In The News
3-10-10 ~ eNEK Project
NewsLINC: A partnership between the Vermont Council on Rural Development and the Vermont Small Business Development Center has created e-NEK, a contest organized to stimulate increased use of the Internet for small business owners in the Northeast Kingdom...
1-05-10 ~ Rural Studies Secures Grant for Food Systems, Community Development Projects
The Vermont Council on Rural Development will receive $8500 for the Community Visit program. Over the last 15 years VCRD's Community Visits have provided a ...
12-15-09 ~ Art of Action Challenges Convensions
MONTPELIER, VT -- 12/15/09 -- Vermont has long been depicted as an endless parade of quaint, pastoral images whether on postcards or in genteel gallery settings. However, a touring art exhibition, presented by the Vermont Arts Council and underwritten by philanthropist and proprietor of The Vermont Country Store Lyman Orton, aspires to turn those perceptions on their ear in every regard...
12-02-09 ~ Action Steps
SEVEN DAYS: “The Art of Action” may be the most expensive, elaborate and bureaucratically involved show ever mounted in Vermont. Divided into three exhibits, it consists of 105 commissioned works by 10 artists. Its theme: the future of Vermont. Philanthropist Lyman Orton, owner of the Vermont Country Store, is covering its $400,000 cost. The Vermont Arts Council is coordinating its 10-month statewide tour — which started in southern Vermont and has worked its way north — with conceptual input from the Vermont Council on Rural Development...
11-28-09 ~ The importance of a working landscape
BY ROGER ALLBEE: There has been a lot of discussion recently about Vermont's working landscape. We know, for example, that 97 percent of Vermonter's say they want a working landscape for their state in the future, according to the survey commissioned by the Council on the Future of Vermont...
11-11-09 ~ Internet contest announced
BARTON: A contest to encourage Northeast Kingdom entrepreneurs and business owners to use the Internet was launched here Thursday, November 5, about two years before the state expects to see broadband availability across Vermont. Paul Costello, executive director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD), said his organization and the Small Business Development Center are sponsoring the contest because many potential users of the Internet have yet to incorporate the web into their plans...
11-13-09 ~ All 105 pieces of Art of Action on Display
Bennington Banner.
The groundbreaking art exhibition, Art of Action: Shaping Vermont's Future Through
Art, continues to travel to communities across the state, inspiring conversations and collaborations around the issues affecting the future of Vermont...
07-12-09 ~ Futurists worry that Vermont farms have become too reliant on milk
The Council on the Future of Vermont knows the state treasures its farms and forests. So why is it asking if there's too much of a good thing? Surveying almost 4,000 experts and everyday folk at more than 100 meetings, the nonprofit, nonpartisan study group heard more talk about the working landscape than any other topic. Nearly 98 percent of those surveyed, in fact, said they valued the fields, woods and pastures more than any other of the state's features. ...
11-09-09 ~ A taxing question: Futurists ask: Can Vermonters have it all?
The state's $6 billion annual budget provides taxpayers with everything from
snowplowing to subsidized health insurance. Seemingly the only thing that's missing is enough money to fund it. "The socially progressive policies that help support those in need in the state are a hallmark of Vermont," says the nonprofit, nonpartisan Council on the Future of Vermont, "but also strain the financial and delivery systems in place today." ...
10-14-09 ~ State turns to stimulus money for Internet upgrade
Vermont.biz.com article
..."In addition, the Vermont Council for Rural Development is seeking $2.5 million for pilot projects in 24 communities to ensure that their residents will actually be able to make use of the high-speed connections when they become available. This stimulus money would finance equipment and training in the targeted areas. Libraries, for example, would receive $600,000 of this “sustainable broadband adoption” allocation for the purchase of public-access computers."...
10-7-09 ~ Vt. gets $1.2M broadband grant
The Associated Press ~ "Vermont's efforts to expand broadband Internet access have gotten a boost in the form of a $1.2 million federal grant."...
10-11-09 ~ Can you hear me now?
Times Argus article - part of a series on the findings of the Council on the Future of Vermont.
"Unlike more plugged-in places, Vermont has less than 200,000 high-speed Internet lines and cell phone service to only about 60 percent of its population, leaving many of the state's 621,000 residents feeling disconnected from the rest of the world."...
9-21-09 ~ Education chief to talk with ANwSU schools
Addison Independent article ~ "preparations for a vote on one-board governance will begin this fall with public forums run by Vermont Council on Rural Development, a nonprofit with experience on community issues. O’Brien said having a neutral party coordinate the forums should help residents get to the heart of the issues while board
members listen."...
9-8-09 ~ McClaughry Commentary
John McClaughry's Commentary on Imagining Vermont
8-23-09 ~ Higher ed: School costs are up but so are student gains
Times Argus. Is Vermont’s ongoing fight over how to fund schools overshadowing gains in its classrooms? When the Council on the Future of Vermont asked residents about their most pressing concerns, it heard fury about property taxes for education...
08-09-09 ~ Paving Paradise: Futurists Questions Direction of Vermont Development
Times-Argus. Is there an answer to the decades-long question of how to balance the state's environment and economy through land-use planning? The Council on the Future of Vermont hoped so as it set out on a 1-1/2-year study of state concerns for coming decades. Inquiring about needs and wants, it heard resident after resident extol close-knit communities framed by nature...
08-12-09 ~ Balance Point
Times-Argus. A statewide discussion among Vermonters about the environment and the economy has shown that the quality of the environment — the rural landscape of woods, farms, lakes, rivers — is a value deeply embedded in the identity and hopes of Vermonters. Simultaneously, Vermonters remain worried about economic prospects, particularly during a recession, and the opportunities that may or may not be available for jobs and housing...
7-16-09 ~ Residents in Charge of State's Future
Brattleboro Reformer after public forum in July.
7-16-09 ~ Council Studies Vermont's Priorities
Bennington Banner after CFV public forum in July.
6-7-09 ~ Future of Agriculture
Will Stevens presentation at the Summit's Evening Session reprinted by the Times-Argus/Rutland Herald
6-7-09 ~ A rich future? Public wants plan for Vermont Economy
Times-Argus article by Kevin O'Connor.
5-27-09 ~ Keep Vermont on Track
Howard Dean commentary in the Rutland Herald / Times-Argus about proposed budget cuts to affordable housing. He mentions the work on the CFV.
5-27-09 ~ Funding May Slow Internet Expansion
Brattleboro Reformer article about stimulus money for broadband
5-12-09 ~ The ‘Future of Vermont’ could be history
Chris Graff's article in Vermont Business Magazine.
5-4-09 ~ Grant to boost Middlebury waterfalls plan
Addison Independent. A plan to improve pedestrian access to, and enjoyment of, the Otter Creek Falls in downtown Middlebury received a major boost on Thursday with the receipt of a $240,000 federal grant. This project was one of the priorities identified in the Creative Communities program.
April 2009 ~ Imagining the Vermont of the Future
Chip Evans shares his memories of Vermont in the past and encourages Vermonters to join the Summit on the Future of Vermont on May 11.
4-23-09 ~ Being part of Vermont's and The Valley's future
Valley Reporter commentary by Bob Ackland
5-6-09 ~ Vermont's Future Starts Today
Rutland Herald commentary by Steve Gold
5-10-09 ~ ‘Imagining Vermont’ Can state’s future bring freedom and unity?
Rutland Herald / Times-Argus
5-12-09 ~ Summit starts search for state's future
Rutland Herald / Times-Argus
5-11-09 ~ Survey Looks at Vermont's Future
WCAX
5-12-09 ~ Leaders develop priorities for Vermont’s future
Vermont Public Radio
5-12-09 ~ Study: Bright Future for Vermont
Burlington Free Press article.
4-14-09 ~ Hanna: Acting in leadership
Hanna commentary on VPR about the CFV project.
4-11-09 ~ The Vermont Identity
Rutland Herald article on the release of the CFV Final Report after the Pre-Summit at the State House.
3-19-09 ~ Group Readies Forum Results
Brattleboro Reformer article reporting on the CFV process.
02-08-09 ~ What do today's trends say about tomorrow
Times Argus article
02-04-09 ~ Artful Dodger
Seven Days, Burlington - As a crisis looms in arts funding, Vermont’s Lyman Orton takes action.
02-03-09 ~ New Report Looks at Trends in Vermont
Fox44 story on the release of the VIT book.
02-03-09 ~ Study: Vt. Tourism Stagnant
WCAX spin on the release of the VIT book.
02-04-09 ~ Report studies trends shaping Vermont’s future
VPR transcript after release of "Vermont in Transition."
02-04-09 ~ Challenges lie ahead for Vermont, new report warns
Times Argus article after the release of "Vermont in Transition."
02-04-09 ~ Study Notes VT Trends Over Two Decade
Burlington Free Press article after release of "Vermont in Transition."
1-14-09 ~ WCAX: Agriculture Takes Center Stage in Montpelier
12/1/08 ~ Bellows Falls Boosters Honored
Rutland Herald article about VCRD's 2009 conservation leadership awardees.
12/15/08 ~ Business, Corporate Support Help Keep Arts Groups Afloat
Valley Busines Journal article about the Creative Economy in Vermont.
12/30/08 ~ State Grant to Fund Killington Arts Center
Rutland Herald article announcing the 25K grant.
8-20-08 Brattleboro Reformer - Maintaining Balance
8-20-08 Brattleboro Reformer - Survey lists values Vermonters prize
8-20-08 Brattleboro Reformer - Meeting focuses on Vermont's future
8-20-08 BFP - Editorial: Working Landscape for past and present
8-19-08 VPR - Poll says Vermonters value landscape, community
8-18-08 Boston Globe - Survey says: Vermonters prize working landscape
8-18-08 WCAX-TV - Survey Tries to Pin Down Vermont Values
8-18-08 WPTZ - Rising Cost of Living a Major Concern
Aug 2008 BFP Pollack - Art of Action/Council on the Future
Aug 2008 Times Argus O'Connor - Council on the Future
6-20-08 BFP - Burlington CFV Forums
6-19-08 BFP: Op-Ed CFV Burlington Forums
6-19-08 BFP: Reader Reactions to Graff Commentary