Two years ago, ̽̽ established the Office of Engagement to serve as the “front door” of the university, open to businesses, non-profits, municipal governments and other stakeholders across the state interested in levering ̽̽ resources to grow local and regional economies in thoughtful, strategic ways.
The door opens in both directions. OoE professionals have travelled across the state to meet Vermonters where they live and work. The latest foray was a visit to St. Albans and neighboring towns in Franklin County.
Senior Business Outreach Professional Wayne Maceyka, Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) Employee Partnership Manager Maureen Hebert and Outreach Professional Michele Karode participated in several meetings designed to re-introduce ̽̽ to Vermont businesspeople and policymakers.
Workforce training needs
Franklin County’s economy has long been anchored by the dairy farming industry but it has a growing tech sector that recalls the years of prosperity in the industrial age when St. Albans was known as “Railroad City,” home to a major operations center and repair shop of the Vermont and Canada Railroad.
Some of these businesses have deep roots in Franklin County. Vermont Precision Tools, Inc. in Swanton manufactures precision drill blanks used to produce products for the medical, aerospace, automotive and defense industries. Raymond Boutin and Norman Leduc started the company in 1968 by selling basic cutting blanks. The company has steadily expanded its product line and market reach, and today employs 200 workers.
Maureen Hebert, an associate in the Office of Engagement in addition to her role at PACE, is a former associate dean of continuing education and workforce development at Vermont Technical College. She spoke with leaders of Precision Tools about workforce challenges.
“They face the same conundrum many businesses face throughout the state,” she said. “Opportunities for growth are sometimes hindered by difficulty finding trained workers to fill positions. Part of the solution lies in workforce training—upskilling and reskilling current employees, creating a local talent pipeline though innovative recruitment strategies and programs and attracting professionals who recognize the benefits of living and working in our state and creating a welcoming environment for all.”
The tech sector will soon get another boost when BETA Technologies, an emerging aerospace company now based in South Burlington, arrives in St. Albans. The company recently signed a lease to occupy the city’s former Energizer battery plant to perform research and development and battery validation operations. Beta’s groundbreaking eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft) prototypes have raised hundreds of millions in funding. The company also boasts strong ̽̽ roots—Beta CEO Kyle Clark‘s father operated the university’s Instrumentation and modeling facility. The company’s first hire was a ̽̽ grad, and eleven ̽̽ students have completed an internship with the company. The move is expected to bring hundreds of new jobs to St. Albans over the next several years.
Local businesses are excited by the continued hi-tech growth in Franklin County, but managers know they will have another competitor for a highly prized commodity: skilled and trained workers. It underscores the need for ̽̽’s PACE programs and other workforce development programs.
Making connections
The region also boasts several businesses that trade on Vermont’s reputation as a producer of maple products (St. Albans is home to the three-day Vermont Maple Festival held each year). Runamok in Fairfax is a family-owned company that began by selling maple syrup, but has expanded its product line to include exotic variants like infused and barrel-aged syrups, maple cocktail bitters and mixers, and honeys. The company was started by a husband and wife team Eric and Laura Sorkin. They began with a traditional tree-tapping organization and brought in talent to create a retail line which now sells to international markets.
“Eric was kind enough to show me around their plant and fill me in on their expansion plans and goals for the business.” Maceyka said. “On my way out of the driveway I called ̽̽ SiMBA Career Advisor John Kim since Runamok is interested in pursuing BCorp Certification and it aligned with current student project work. I also made sure to reconnect them with Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC). VMEC’s manufacturing expertise is a great resource for manufacturers like Runamok Maple.”
As with other OoE visits around the state, the Regional Development Corporation, in this case the , was a key partner in facilitating connections.
“Tim Smith (also mayor of St. Albans) and Elisabeth Nance were both available to help us make these connections. We’re grateful for their work, said Maceyka.”
Maceyka met with Claire Theron and Erica Hubbard at Superior Technical Ceramics Material Solutions in St. Albans, a private company with over 150 employees that provides technical solutions in ceramic manufacturing. Theron is vice president for R&D at the company.
“Claire was interested in ̽̽ and the philosophy around intellectual property—she has experience working with educational research institutions in her previous work, so we had a follow-up call with Andrew Zehner, associate general counsel at ̽̽,” said Maceyka. “These are the type of connections we’re making now across the state—linking ̽̽ experts with needs presented to us.”
Maceyka and colleague Michele Karode, who focuses on relationships with non-profits, municipal government organizations and educational agencies, met with Liz Gamache, former St. Albans mayor and now chair of the Northwest Vermont United Way.
Gamache is widely credited with a key role in engineering a successful downtown revitalization effort in St. Albans during her six years as mayor of the city. In her first weeks at ̽̽, Karode has connected with ̽̽’s United Way in part because it is an excellent forum to meet fundraisers and leaders of local organizations that benefit from UW activities.
“It was great to connect with Liz because she’s so knowledgeable about the Franklin County area and the business community there,” said to Karode. “We shared a lot on insights from our respective regions and she’ll be an important partner in OoE collaborations.”