 Hello, my name is Steve Pappas. I'm the editor of the Times-Argus and today we're going to be having a discussion with Paul Costello of Vermont Council on Rural Development and Jenna Kaloski Who is VCRD's community and policy manager? Thank you both for being here today. Thanks Steve. Great to be on Steve Pappas Well, or whatever we're going to end up calling it. I Want to talk a little bit about what? VCRD does Because I'm not sure that people It sounds kind of eclectic a little bit and vague But you actually play a pretty significant role and have since 92. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah. Well, there's really two sides to our work We are probably the most experienced community facilitator in Vermont So we've worked with if you count them all up probably a hundred and thirty different towns all across the state where we Come in and we ask people what they stand for what their challenges are what the opportunities are head And then what are all their ideas for action? We see a lot of communities that build a lot of a big long problem statement with 20 parts to it Or you sit down and you think about all the things wouldn't it be great if someone would do for us? But Fundamentally no one's coming from Washington DC or even from Montpelier to a small town in Vermont and helping them set their direction Telling them where they should go for the future of their economy. Yeah, it has to be led by local folks And so we help people tee up Key directions for their community and build a collective spear point to drive things forward And we connect them with state and federal nonprofit officials from all over the state that have the power to help them Get it done. So that's half our work and then we have a great board We're charged by the farm bill to do this work and the farm bill set it up for us to have federal state nonprofit Local and business leadership all lined up together to get outside of the silos get outside of right and left Republican democratic progressive politics and say instead of the politics side, how do we add up what we can do? How do we work together? How do we serve local communities? And what are the state policies that could help benefit those so we've built? policy platforms with Convening key leaders across the political spectrum on everything from the future of the working landscape to in-state energy development and the structure of planning and And now the climate economy and we represent those things without ever criticizing Democrats or Republicans for action or inaction but to raise aspiration on Positive work that could be done to advance the communities in the future of Vermont. Yeah, and talk a little bit about how Your particular group is funded. I mean, well, it's complicated. Yeah, it's into that a little bit Yeah, we get some state funds through the Agency of Commerce for our community work We get philanthropic funding from probably 15 different funders we have members Probably 300 people who contribute to us each year We we work with communities and we identify Identify towns that we're going to serve and then we may go to the Northern Borders Commission or USDA for support So it's extremely eclectic. We don't have We don't have any Operational support that just is there for us. We we we also don't chase money. We don't say oh, there's an interesting opportunity We're always saying what's the thing that would make the difference and then who would care about that to support us? And so we're very self-directed and self-driven. We do have a fairly new Deep partnership with Vermont Community Foundation around our community visit processes And we're basically kind of co-branding them now that it's produced by the Vermont Council on Rural Development But in partnership with Community Foundation, and that's been an important part. That's terrific. Yeah So Jenna talk a little bit about how you identify the communities that you want to be working with and how you choose those Issues that Paul was talking about where you kind of spearhead, you know What you think? The topic should be yeah, so oftentimes communities come to us in one way or another Yeah, so we're approached by select board members or planning commission members or Community volunteers who want to see the town go in a different direction whatever it is So we have towns to come to us, and then we always go and meet with the select board It's important us to connect with local leadership And we go and meet them we share the process and and we kind of say you know We're not out there selling the process to communities We just say you know here's what we can offer and and we do offer the process free of charge to communities Often once we met this with the select board, they're interested in it And we asked for a letter of invitation from a town and and we've got a fairly long waiting list These days of communities that are interested in having this deep community conversation We have an advisory committee that helps to advise our board on The communities that we should set as priorities We have representation from the preservation trust from the agency of commerce and community development the community foundation And USDA role development dimension that anyhow So we have this group of partners who who know world communities well and kind of help to advise us And then we they make recommendations to our board who makes the final decisions around where we work And in terms of how we kind of set priorities It's not up to us at all. We don't know what communities should be working on so it we We kind of take this several month-long process that Paul kind of described the community visit In a town where we start with a brainstorming. So we were up in Greensboro last night We had probably a hundred and fifty people at various different times throughout the day On forums the topics that are important to the community. We brainstorm ideas and then the next meeting So in August we'll go back to Greensboro We'll put the ideas up on the wall and that's where the community gets to decide, you know, here's what's most important So we just provide that kind of neutral platform and it's up to the community to decide, you know What's actionable today and what's important to us? Yeah, and what will have the most transformative effect for the future of their Economy to attract youth and all the fundamental challenges that they're all that many rural communities are facing. What's going to build momentum and Unite them in collective action for the future So why is there such a waiting list? Why do Vermont communities feel like there are You know, there are so many challenges that they need help to kind of draw them in a direction toward progress and how is it that your Your organization kind of teases that out. I mean, there's some clearly there are some serious challenges in this state Well, I think we all share that That reality and I think that at the local level people, you know you look at the national dialogue that we're in right now and the The division that we hear about all the time in local communities people want to do their part There's this deep tradition of neighborliness And I think that towns know that if they're not making momentum right now And they're losing students in their school or they don't have a vision for their economic future Then they may be flat and if they're flat they feel like they're sinking and everyone kind of feels that and they They want to build momentum and they want to set strong direction and they also want to engage the whole community So, you know select boards when they invite us in in a way, they're giving up a little bit They're saying yeah, the whole community is going to be involved in setting direction There's going to be some task forces and a lot of energy of people driving things forward And we kind of need that right now So we're not interested in imposing this stuff anywhere we go where we're invited But we we don't really see towns that are disappointed we see towns that are super excited where they may you know Triple the number of community volunteers and they have a strategic direction When you have that direction you build an atmosphere of progress People know that you're on it on a direction and it changes your brand and internally It sort of says we're a community on the move and that alone is invaluable But what we're seeing is that towns will identify things like we need a local sewer system here or we need to build a daycare center and Because we bring in these teams of leaders they connect to resources and and they become the squeaky wheel that gets the grease They're ready. They know where they're going and so they begin to get grants They get technical support from all the state regional resources and they they're starting to implement stuff And so we see this pattern that that it's sort of a fundamental jumpstart to the local community development So you're actually just helping them to connect dots that are probably already there and they just need more Clarity and identifying. Yeah, if you have a sense of direction a lot of other things follow all those connections and resources But if you don't that your regional development corporation or the state agencies don't know what to do to help you Right, you're not asking for help because you don't know where you're going, right? our towns generally intimidated by the fact that there's not a lot of help coming out of Montpelier and from the federal government, are they able to to Kind of transcend the enthusiasm They're they're generating in their community and kind of lift themselves up and move themselves forward without relying on those Resources or lack of resources. I don't think they're intimidated by it But I think that sometimes they don't know how to ask Or they they don't know where they're going so that so they don't they don't try to but once once they do have this sense of direction And the help that we we bring to help them connect to folks When it's a matter of the energy to like the energy of the people locally that one I kind of take this idea and run with it. Yeah, sometimes it takes, you know, we see coming out of this process New leaders who kind of haven't seen themselves in that role before like, you know What business do I have working on broadband in my community or something like that? But but at the end of the process we have these task courses forming and we ask them to chair and to lead and now They're stepping into this new leadership role and other people are grateful to see new leaders step up and and they feel empowered to Work on the issue and often they're the right person to do the cool flip side is oftentimes, you know You're the state and federal people that we bring to these small towns. They love to come, you know Senator Leahy's folks Sanders welches, they're all with us Agency folks they all come when they're asked and we bring the supercharged leadership team and for them. It's like These are dedicated people They wouldn't be doing these jobs except that they really do care very deeply about the fate of our communities They want to serve and this is like a deep window for them So in a way it for some people we have people leave saying, you know This is the best day of my month and and they are all looking for ways that they can help afterwards and so it's just a It's a really celebratory It's like having a conference just about your community But a conference that leads to an action plan that you get to lead and you've got Connections of people who are going to help you get it done. So it's it's really inspiring It it's inspiring, you know, and the that we love it like I think we have the most interesting jobs in Vermont It's very patriotic in a funny way, you know people use that word all kinds of ways, but it's really patriotic for place It's like saying, yeah, I stand for my town. Yeah, I stand with my neighbors. Yeah, we're gonna get things done and It builds unity in a time where we're politically challenged But we still have so much that binds us together And so it's tremendously uplifting and we come out of these things You know you fall in love with every town you go to and you come to care so much about their progress And and I think that's true of our whole team Jenna just walk us through a couple of Communities where the things that have been thrown out there have come to fruition and really turn those communities around Yeah, sure. Well, it's some recent communities We've been working with and it's interesting to see the results coming out of these processes Kind of it can be a whole range of different types of things that they're working on So Paul mentioned that more kind of infrastructure issue. So we we worked with Burke recently Where you know in Burke you have the synemic or you have three different villages and you have East Burke where the mountain biking has Just has gone crazy and thousands of people are coming to the town But there's some work to do to kind of catch up with some of that growth that they've experienced there And on the other hand you have West Burke There's a really different type of village center and there's some buildings that are kind of run down and and they're not Disconnected to that kind of mountain biking culture that's going on in East Burke And then you have Burk Hollow in the middle and so we worked up there and they called their process one Burke And they really wanted this to be about connecting across those village centers and And I think that the priorities they chose really reflected that So one priority was around that infrastructure. They said, you know, if we want to do any redevelopment in West Burke We've got to work on the water and sewer issues in the in the town It wasn't exciting or sexy really that issue But it was important and they they prioritize that and and have been able to connect with USDA Rural Development Northern Borders Regional Commission They brought in like half a million dollars and federal funding to start to work towards that water and sewer project And they had a community leader who didn't know anything about water and sewer But she learned and she's been leading and connecting to the select board But on the other hand, they really want to work on Addressing those traffic and safety issues over in the East Burke village and also connecting across so they have a priority And they're working on now building a path mountain bike trails And maybe even along the road that can connect across those villages and at the same time They're working on their school building which is in the center and kind of connects across the community So can be kind of along that spectrum of like community events and activities But also that kind of hard infrastructure that needs to happen for them to take development to the next level Other examples to share oh, there's just so many, you know, it's hard to choose the places like Johnson where they did a $12 million street redevelopment and they got we had this Secretary of Transportation the heads of Leahy's office and back then Jeffords office all kind of pooling in to think about how they could gather resources together to do this the bridges at the opening of the village it went from being in the middle of the Transportation priority list because the secretary watched those bridges kind of collapsing into the river all day They went to the top of the list. They did the streetscape. They did the bridges They did water and sewer under the you know before before they did the street repaving And they also built Thursday night live the biggest party that they'd had in a generation that That worked to unite the veterans group the arts group the college people the downtown association So that people didn't just have their own little events for circles within the community, but brought the whole community together in a new a new way and So we don't come in thinking you know, what's the thing that's going to make the difference here that people choose them and We see tremendous momentum and and sometimes a lot of fun that follows from that. Yeah, so you actually have Kind of a another role too, which is that you bring some of the state's leaders together state's thinkers together to to take on different issues and you've had different conferences in the past or summits in the past and Those have been I've attended a couple of those and they've been the the sessions are really kind of intensive and thoughtful and and Facilitated conversations and you've got one coming up, right? So let's talk a little bit about that, right? So this is the second community leadership summit for Vermont Last year we had 500 people with us at Casselton People who are maybe veteran leaders, but a lot of them were new leaders young people we give scholarships for young people and people who need assistance to be able to come and People from all over Vermont we in we allowed select board members to in every town in Vermont to nominate someone who was an emerging leader in their community to come for free and Fascinating mix of Vermonters from all walks of life in all parts of the state and basically they helped us frame a couple things that We're going to do to improve our work over time but we all we also want to Strengthen the leadership programs and leadership services and support for folks You know our theory a changer on this we see what happens in local communities we see communities that are sort of flat and We see people who step up to Help lead different projects and they're not always the officials They may be someone who says you know what we really need to do is start a daycare center here in town And let's gather a group of people to do that, but sometimes these folks have never run a meeting before they they've never built an agenda they may never have written a budget and They may not be going off to a four-year leadership program at College or something like that They need someone to say wow what you're doing is awesome. You guys are terrific. You guys have the skill sets You need you need a little help developing the framework for a budget. We can help you with that need a little help Setting up as a nonprofit. We could help you with that and so kind of leadership coaching in place Encouragement and support on skill development. We want to do a lot more of that and so we're bringing together a Vermonters of all walks of life to think about To think further about how we could support their progress and and you know, it's like people build programs for other people We want them to tell us what they need And we also want to rally all the leadership programs in Vermont to hear them and think with us about how we can all work together to Improve the capacity of local democracy right now in Vermont as a key to a strong economic and quality of life future Yeah, well, we'll come back to that in a second Jenna talk a little bit about are you When Paul saying all walks of life you're talking all ages But you have to be focusing there has to be a focus on younger leaders in this state and I mean That's ultimately what you're looking for I would think or so I mean, I think it is a truly kind of all walks of life And I think we saw that last year But I but we do have a we want young people to feel invited and included and so we do have that scholarship for Students and AmeriCorps members and kind of emerging leaders in towns around the state But we think there's also a lot of value in bringing in these veteran leaders to people who have been Doing this work in their communities for 20 years and have a lot of experience to share And some of them will be on panels kind of sharing their work and saying this is how we made it happen in our community So yeah, and it's a whole range of you know We'll have Non-profit leaders and municipal leaders like board members planning commission members But also I think last year we saw a lot of just community volunteers who are like working on projects in their community Well, we want to have more trails in our town or We want to build a playground and and they have a project in mind And they want to come get some of those skills They might need to get to work on on that in their community and rally other people to work with them So I think it really is a broad kind of audience that we're hoping to reach and and last year We had representation from every county in Vermont and Many towns we kind of mapped it out and the whole map was covered. So that was our goal So any Vermonter can attend? Yeah, and how would they do that? So registrations open now on our website at VT rural org So you can go to the website click on the registration link sign in and if there's a need for a scholarship or students Interested they can contact us directly and we can help them get set up to attend In what kinds of sessions are you going to be having this time around? So it's kind of a mixed day. There's different types of sessions and where is it? It's at VTC in Randolph and Yes, so there's one track that's really more about providing leadership skills So we want to have tangible skills that people can walk away with so we have sessions like on fundraising for community projects and on facilitating Paul's leading a session on facilitating community meetings and engaging in civic dialogue together as a community So there's that kind of workshop skills track But we also have a whole another track That's panelists of community leaders who have done projects in their communities that that we want to share and highlight So a lot of people interested in coming and hearing, you know, this person worked on downtown events and vitality How can I get that started in my community or we have a whole panel on that community infrastructure and working on the water And sewer and streetscaping kind of thing So there's panels with people sharing their success stories But then we have this whole track that's not about people being talked at it's actually an opportunity for people to come and share their vision For the future of Vermont. So we have Sessions on you know diversity equity and inclusion in Vermont and the vision for you know, how we can Raise all different types of leaders up to leadership in the state There's a session on the future of economic development in the state So that's really we have these skilled facilitators who'll lead sessions where we want to hear from folks that aren't attending to hear You know, what's your vision for the future of this arena? And then how could we get there? So we're walking away with an outcome as well of having some Ideas of what could happen in Vermont to boost leadership and to move some of these things forward Yeah, and Paul ultimately what happens to all this information that you glean from the summit. Well, it it's We'll we'll be taking notes especially on those vision sessions. Yeah, we're looking, you know, five to ten years out in terms of Our role we ran the council on the future of Vermont ten years ago. We're really interested in thinking about The economic trajectory, you know, how does Vermont look at some of these fundamental? economic challenges and also How does Vermont in the climate arena go from seeing that? you know the the really dark story of the concern a lot of people have about climate just to thinking about ways that we answer climate change and spur economic development throughout the state at the same time like what are the ways that we can Support the innovation of entrepreneurs that invent Solutions to different aspects of the thing like electric aviation that's occurring at Burlington Airport or or the Changing the fleet to electric vehicles and what are the economic opportunities in that? innovation around the grid and energy development in Vermont and there's an enormous amount out there with 19,000 jobs and so forth already So how do we build on that and all the thinking of people who come will Enter into sort of the policy arena and we'll say what is what does this input add up to in terms of what we might want to Do next as a convener for for these issues in Vermont, but it also go immediately into You know as we look to support community leaders in Vermont and we look with we've convened the leaders of a Number of the different leadership training organizations in Vermont We're going to be building a body of thinking that we will take internally to say How do we better advance our support for local community leaders both in our process and in the next steps of things? And we're working hard on that But we also connect to the Snelling Center and Extension and Marlboro College and others who have very strong Leadership programs now when they've helped to frame this whole initiative and we're going to be bringing back to them What we're finding and asking them, you know, what can they do to help drive this forward? How do their programs adapt to to what people are saying they need today? And are there more things that we ought to be doing collectively? Maybe Beyond what we're currently doing. We've had a couple of iterations of that But we're going to learn, you know, this is we're sort of teeing all that conversation up for this next summit We're hoping to bring five or six hundred people together who are, you know, creatively addressing this and I think it's going to be a really exciting day Beyond the the additional conversations that will will be had and kind of identifying what the, you know, Long and short, well short and long term steps need to be How does that information then get back to the participants and the general public? Is it Is there a report? Is there a a, you know, a Finding session or something of that nature? Yeah, there there is and in fact we we We did one from the last summit that we called Sort of like provisional findings, interim, you know, like an interim report knowing that we weren't done We're not going to build a 40-page glossy policy document here We're building sort of a nuts and bolts thing that says here's some of what we know and some of what we're hearing from you And some of the directions and there's some fascinating ideas and directions in there like Vermont should empower our youth summit And build a board of young people who are considering the future of leadership in Vermont that we should expand some mentoring and so forth And similarly we should be thinking, you know, we heard a lot about diversity and inclusion and in the last session, it's you know become a ubiquitously important topic for our future especially in the fact that Vermont birth rate is pretty flat that we are a declining populations in a lot of communities and New people especially people of color are often feel a little bit like There it's almost like they're told that they're not real Vermonters yet like this whole thing Who's a Vermonter and who's not and so the conversation is pretty nuanced about how do we invite people to Vermont and and welcome folks to Vermont and Allow people or or consider people as Vermonters on day one as welcome partners in this enterprise in democracy that we call Vermont and and How do we outreach to people who may not fit the traditional profile of the sixth generation farm family? Loving those farm family people, of course, you know that that character of the place is is really important But also recognizing that we have an opportunity for for renewal and economic progress So that kind of conversation wasn't something that we invented or we you know, right? Deliberately built, but it's so much in the air. It became a central theme of the last discussions Yeah, well, I know that the conversations are big conversations and the work that you're doing is Really important and really important for the state not just for identifying the issues But helping move us forward and I know that the communities you work with have Appreciated that and I know that certainly from somebody who monitors policy. I appreciate that And I think the media in general and I'm sure our folks at the State House appreciate that too. So 28 minutes goes by fast, doesn't it? Yeah, so My guests have been Paul Costello and Jenna Kala Kalausky Vermont Council on Rural Development and we have been talking about What BCRD does and the upcoming summit on August 18th 12 August 12th at the In Randolph and what's the website one more time? So vt rural org vt rural. Okay, and thank you very much for your time