Forty Million Dollar Investment Program Launched to Keep Working Families in Vermont

ST. JOHNSBURY – On Tuesday, Gov. Phil Scott talked about a $40 million economic program the state is launching. The program is expected to help attract and keep working families in Vermont.

During a press conference held outside the Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium in St. Johnsbury, Scott recalled that two years ago, after receiving word of over a billion dollars in federal aid coming to Vermont, state officials immediately went to work on how the state would not just spend the funds, but invest them as well. Many of the legislators at Tuesday’s press conference agreed that the state needed to focus on housing, broadband, water and sewer, stormwater infrastructure, and climate change mitigation, Scott said.

“My team also pushed hard for economic development investment in all 14 counties and communities throughout the state,” he said. “Especially those who have struggled for far too long because there is too much disparity from region to region.”

Scott said that St. Johnsbury was one of the stops made during his team’s 14-county tour on the day before the election. The 500-mileplus tour was a way to put things into perspective. He said that the tour reinforced how beautiful the state really is and how much it has to offer. It was also a reminder there is a stark difference between regions across Vermont, the governor said.

Scott believes that most legislators and Northeast Kingdom residents would agree there is a big economic gap between the Northeast Kingdom and the northwestern part of the state. Scott said that closing the gap and bringing more economic equity from region to region has been a priority for his team and the legislators that were at Tuesday’s press conference.

“The economic development initiatives that we’re talking about today, we believe will make a big difference,” Scott said. “In order to have a strong, healthy community in every part of the state, we need good jobs, housing, and thriving downtowns. They also need access to basic needs, services, and healthcare. To improve quality of life, they need outdoor recreation, arts, and entertainment. All things that help keep and attract the working families that we desperately need.”

“The $40 million-dollar economic program that we’re launching today will help you do just that,” Scott told the attendees at the announcement. “This is something that my team worked incredibly hard with the legislature to get accomplished, to support capital investments that will help grow the economy.”

Projects that qualify for the funding will be similar to the project The Fairbanks Museum and Planetarium received a grant for. The museum was awarded a $413,921 grant to install a new state-ofthe-art heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system in their new 6,080-square-foot science annex that is being added to the existing museum. That money came from the state’s Capital Investment Program that allocated $10 million into projects similar to what the Governor spoke about Tuesday.

“These are the type of projects across the state that will help revitalize our rural economies,” he said. “We hope this program will help keep the momentum going to fix up old buildings, allow businesses to expand, create more housing and childcare and allow municipalities to set themselves up for a bright future.”

Adam Kane, executive director of the Fairbanks Museum, said they want to make the museum as accessible as possible to people, no matter their mobility challenges, and the addition will make the historic building as accessible as possible as it can be for everyone.

“This building is an expression of the Fairbanks Museum’s Environmental Commitment,” he said. “This building will be Vermont’s demonstration of mass timber building. It will also be the first building built in the world built out of cross-laminated timber and constructed of Eastern Hemlock lumber. The building itself and the construction process are complete with sustainable systems and processes to lower the carbon impact of this building, its construction, and its operation.”

“The building also demonstrates the Fairbanks Museum’s vision about economic vitality and what that means for St. Johnsbury and the Northeast Kingdom,” Kane said. “We view the Fairbanks Museum as both a pillar and a catalyst to an ecosystem of education, tourism, and the creative economy. We do that work with a lot of amazing partners.”

Kane said the assistance the museum received from the State of Vermont provided critical funding both at the beginning and at the end of their project. He said the museum doesn’t have the approximate six million dollars in the bank to cover the expense of the addition, and the only way to make it happen is to fundraise. Some of the earliest funding for the project came from Vermont Downtown and Village Center Tax Credits through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, said Kane, who said the money was $163,000. They also raised revenue through sources like fundraisers and the Capital Investment Program, he said.

Commissioner for the Department of Economic Development Joan Goldstein said her team is excited about the newest round of funding being announced by the Governor, and projects will make a difference to continue growing the state’s economy while addressing some of the larger issues such as childcare and housing. She said that the Community

Recovery and Revelation Program (CRRP) would provide grants to for-profit, non-profit, and municipal applicants.

“That is the largest difference between the prior Capital Investment Program and the program we’re launching today,” Goldstein said Tuesday. “The funding is intended for projects that will make capital improvements or capital expansion that spurs economic recovery and revitalization in communities across the state.”

Eligible projects include those that assist industries impacted by the pandemic, such as arts, entertainment, recreation, hospitality, agricultural, and educational services, said Goldstein. The funding is also available for capital expenditures that support childcare and affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate-income households.

“The municipal portion is to establish or to improve municipal water or wastewater systems, to build and support housing, or create jobs through business creation and expansion,” she said.