Consultant for NEK Vitality Project: Systems Modeling for Regional Decision Making

The NEK Vitality Project will result in economic development throughout Vermont's Northeast Kingdom (NEK) by providing regional leaders, businesses, nonprofits, municipalities, and economic development organizations with a powerful decision-support tool that improves the effectiveness of economic development investments. The project will develop a system dynamics modeling and simulation tool that enables stakeholders to evaluate how investments in regional priorities influence economic outcomes over time. By helping decision-makers identify the interconnected nature of regional challenges, the project will support more effective allocation of public and private resources. This enhanced planning capacity will support ongoing business and organization development efforts, grant applications, infrastructure planning, and coordinated regional investment strategies. The project is also designed for long-term sustainability. Upon completion, the Northeast Kingdom Collaborative will receive the fully developed simulator, scenario briefs, technical documentation, and staff training necessary to maintain and utilize the tool into the future. As the region's neutral convener that holds the agreement with USDA Rural Development for the NEK's Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP Zone) designation, the NEK Collaborative is well positioned to integrate the simulator into its ongoing economic and community development activities, including regional planning and stakeholder convenings. The NEK Collaborative will contract with a consultant to provide the specialized expertise required for system dynamics modeling, data collection, and technical documentation. This consultant will design and facilitate the system dynamics modeling process, synthesize stakeholder input, develop and calibrate the regional model, conduct scenario analysis, and build the interactive simulator. The consultant will also prepare supporting documentation, training materials, and scenario briefs to ensure the tool is accessible and usable by regional leaders after project completion. The project will begin with stakeholder engagement and data collection, including a public launch at the NEK Together conference on November 4, 2026. Input gathered will be used to identify key regional priorities and relationships that influence economic vitality. The consultant will translate this information into an initial system dynamics model that reflects the interconnected nature of the emerging priorities. The draft model will be refined through a series of stakeholder convenings, allowing participants to review assumptions, ground-truth findings, and ensure the model accurately reflects local conditions. Following validation, the consultant will develop the interactive simulator and prepare scenario analyses that demonstrate the potential impacts of different investment choices over time. The project will conclude with delivery of the completed simulator, scenario briefs, technical documentation, and training sessions for NEK Collaborative staff and regional leaders. All project products, data, and documentation will be transferred to the NEK Collaborative, ensuring the organization has the capacity to maintain and utilize the tool beyond the grant period. Through this approach, the project will create a lasting regional planning resource that supports business development, economic development planning, grant applications, and coordinated investment strategies throughout the Northeast Kingdom.