Rural cooperative development grants

This federal Project Grant award of $200,000 was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service and Rural Business Cooperative Services through the Rural Cooperative Development Grants (RCDG) program (CFDA 10.771). The grant recipient, Brattleboro Development Credit Corp (BDCC), will use the funding to support technical assistance, training, feasibility studies, and business planning services for individuals and entities seeking to establish, expand, or enhance rural cooperatives and mutually-owned businesses in Vermont.

As part of this grant, BDCC has sub-awarded $XX,XXX to the Vermont Employee Ownership Center Inc. (VEOC) to provide advisory services on the formation and implementation of cooperative development initiatives, work directly with businesses interested in business transition or development related to succession, and deliver educational content in the region. The sub-award has specific goals to identify 5 businesses at risk of owner retirement, provide training to 25 attendees, initiate succession planning for 3 businesses, provide technical assistance to 5 businesses, identify 2 business buyers, facilitate 1 new business owner transition, save 3 jobs, and add 1 new job, while also securing $20,000 in financing.