Home Ownership • 9th March 2025

Deeper Roots for a Sunnier Future

Liz Hyland has the glow of someone who just summited Everest—a surreal blend of intense satisfaction, soulful reflection and bone-deep exhaustion. It’s the look someone assumes when they know they’ve truly earned something; that all the planning and pain and sacrifice have paid off.

Community Development • 8th March 2025

Tamworth Addresses Seasonal Influx with Modern Transfer Station

Tamworth, NH, receives a regular boost to its economy when the summer population swells to roughly 5,000, but the town's transfer station had a hard time keeping up with the extra waste.

Small Business Support • 23rd May 2024

A Modern Tale of Scale, Written by REAP

“We are not the first to sugar here,” says Kate Goyette of Sweet Bear Farm in Corinth, “but we do it differently than they did.” She nods at a rusted boiling arch on an ancient stone foundation, saplings and soil consuming the twisted metal in a relentless march of decades that long ago claimed its protective wooden shack.

Discussion & Opinion • 29th December 2017

What We All Have in Common

It all started about 50,000 years ago. One individual among a group of early humans that migrated out of Africa had a genetic mutation that produced light skin. Before that time, everyone was brown. There was no racism. There was no identity politics. There was no scorn, fear or intolerance born of varying levels of melanin.

Lifestyle & Gardening • 2nd August 2017

7 Ways to Grow a Little Garden in the Big City

You don’t have to sacrifice fresh veggies to live a happy metropolitan life—you just have to grow up.

Community Development • 4th November 2024

The Innovative Inspiration Behind Rutland’s Evolving Makeover

What makes a place what it is? Not just any place, but a good place? Somewhere people recognize, think about, talk about, hope for, travel through, travel to, work in, and live in?

Small Business Support • 3rd March 2025

Glavel Gets a Funding Jolt to Develop & Expand Earth-Friendly Business

Construction manufacturer Glavel, Inc., out of Burlington VT, makes foam glass gravel, a lightweight building material that boasts an incredibly low embodied carbon and superior thermal insulation.

Community Development • 6th March 2025

NEK Waste Management Generates Economic Foam-entum

The Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District based in Lyndon, VT, received a $36,000 USDA grant to purchase a commercial-grade polystyrene recycling machine. Like magic, awkward foam packaging is transformed into dense ingots that reduce volume by 95%—and produce market-ready home insulation.

Small Business Support • 18th February 2025

Conversion of Historic Building Houses & Helps Feed Lancaster, NH Residents

In 2017, the Northeast Heritage Economy Program (NHEP) recognized the 11,000 sq. ft. Parker J. Noyes Building at the north end of Main Street in Lancaster, NH, as an historic property that needed help.

School Funding • 18th February 2025

More Room to Explore, Discover & Dance at The Sharon Academy

Traditionally strong in Art space but weak in facilities for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (together, STEAM), The Sharon Academy in Sharon, VT, had to improve on the outdoor yurts that served as classrooms.

Economic Development • 3rd March 2025

Space on Main Stimulates VT & NH Economies with Entrepreneur Education

In 2018, businesswoman Monique Priestly and a few creative-minded citizens launched Space on Main (SOM), a versatile facility that enriches the community spirit of towns in the Cohase Region of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Home Ownership • 6th March 2025

Real Estate Expert Gets a Taste of Her Home Medicine

Stephanie Jacques Kleine had a rare and powerful tool in her arsenal that gave her a distinct advantage when she needed to apply for a home loan through USDA Rural Development: as a Realtor, she regularly helps clients
navigate the same application.

Community Development • 3rd March 2025

Bringing 21st-Century Waste Management to Lindale Mobile Home Park in Middlebury, VT

More than half of the lots in the Lindale Mobile Home Park (MHP)in Middlebury, Vermont have been there since the 60s, and their septic systems have not been updated since

Community Development • 8th February 2025

From Growing Veggies to Growing Community at Retreat Farm

Retreat Farm in Brattleboro, VT, is reimagined as a unique community space with support from key partners

Agriculture & Food Systems • 8th February 2025

Essential Storage Expansion Helps Food Connects Create More Capacity

Small Business Support • 18th February 2025

Climate-Smart Solution: Goosebay Sawmill Discards Diesel for Solar

When Covid-19 hit, Goosebay sawmill braced for tough times. But the pandemic economy evolved to favor local suppliers due to border closures and other restrictions, so an opportunity came knocking.

Community Development • 18th February 2025

Heart of the Community: Rutland County Parent Child Center Expands & Evolves

n Rutland County, Vermont, high-quality child care is unavailable or difficult to find for many single parents and families with two working parents. Without nurturing
environments, kids suffer immensely, so securing quality care for children who need it is a priority among parents, town leaders and non-profits.

School Funding • 18th February 2025

A Secure, Healthy and Modern School for the Children & Families of Winooski, VT

The Winooski Middle and High School building was an aging structure that failed to meet the 21st-century needs of Vermont’s most ethnically diverse student body. One of only two Vermont school districts that are growing, Winooski had long run out of space and resources for teachers and students.

Community Development • 8th February 2025

Mass Timber Takes Off at the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium

The Tang Science Annex at the Fairbanks Museum is a place to inspire wonder and curiosity for generations to come. Made of eastern hemlock from the northeast region, the Annex is a demonstration building for the revolutionary, eco-smart construction technology called Mass Timber.

Small Business Support • 18th February 2025

Agricola Meats Expands into New Markets with Branding & Marketing Campaign

With demand for cured meats growing quickly, producers Alessandra ‘Ale’ Rellini and Stefano Pinna bought more livestock and a new facility in 2019 to expand operations. But to find new customers and grow their markets, they needed to reach out and rebrand.

Community Development • 6th March 2025

Lower Bartlett Builds Out Water Infrastructure with Eye on the Future

The commissioners of the Lower Bartlett Water Precinct (LBWP) in eastern Bartlett, New Hampshire, couldn’t ignore the inevitable any longer. The area has seen a significant population increase over the last fifty years, and more and more part-time residents were making permanent homes out of their once seasonal structures.

School Funding • 18th February 2025

Illuminating White Mountains Regional High School with Green Energy

The students at White Mountains Regional High School (WMRHS) decided to stand up and lead the way in their community’s fight against climate change

Community Development • 8th March 2025

Woody Hollow Cooperative Goes Over and Under the Challenges of Aging Infrastructure

Public Safety Support • 8th February 2025

Bellows Falls Fire Department Receives Clear, Consistent Comms

Secure reliable public safety is a challenge for a village like Bellows Falls, VT, which coordinates efforts with two sister townships. Clear communications are essential, and so are community partners like USDA Rural Development.