DOVER — Dover and Wilmington took another step up the economic trail in October by endorsing a 15-year economic plan that calls for high-speed Internet, a livable wage for workers, reducing the cost of doing business, and a number of other priorities.
Members of the Tri-Town Economic Development Committee recently approved Mullin Associates Inc.'s working draft addressing nine goals and objectives for economic development in the Deerfield Valley.
On Nov. 21, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Deerfield Valley Elementary School in Wilmington, the committee will present the full, final plan to the public.
Wilmington Town Manager Bob Rusten said the committee will fine-tune the objectives and language, but have agreed in principle to the plan, designed to provide an economic blueprint for the next 10 to 15 years.
The committee came together to address vulnerabilities in the local economy after several recent winters with little snow hit the Deerfield Valley hard, bringing together a cross-section of municipal, business, and citizen interests.
To get feedback from the community, the Tri-Town Committee held a series of forums asking, “Where do we go from here?”
Rusten said committee members discovered that many of the challenges the region faces are longstanding problems that other towns in Vermont confront, and the report will recommend a number of priorities:
• Develop and install state-of-the-art broadband Internet and cellular telephone systems throughout the Deerfield Valley, with special attention to the towns of Dover and Wilmington, that will enable businesses to have efficient, sustained connectivity across the globe over the next 20 years.
Rusten said that in speaking with local and potential businesses, the committee consistently heard that without access to reliable broadband Internet, new business will bypass the area.
• Provide support service such that businesses in the two towns have the ability to maximize their potential and provide a living wage. One of the goals of the committee is to “bring in jobs that people can make a living at and stay here,” Rusten said, so they “don't have to cobble together four different jobs.”
To that end, the committee has also explored issues of housing costs. “In the last few years housing has gone up but wages haven't kept pace,” Rusten said. The committee wants to determine what kind of housing “will allow people to stay and make a living.”
• Encourage development of industry that uses renewable natural resources and agricultural products from the region and the state.
• Attract and retain a younger population.
• Reduce the costs of doing business for local employers in the towns of Dover and Wilmington.
• Compile a comprehensive tourism plan for the towns of Dover and Wilmington.
• Ensure that the transportation system is safe, efficient and matches the region's character.
• Enhance the region's job base and tax base over the long-term while respecting the qualities that makes the communities special.
According to Dover Town Administrator Nona Monis, who chairs the committee, four out-of-state planners toured the region and have consulted on the project as well, offering fresh eyes on the group's priorities. Their reactions and recommendations will be part of the final report, she said.
The committee consists of short- and long-term focus groups. The working draft presented long-term goals. Whitingham is participating in short-term development projects and therefore representatives were not present, explained Bonnie Jo, Whitingham Selectboard Administrator.
Voters in the towns of Whitingham, Wilmington, and Dover have appropriated a combined $7,500 for 2009–2010 short-term goals. Wilmington and Dover have committed a combined $35,000 for the long-term study and strategic planning effort.
Selectboards from the three towns and the Mount Snow Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors created the committee in 2007 to address economic development in Dover, Wilmington and Whitingham.
Other members include a cross-section of municipal employees, Chamber members, owners of other businesses, and citizens: Nona Monis (Dover town administrator, chair), Todd Wahlstrom (non-Chamber representative, vice-chair), Laura Sibilia (Chamber executive director, clerk), Charles LaFiura, Adam W. Buursma (Whitingham), Linda Holland (Dover Selectboard), Bruce Korb (Chamber representative), Jeff Lewis (Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation representative), Allyson Libby (Chamber representative), Bruce Mullen (Rotary liaison), Meg Streeter (Wilmington Selectboard), and Kristine Sweeter (Whitingham).
The group's past projects include creating a community-wide online calendar, planting lupines in all three towns, uniform signage for wireless hot spots, commissioning a logo, and hosting community forums addressing long-term strategies.