JACKSONVILLE — During a Sept. 24 community meeting at the Municipal Center, Lisa Ryan of the Preservation Trust of Vermont outlined alternative business models other communities have used to save their general stores.
“We're here to help you figure out what's going to work in your community and how to connect you with those resources,” said Ryan, a field service representative with the nonprofit.
As an organization devoted to protecting and preserving historic properties and revitalizing community centers around the state, Ryan said the Trust has “done a ton of work” with general stores, co-ops, and community cafés.
The Putney General Store and the Guilford Country Store are two examples of businesses the Trust has worked with in Windham County, she said.
Ryan also took time to offer thanks to the Trust's former executive director, Paul Bruhn, who died on Sept. 19.
In previous interviews with The Commons, Bruhn explained that, for communities, general stores provide shared spaces to gather, speak, and exchange ideas. Without them, he said, a sense of community begins to fragments and eventually will disintegrate.
Ryan said one of Bruhn's strengths was the ability to bring together communities and experts from different areas.
As a result, the Trust has developed extensive partnerships with organizations such as the United States Department of Agriculture and the Vermont Arts Council.
The arts council operates “Animating Infrastructure,” a grant program to bring together artists and communities to address issues such as lighting or pedestrian access.
“We're here to connect people with resources,” Ryan said. “We're not here to tell you what to do or how to do it.”
Funding sources available
The Trust will help communities and organizations identify potential funding sources and then navigate the application process, Ryan said.
For example, in Jacksonville, a designated village center within the town of Whitingham, commercial property owners - including owners of apartment buildings - can access state tax credits. These credits can help offset the cost of façade improvements and upgrades to comply with building codes, accessibility mandates, or hazardous-material abatement.
Nonprofits can also use the credits, she said, by selling the credits to banks or insurance companies, turning them into cash to fund projects.
The Trust also helps groups connect with nonprofits and business owners through its Robert Sincerbeaux Fund.
Each year, the Trust gives away up to $20,000 in matching funds as seed money for community revitalization efforts. The grants are a one-to-one match and range between $500 and $1,000 per grant.
As part of the grant, the Trust links communities with technical assistance from professionals such as engineers, architects, building restoration professionals, fundraising consultants, accountants, and anyone who “has the right expertise for whatever it is you're trying to navigate,” she said.
Communities have used these grants for technical projects such as energy-efficiency projects and electrical upgrades in buildings.
Ryan also touched on community-supported enterprises.
The Trust has used this business model with restaurants, general stores, and bookstores, including the Putney General Store.
“A lot of times these enterprises operate on a shoestring,” she said.
In these cases, the Trust has found that it's easier to create a “separate ownership model for the real estate,” also called a real estate holding group, she said. The building and its equipment might be owned by one entity and the business by another.
“When the entity owns the real estate, they own the coolers, they own the cash registers, they own the deli counter, they own the chairs and tables,” Ryan explained. “And that way it secures that piece of real estate - in your case, the general store.”
The community then focuses on finding an operator. Ryan said that since the operators are free from the stress of expenses such as a mortgage, they can funnel their resources into the business side of the operation.
If one operator decides its time to leave, the community still owns the asset and can find another.
“Sometimes it's really hard to find somebody who can afford to buy both the real estate and the business,” she said.
One of the first community-supported businesses the Trust worked with was in Hardwick, a town in Caledonia County that saw a revolving door of entrepreneurs opening in the local restaurant space, only to see them close after a few months.
In conjunction with a housing organization, which added apartments to the building's upper floors, a community group purchased the real estate and found a restaurateur.
Under this business model, Clare's Restaurant opened and operated for nine years. A restaurant called the Scale House operates out of the building now.
Ryan said she recently toured the Jacksonville General Store building with the current owners, Pamela Pease and Jack Keefe.
“You've got a great resource here,” she said.