced, 290 people, including grantees’ families, have moved to Vermont.
Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing announced a new round of Stay to Stay Weekends in Newport, Brattleboro, Rutland, and the Shires of Vermont, including Bennington and Manchester, with access to Jay Peak Resort, Bromley Mountain, Mount Snow ,and Killington Resort for skiers to get a taste of Vermont life.
Vermont Technical College recently announced that the college ranks first in the state for return on investment, according to a national report. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce just released their First Try at ROI: Ranking 4,500 Colleges report, which is the institute’s attempt to quantify the value of an education in the short and long term. According to the researchers, they sought to answer the question, “Is college worth it?” as students and families consider education in the face of rising debt levels.
Using data from the College Scorecard statistics, the Center on Education and the Workforce ranks the 4,500 colleges and universities by net present value (NVP), the economic gains graduates realize after paying off college debt. The report calculates net present value at 10, 15, 20, 30, and 40 years after graduation. Vermont Tech ranks first in the state by net present value at the 10-, 20-, and 30-year milestones. The college is third in the state behind two private institutions, Middlebury College and Norwich University, at the 30- and 40-year marks. The net present values for the three institutions at the 40-year mark, in order of ranking, are $1,188,000, $1,108,000, and $1,050,000 respectively.
Nationally, Vermont Tech’s rank at #180 for 10-year net present value puts the college in the 96th percentile among the 4,500 colleges and universities. Among national technical universities, Vermont Tech’s 10-year NPV is highly competitive. The college ranks near or above institutions like Virginia Tech, Cal Tech, and Georgia Tech (1146, 205, and 96, respectively).
The findings of the report state that community colleges and certificate programs can provide increased short-term value with their lower costs and quick entry into paid positions. In the longer term, institutions that offer bachelors and higher degrees provide greater value over the life of a graduate’s career. When asked why Vermont Tech performs so well in the NVP ranking, President Patricia Moulton says, “Vermont Tech is the best of both worlds. We have this big bubble of nurses graduating with their associate degree and entering the workforce for early income earnings.” She notes that they finish their bachelor’s degree online while employed full-time. “We also benefit from the engineers and entrepreneurs graduating with their bachelor’s degrees who realize the longer-term benefits demonstrated in the study,” she concludes
Vermont Tech’s Class of 2018 achieved a 99% placement rate, with 98% of employed graduates working in their field. The college will announce the results of its Class of 2019 placement rate survey in December.
Vermont has long been an incubator of innovative companies whose mission and impact are central to their business models.
Today, our state is at the forefront of a national wave of socially responsible businesses. Global businesses based in Vermont like Ben & Jerry’s and Seventh Generation have become synonymous with social activism and sustainable practices. But sustainable operations—what customers don’t usually see—are an essential aspect of socially and environmentally responsible business. Many Vermont companies commit to higher standards than conventional businesses for environmental and community stewardship as well as employee well-being, supply chain transparency, and accountable governance.
In 2010 Vermont became the second state in the US to pass Benefit Corporation legislation, a new corporate structure that creates a solid foundation for long term mission alignment and value creation within a business. Vermont’s legislation paved the way for businesses to do good, while benefiting from the flexibility to create long term value for all stakeholders, including shareholders, over the long term, even through exit transactions such as IPOs and acquisitions. Benefit Corporations can also become certified B Corps. According to B Lab, the nonprofit that certifies B Corps, “certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.” Currently there are 18 B Corps in Vermont and many more Benefit Corporations.
Vermont B Corps make the grade
Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott recently proclaimed October as Employee Ownership Month. With a high national per capita ranking for employee-owned companies, Vermont is home to more than 40 employee-owned organizations, five of which are certified B Corps.
B Lab recently announced its annual “Best for the World” list, an annual recognition and celebration of high-performing B Corps that create the greatest positive impact through their businesses. Honorees are recognized for committing to the highest environmental, community, customer, worker, supply chain, and overall positive impact by earning a score in the top 10% on the B Impact Assessment. Fourteen Vermont businesses—over 40% of the state’s certified B Corps—made the honorary list. One company, Clean Yield Asset Management of Norwich, made the overall Best for the World list, ranking high in four different categories.
In the last 18 months, seven Vermont businesses achieved certified B Corp status: Burton Snowboards (Burlington), Heritage Aviation (South Burlington), Bee’s Wrap Sustainable Food Storage (Middlebury), Driven Studio Creative Agency (Burlington), Hallam-ICS Engineering (South Burlington), Lake Champlain Chocolates (Burlington), and Brattleboro Savings and Loan. One commitment held in common among these new certified B Corps is their focus on minimizing negative environmental impacts of their operations, while optimizing the well-being of their employees.
Vermont B Corps in action
The spirit of Vermont’s people shines through in the businesses they create. Vermont’s B Corp landscape is one of collaboration and community building, inspiring employees and employers alike to do business the best way by balancing purpose with profitability.
In the agricultural field, several food-based Vermont certified B Corps recently created the B Corp Trail in collaboration with Dig In VT, a nonprofit that brings together food providers with businesses to help people connect to great food and farm experiences. Following the B Corp Trail takes visitors on a delicious tour to 10 Vermont B Corps including Cabot Creamery Co-op and the Alchemist Brewery.
Meanwhile, SunCommon, a Waterbury-based solar energy equipment supplier and certified B Corp, made news when it launched a student debt repayment program for its employees. Driven Studio, specializing in video production, graphic design, copy and photography, commits to a unique program that rewards every employee with an exceptionally generous 401K bonus as a way of sharing profitability with all employees equitably. Rhino Foods, manufacturer of all those good chunks you find in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, offers an income advance program for its employees, more than a third of whom are New Americans. King Arthur Flour recently raised its employee minimum wage to $15/hour for all seasonal, part-time, and full-time employees at the company.
For other companies, like Mascoma Bank, based in Lebanon, NH with multiple branches in Vermont, being a certified B Corp is a meaningful commitment to the community. Their emphasis is on environmental impact and significant annual giving .
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 that Vermont is a breeding ground for snow legends, it’s also home to one of the world’s most highly ranked competitive lumberjacks, Calvin Willard.
If you’re not among the 20 million people who follow the timbersports lumberjack competitions on ESPN, (which by the way, is the second longest running show on ESPN, just behind SportsCenter), then you might mistake Calvin for the unassuming logger, consulting forester, maple producer, and family man that he is. Watch him wield one of his $2,000 cross-cut saws or a custom-built $5,000 chainsaw that runs on a dirt bike motor, however, and you’ll also see a formidable competitor in one of the world’s oldest extreme sports.
Calvin Willard competes in the hot saw event at the 2019 Fryeburg Fair Woodsmen’s Day in Maine.
Like many great competitions, the timbersports began with a bet. Back in 1870, two of the strongest loggers in Tasmania, Australia placed a wager on who could cut a tree down the fastest. The winner walked away with bragging rights as the better axeman. Twenty years later in 1891, the competition was formalized with the first ever World Championship Woodchop in Tasmania, but it wasn’t until the 1920s that the sport caught on in the U.S., when logging camps from Maine would send their best guy to a logging camp in Vermont to compete.
Calvin Willard competes in the underhand chop event at the 2019 Fryeburg Fair.
Today’s lumberjack athletes typically compete in six disciplines: the underhand chop, standing block chop, stock saw, single buck, springboard chop, and the hot saw. Athletes compete in all six disciplines to determine the single best overall lumberjack in the world. This year, Calvin placed high enough in five regional qualifiers to travel to Milwaukee for the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® U.S. Championship, the most prestigious competition in the U.S., where he placed 7th overall.
“At that level, it’s very competitive,” said Willard, who likens the sport to golf. “Everyone there has the talent and the skill to win, so it really comes down to having a good day on the course.” He notes that, like most sports, youth and strength are important, but in timbersports, good technique trumps pure brawn. “You would think the biggest guy would win,” he said, “but that’s not always the case. Accuracy, timing and precision are more important than pure strength.” For that reason, the competition often sees people in their fifties and sixties competing right alongside the younger generation.
Willard trains hard in the off-season, working on his speed and accuracy by chopping wood in his yard, and shores up sponsorships to offset the cost of travel and equipment, which can run upwards of $25,000. His sponsors this year are Vermont-based Darn Tough Socks, Butternut Mountain Farms, and Vermont Mold and Tool, which builds racing axes for competitive use.
Calvin Willard trains with a single buck saw in a shed on his property in Barnet. Photo by Erica Houskeeper.
Despite the sophisticated equipment and televised competitions, however, Willard is quick to relate the sport back to the roots of his profession, noting that every discipline is meant to demonstrate how lumberjacks worked in the woods a century ago. “With the exception of the chainsaws,” he said, “we are using modernized versions of the equipment that would have been used 100 years ago.” The springboard chop, for example, where the axeman cuts a notch into a tree and moves progressively higher by wedging boards into each notch to stand on, mimics the way loggers, especially out west, would get above the “butt swell” in order to cut down larger trees. “The sport allows those of us working in forestry and logging to show how the job was done before modern day tree harvesting equipment was invented,” said Willard, who calls himself an old school logger and often uses traditional methods for tree harvesting. “It brings history right into the present day.”
Calvin Willard competes in the springboard chop event at the 2019 Fryeburg Fair Woodsmen’s Competition in Maine.
With the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Championships behind him, Willard spent the fall traveling to regional competitions in Fryeburg, Maine and Merrimack, New Hampshire, and may go to Tasmania for the 150th Anniversary World Championship Woodchopping Contest in December. Through the sport, Willard and his family have traveled all over the world, meeting other families and competitors from around the US, Canada and Europe. If he does go to Tasmania, Willard will stay with a family of woodchoppers, and compete every day for two weeks among the world’s most accomplished axemen. “They start training at six years old in Tasmania,” said Willard, who also allows his five-, seven- and nine-year-old kids to chop wood with him. “It’s home to the best in the world, in part because the sport is oldest there.”
That may be true, but Vermont’s hundred year history with the sport isn’t too far behind. Logging as a profession and a way of life is deeply embedded in Vermont’s history and a vibrant part of today’s working landscape. Willard, who was introduced to the sport while at Flathead Valley Community College in Montana, sees the timbersports as a way to connect back to that history, and have some good, competitive fun at the same time.
Calvin Willard at home in Barnet with his wife Alison with their three children, Quinn, Wesley, and Sawyer, and their dog Averill. Photo by Erica Houskeeper.This story by the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund originally appeared athttps://www.vsjf.org/2019/11/04/vermonts-original-extreme-sport-the-lumberjack-competition/. Photos by Erica Houskeeper. Written by Christine McGowan.
The funding from VTP will be used to help prepare the company for the retirement of two key salespeople. STS has unique product offerings and a niche customer base, making finding qualified applicants within the state a challenge. STS will train 22 of its employees in areas of leadership development, growth planning, and principles of lean manufacturing. Through these trainings employees will receive the technical experience they need to help the company continue to grow.
“We are so grateful to have received the VTP grant. It has allowed us to cross-train within our current staff and helped us bridge the gap while we look for new hires,” said STS co-owner David Strom. “We were also able to contract with an outside vendor to help us implement a new style of lean manufacturing. Our whole staff here is very engaged and excited.”
Originally starting as a mom-and-pop shop, STS now sells its products across the world and has become the industry-standard for thin sawing equipment. It is built on the idea that although a thinner blade is more expensive, it pays for itself over time. There is less kerf, or fiber loss with each cut, creating a more efficient use of materials and cost-savings for companies. STS customers include household names like board game maker Milton Bradley and luxury guitar maker Martin Guitars.
“STS is a small Vermont company with an innovative product that is sold around the globe,” said Joan Goldstein, Department of Economic Development Commissioner. “We are proud to be able to provide grant funding for this growing small business to train its next generation of employees.”
In 2014, STS was named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2014 Vermont Exporter of the Year.
