From the governor on down, state and local leaders gathered in at a Main Street restaurant in Springfield Tuesday to celebrate a new beginning-- the Black River Innovation campus.
www.wcax.com
www.mynbc5.com
Governor Phil Scott and Congressman Peter Welch joined Springfield Regional Development Corporation (SRDC) and the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) to announce $1M raised for a new economy initiative in Springfield. The Black River Innovation Campus (BRIC) will bring together digital job training, computer science education and an entrepreneurship center to create innovation jobs.
"Springfield was once the center of technology in the region," said Bob Flint, Executive Director of SRDC. "Today marks the start of our journey to bring that innovative spirit back to this valley and create the new companies and jobs for generations to come."
Built on exceptionally fast gigabit broadband infrastructure in this historic downtown, BRIC will use proven strategies for encouraging entrepreneurship, but with a new long term residency approach that will provide selected teams free live/work space for a year along with direct investment capital. The startups will receive training, connections to other innovation resources from around the country, including those at Dartmouth College, and mentorship and support from LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman of Greylock Partners.
"Today we celebrate a robust collaboration of businesses, individuals, non-profits, and government groups working together to revitalize the Springfield region," said Congressman Welch. "I applaud participants for their leadership and am excited about the enormous potential of this vital project." The initiative is not waiting for the startups to take off in order to have an impact. PurposeLab, a California-based software product development studio, is partnering with CORI to train and hire up to 24 software developers over the next year. The entry level programmers will participate in an intensive online training program and, once selected, will work out of a live/work space based in Springfield. The application process for the program will begin by the end of this year.
"This initiative is about providing high paying jobs for the next generation of Vermonters, which is so important for our work to expand our workforce and bring more famili. and businesses to Vermont," said Governor Scott. "We're pleased to support this initiative through the Vermont Training Program which provides for digital skills training that will lead to new job opportunities today and a trained workforce as these startups start to grow in Springfield."
The unique approach of this initiative and the focus on rural communities caug,ht the attention of national foundations and regional organizations. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Siegel Family Endowment joined forces with the Vermont Community Foundation and other members of the VT innovation community to fund this effort. BRIC has also applied for a grant from the federal Economic Development Administration.
"Digital economy jobs are a critical piece of any healthy economy and yet we have not seen this sector effectively engage rural communities," said Katy Knight of the Siegel Family Endowment, which funded the creation of the computer science education platfonn Scratch and committed the first $250,000 to the BRIC initiative. "We are excited about this inclusive approach that addresses both entrepreneurship and building the future workforce."
BRIC announced the launch of a search for an Executive Director that will be led by the newly formed board of directors. This first hire will craft the strategy for the residential entrepreneurship center, solidify partnerships and onboard the first entrepreneurs.
"The Center on Rural Innovation is committed to bringing digital economy jobs to rural communities across the country," said Matt Dunne, Executive Director of the Vermont-based Center on Rural Innovation, which led the fundraising and partnership building efforts. "There was no better place to start than right here in Springfield, VT. We believe this can become a model for hundreds of small towns."
While BRIC will initially locate activities in buildings along the Park Street corridor, the organization is actively working with partners on the potential redevelopment of the former Park Street School building into a state-of-the-art livelwork/community facility that would eventually serve as BRIC's permanent home. The organization and project leaders are currently seeking additional pre-development funding with hopes of moving forward with the redevelopment project in early 2019.
https://bricvt.org
Springfield looks to students as it works to reinvent itself By Adam Sullivan | Posted: Tue 6:41 PM, Sep 18, 2018 | Updated: Tue 7:02 PM, Sep 18, 2018 SPRINGFIELD, Vt. (WCAX) Springfield is in the process of reinventing itself. And Tuesday, there was a big step forward with the launch of the Black River Innovation campus. It has three main goals: -The computer science initiative is aimed at making coding a graduation requirement for high school students. -Launching an entrepreneurship center that will attract new workers and grow businesses. -The Remote Work Initiative, which will train people to work remotely for tech companies out of state. From the governor on down, state and local leaders gathered in at a Main Street restaurant in Springfield Tuesday to celebrate a new beginning-- the Black River Innovation campus. "Really it is to create an economic technology ecosystem, so that is why the training is as important as the entrepreneurship, which is as important as the employment," said Bob Flint of the Springfield Regional Development Corporation. Twenty-four software developers are expected to be hired over the next year. They will work in town for out-of-state companies. Down the road, a state-of-the-art entrepreneurship center will focus on attracting tech-savvy people to live and work in the area. Tuesday, $1 million in funding was announced to help get the campus off the ground. A significant portion of that money comes from the Kauffman Foundation and the Siegel Family Endowment. Officials say Springfield has the potential to become the innovation capital of the region. "Ironically, that is what we used to be is the machine tool capital of the world. What drove that is ingenuity and innovation. So, we are simply applying that model to current technology thanks to the resources we have and the strong backbone of 10-gigabit fiber," Flint said. "Today, broadband is the electricity of our time and the community here has the opportunity to build on that incredible infrastructure to create jobs of the future," said Matt Dunn of the Center on Rural Innovation. The nonprofit Center on Rural Innovation is partnering in the project. Dunn says rural communities have struggled to bounce back from the recession and are not participating in the digital economy the way large cities have. But Springfield already the infrastructure in place to succeed. "Before there was Silicon Valley there was Precision Valley and it was right here," Dunn said. And a big piece of the puzzle is to develop the workforce of the future. That's where students at Springfield High School fit into the equation. "Technology is constantly changing and we are developing new things and that ability to use it is really important," said Gwen Roundy, a sophomore. Coding skills will now be a requirement to graduate. "I imagine that with technology being such a big part of our lives, it is going to be part of pretty much any occupation that anyone chooses," said Molly Leonard, a sophomore. The former Park Street School building is being looked at as a potential permanent home for the innovation campus. The hiring process for a director has begun. The organization and project leaders are currently seeking additional funding with hopes of moving forward with the redevelopment project in early 2019. WEBVTT 21ST CENTURY. >> THERE IS SO MUCH NEW TECHNOLOGY OUT THERE, IT IS VERY EXCITING TO SEE WHAT IT WILL BE. ROSS: THERE’S A LOT TO BE EXCITED ABOUT IN SPRINGFIELD. A NEW INITIATIVE IS BRINGING A LITTLE BIT OF SILICON VALLEY TO THE UPPER VALLEY. >> SPRINGFIELD HAS 10 GIGABIT FIBER, ARGUABLY THE FASTEST INTERNET SPEED IN THE COUNTRY. ROSS: BOB IS THE DIRECTOR OF THE SPRINGFIELD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. THEY ARE TRYING TO DEVELOP SPRINKLED INTO A TECHNOLOGY OF. >> GOOD WAGES, INNOVATIVE, AND BUILT FOR THE LONG-HAUL. ROSS: THE PROJECT HAS RAISED $1 MILLION. COMMUNITY LEADERS SAY IT WILL START THE NEWEST CHAPTER IN SPRINGFIELD INNOVATIVE HISTORY. >> BEFORE SILICON VALLEY, RIGHT HERE SOME OF THE GREATEST MINDS IN TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION WERE HARD AT WORK CREATING THE MACHINE TOOLS THE DID EVERYTHING FROM POWERING THE JETS WE USE, ARMAMENTS, EVERYTHING ELSE. >> WE ARE HOPING TO RESTART THAT, MAKE SPRINGFIELD AGAIN A PLACE KNOWN FOR INNOVATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY. ROSS: FOR BUSINESS OWNERS, NEW INNOVATION MEANS NEW CUSTOMERS IN THE COMMUNITY HE GREW UP IN. >> I’M EXCITED TO SEE WHAT IT BRINGS TO TOWN, THE TYPES OF MRS. IT BRINGS TO TOWN. AND HAVE NEW YOUNG PEOPLE KICKSTART THE COMMUNITY. ROSS: DEVELOPERS HOPE TO REC
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I am not an accountant but I believe every dime of this money spent, moved, held, pocketed and or given away be completely transparent and shown in an easily read ledger available on the net for all residents to see. I believe this sounds like a good push in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea but it will never happen. Everything SRDC does is on a need to know basis, and as far as they're concerned, you don't need to know.
DeleteBob Flint likes it that way.
It IS a POSITIVE note to OUR YOUTH on prosperity AND hope for a MUCH better place to LIVE in Vermont. I really and truly feel for PEACE AND HARMONY and NOT dreadful "NEWS" OF more BAD NEWS!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!
Sounds like a good plan. The usual doom-and-gloomers will knock it, but it will be a step in the right direction. Sitting on our butts complaining won't change anything. Properly managed, this will bring prosperity and purpose back to this town. Springfield has a lot going for it if you have the vision to see it, and the ambition to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very important project for Springfield. The positive economic splash effect will assist in bringing up grand list values, and play an important role in bringing to pass the redevelopment of the Downtown area. We are in need of a demographic upward shift and right now this is the most likely game-changer on the horizon. We need Springfielders to come out and support it.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, best way to encourage that upward demographic shift that you speak of is to eliminate the slum housing that surrounds downtown. Creating stiffer local ordinances is the best way to do that. I know that you, and others, have tried this in the past, but now is the time to stand up to the slumlords. The high-profile presence of state and federal officials should make this easier. None of them want to look as though they're wasting the taxpayer's money on projects with no future. A little arm-twisting goes a long way.
DeleteAnonymous 6:26 While I agree that the elimination of blight is an important issue that needs to be pursued, we also have to couple that with projects that will attract the middle-class which this project will do. As you know I helped craft the blight ordinance, the vacant building ordinance, and was the person who initiated the creation and funding of a revolving fund to cover demolitions. The enforcement of these ordinances has not been as vigorous or swift as I would have liked, but I have been assured repeatedly that they are in fact being prosecuted. We have not been particularly well assisted by the State in our pursuit of blight reduction as the legislature has refused to amend the enabling statute or adopt a super-priority for demolition liens. However, I am hopeful that they will support this project. Meanwhile, the voters should consider voting for the two populist candidates for State Representatives in order to increase State support for Springfield. I am running as the Progressive Candidate for State Representative, and Beth Gray as the Republican Candidate. We are both pushing populist approaches that focus on local issues. You cannot expect changes at the State level by continuing to elect the same State Representatives year after year. This is not a partisan issue, its a Springfield issue.
Delete$1M doesn't go very far these days and, as usual, the hype here will likely far outpace the actual results. Sure, everyone should be glad that the poor little town of Sprimgfield has received some "free money" to pursue economic advancement, but as usual, there is never the makings of a long range, sustained plan. Rest assured that this will also turn out to be a flash in the pan. You gang just parachute a bunch of software developers into an economically stunted town and expect entrepreneurial pursuits to flourish. This is another SRDC "magic beans" fairy tale.
ReplyDeleteTrain 24 entry level programmers for a year, plop them down in a sad depressed drug town, give them free rent in an old school and hope they start a company. Welcome to lovely Springfield! Please start a company and make roots in this thriving town!
ReplyDeleteThe usual cast of woefully, technically inept characters squandering tax payer money on a half baked, cockamamie, corn ball scheme.
ReplyDeleteHere's a reality check. Truly brilliant, ambitious and creative minds enroll in the best universities. Cost is a non issue as scholarships abound for such gifted students. Upon graduation they are competitively recruited by firms strategically located in highly desirable communities. Communities the offer a high standard of living, and most often a respected university to further their education.
In time, the most creative will spin off, partnering with others having necessary, complementary skills. Where they then choose to set up shop is pretty cut and dry. Criteria being similar, desirable communities that have a ready pool of talent to grow a company. However, recognizing they may quickly become successful entrepreneurs, tax burden becomes a big factor. That alone puts Vermont out of consideration.
Around the country Vermont has become a laughing stock. Any reference only invokes an image of transvestites, socialists, under achievers, stoners, and blight plagued, anti business communities. All standing in line to oppressively tax successful entrepreneurs. Bright, young minds have a good handle on this. Vermont and Springfield in particular is a distant, last choice.
PLEASE READ THIS!
https://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/the-worst-states-for-wealthy-americans
Anything Fox has to say is horribly biased at best, and outright lies, most likely. Most major metropolitan areas have high taxes. The reason most businesses locate there are high concentrations of skilled labor, and transportation infrastrucure. Fellows Gear moved to Rockford, Il for those reasons. I lived there for ten years; the taxes are high, the crime rate is high, the school system sucks, there are drugs everywhere, and there are A LOT of racial minorities on welfare. Yet, Fellows found Rockford to be a better place to do business. Springfield doesn't have a lack of jobs as much as it has a lack of skilled labor to DO the jobs it needs. We can either bring people in to do the work, or educate our children, or both. Guess what, those things cost money! The really sad part is listening to conservatives whine about taxes and expenses, and then, when the government creates tax breaks and helps with startup costs, you complain about that, too! Make up your minds, if you have any!
DeleteFellows didn't decide to move to Rockford. If you remember, Fellows was acquired in 1987 by Goldman.
DeleteWhen Goldman filed for bankruptcy in February 2002, Bourn & Koch of Rockford, acquired both the gear shaper machine tool and cutting tool manufacturing assets.
So much for Fellows deciding to "move" to Rockford.
I had to laugh when you complained about Rockford's high taxes and then grumbled about having to listen to "conservatives whine about taxes."
For one, whoever owned Fellows Gear, it was (and still is) Fellows Gear. Two, I wasn't complaining about the taxes, I was making a point: High crime, high taxes, drugs, and number of welfare recipients WERE NOT the reason Fellows left Springfield for Rockford, since there are more of those things there, than here. Oh, and I forgot, more Unions! The benefits outweigh the costs; ever heard of cost/benefit analysis? You redneck conservatives don't know DIDLEY about business or economics. THAT'S WHY YOU FAIL AT BUSINESS. It's not taxes, regulations, "liberals," or anything else. It's your rigid, simplistic, knee-jerk mentality!
DeleteJust so you'll be better informed in the future, boy genius, the term is "Diddley"
DeleteNo, it actually is "diddly" as in "diddly squat", and why are we arguing about water over the dam? The machine shops are for the most part gone, and they won't be coming back if we just lower taxes, and we won't change the demographics by trying to compete with areas that can develop greenfields overnight. But we can compete with high speed internet since many of those areas while not cursed with the brownfields left behind by the machine shops, they are cursed with turtle speed internet. So lets quit talking about what we can't do and start doing something constructive.
DeleteI read these pages every day, George, and I find myself shaking my head at some of the comments: spelling lessons, people "shouting" with caps, liberal vs. conservative insults, and plenty of "it will never work here" commentary.
DeleteWhat I don't see often enough are positive comments. Thank you for yours. When I was the morning guy at WCFR, I said (more than once) that Springfield had still not seen it's best days. I still believe that.
Ray Lemire. It is my fervent hope that we can get past the leadership lethargy, and public apathy that has held Springfield back from change over the last 20 some odd years. I see the Town and the neighborhoods finally over the last 5 years starting to struggle for change. It has been slow, but it has been picking up speed -- we no longer have an elementary surrounded by drug dens, and the neighborhood association has been spearheading residential clean up. We still have problems that need to be confronted head on with frank constructive dialogue. But I no longer pay attention to the wet blanket do nothing tendencies. If everyone would pick something they are good at and use those skills to fight for improvement of the Town, we will win that struggle -- put it will take persistence and creative thinking. And it will take people who think before they vote, think about Springfield and what can be done here and for Springfield.
DeleteWell said, as usual, George.
DeleteI may have only lived here a few short years, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what the problem is. Far too many people are benefiting from things staying the way they are. The prime culprits are those who profit from providing social services, the slumlords who profit from the people on social services, and real estate speculators who wish to profit by forcing the town to pay top dollar to rip their eyesores down. There is a lot of overlap, and I hold both sides of the political spectrum equally responsible. The way I see things, it's a perfect storm of both liberal and conservative populism running amuck; the lowest common denominators of both sides demanding that the rest of us cater to them. I agree with you, George, it isn't really a partisan political issue; it's more like class warfare. The "war profiteers" are the real problem!
DeleteAnonymous 5:32, I agree with you in part, except I would not agree with the populism comment. I have pointed out in the past that one of the problems with the opioid epidemic is that it has too many vested interests at the local and State level with regards to the not for profits whose budgets are dependent upon the status quo. There is bipartisan support for just throwing more money at the status quo hub and spoke system, of course the incarceration approach doesn't work either. What we need is to break up the echo chambers which have control of public policy. We need to start actually listening to the neighborhoods. I had hoped that the Governor's new committee would engage with change, but no he staffed it with the same echo chamber people -- just to make things worse, he appointed a former not-for-profit director as the person on the committee supposedly representing the Town and Cities all over the State, and appointed a person whose chief accomplishment is being a networker par excellent, and surpise, surprise, she networked all the existing members of the echo chambers. So we do in fact need more populism, and a little less establishment in the mix if we are going to get some new answers.
DeleteGeorge, most of the truly stupid, abhorrent comments on this blog are delivered by "neighborhood populists." I will also point out that both Fascism and Communism are "populist" movements. Populism used to mean providing the underclasses with the means to lift themselves up through education, job training, and the development of higher social standards. Nowdays, the "populists" reject education and social standards as "elitist." Whether it's the angry, drugged-out hippie stumbling down the street, or the angry, drunken redneck with the junk-strewn, weed-choked yard. They both have one thing in common; a visceral hatred of those that they view as "the establishment," meaning the rest of us. I see it around here, and on every news channel, every day. I don't want people like that anywhere NEAR the decision-making process. Those things should be left to those with an education, and social standards above gutter-level.
DeleteAnonymous 8:16, there are two forms of populism, one is the type which you refer to and which we are seeing a lot of today. The other is type which still follows your old meaning which is the type of populism which I advocate. It was the populism of Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, and basically currently Bernie Sanders. Both of the dominant political partys' establishment have adopted neo-liberalism as their basic economic philosophy which what has caused the populist revolt in both parties. You are correct that the darkside of populism looks a lot like fascism, where you demonize a certain minority and blame everything upon them and promote anger. But there is what I call a lightside of populism which still does try to lift people and restore dignity while respecting the rights of minorities. Both, however, share one thing, and that is the tendency to focus on local problems -- unfortunately the dark side gets the remedy wrong, as you can see from a lot of the comments on this thread.
DeleteThank you, George!
DeleteFrom "The Rise and Fall of Springfield, Vermont's First Tech Hub"
ReplyDeleteSeven Days / 2015
"Flint's fantasy is to see a company settle in Springfield that needs 500 skilled workers, but he's realistic about the odds of re-creating a tech hub on the banks of the Black River.
'Am I going to be able to attract 500 people to live here?' he asked, then answered his own question. 'We need the social infrastructure. Burlington is one thing, but the rest of the state is something else."
So how come he's not realistic three years later?
It's very simple. In order to attract tech people to this town, it will have to become (gasp!) more like Burlington. Modern, forward thinking companies aren't necessarily looking for low taxes and cheap, expendable labor. Those things may be nice, but they are not their biggest priority. Skilled labor, solid infrastructure, and quality of life are. They aren't the industrialists of old, who only sought to make money without regard to the consequences. True innovators can build a business without exploiting and polluting the towns they occupy. They do more than create jobs, they contribute to the well-being of the community. Only the corrupt, backward companies pillage and destroy communities for a fast buck! They are the ones we DON'T need!
DeleteDo not ask what, when, who or why, ask yourself how you and capitalize on these high tech workers soon to be residents of Springfield. Coffee bar? Doughnut shop? Sushi? Porsche dealer? Apple shop? There you go, add to the list. Get flexible, complex, and quit that knee jerking. Springfield can become the San Francisco of the east. MSFGA
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you're being sarcastic or not, 1:01. If not, that's exactly what the local conservatives fear most; a town that does not look like them, cater to them, or even want them around. I said more like Burlington, not exactly like it, anyway. San Francisco has its downside, too. Too much of anything can be bad, but thinking that the Precision Valley is coming back is nuts. I wouldn't want to live in a town with nothing but greasy, toxic factories, no matter how many jobs there were. Quality of life matters!
DeleteNo I am not being sarcastic. With a big business like that being advertised there certainly are many opportunities to support it. Like craft beer. Another one or two fast food places (once the "deal" between McDs) is abolished. Etc....
DeleteAbsolutely right, 6:23, I was just checking! For every job created by a large employer, there are four others created around it in support. You make an excellent point!
DeleteReally WANT an excellent restaurants that is cheap and quick,I CAN DO without McDonald's' maybe a Chinese buffet in Springfield where former Oriental Palace used to be there: empty vacant building in Springfield VT. Stubborn Springfield people will not go; same BORING place at the Springfield Plaza/ Personally, I prefer to Claremont NH restaurants and shopping trips for a couple hours where NO TAX in New Hampshire!
ReplyDeleteWe're tired of Bob Flint and the other political flimflam artists always showing up to take a bow for handing the town another small check written either by taxpayers or other organizations that have done the heavy lifting to make it possible. They just show up in hopes of buying some cheap votes in November and/or feathering their own comfy little nests. It's a variation on a ponzi scheme -- just keep doling it out in dribs and drabs sufficiently enough to string the poor saps along until the next cheap trick. Springfield needs to understand that this latest side show won't result in another Microsoft being created here. It will wind up being more like a Microshaft!
ReplyDeleteHence my first comment about a ledger for all to see. See the first comment.
DeleteBob Flint has been lining his pockets on the Springfield Area Tax Payers for years, and good at it. Notice the homes he has moved up in, and without a real job ever, like he works for the government or a Senator or something.
DeleteRoger, your point about Flint's finances have merit. Bankrupt PVDC and now SRDC are a scam that's wholly ineffective at attracting and securing meaningful jobs. Far beyond time for the town to cut ties with this private, realty holding company. Please folks, just follow the money.
DeleteRe: ...ask yourself how you [can] capitalize on these high tech workers soon to be residents of Springfield. Coffee bar? Doughnut shop? Sushi? Porsche dealer? Apple shop?
ReplyDeleteFrom 24 lowly paid software workers? Truly delusional! Hey, will you be taking your Bugatti out for your regular Sunday drive tomorrow?
Fyi, you need to start somewhere. What are your ideas, they may be better.
Delete5:49, I've been asking the nay-sayers for their solutions for years. In this case, the town IS doing what some of them have suggested, giving tax breaks and start-up funding. There's no pleasing them, they complain no matter what. The bottom line?They aren't in charge of anything, so they complain about everything. It's all about control.
DeleteNot sure they have "lowly paid software workers" in mind, but even if they do, and I don't think they do, it would be better to have such workers who actually have a path to a better future than a dead end. This is definitely a start in the right direction, why are people attacking it.
DeleteIt's debatable whether anonymous online attackers qualify as people. Not that they don't represent a problem, but it's one of distortion, not valid opinion.
Delete1.36 is probably 35 years old and still living at home with mom and dad.
ReplyDelete