ACEDC Wins $35,000 in Economic Development Grants for Two Addison County Businesses

MIDDLEBURY, VT –  Governor Scott and Jennifer M.V. Fitch, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS), have notified the Addison County Economic Development Corporation (ACEDC) that they were awarded $35,000 for Addison County businesses through the Building Communities Grant Program for projects in Bristol and Monkton.

Depending on appropriations by the Vermont General Assembly, the Building Communities program annually awards $900,000 in matching grants statewide to municipalities and nonprofit organizations for capital costs associated with the major maintenance, renovation, and development of facilities in the following categories: human services, health care and education; recreation; and economic development. Organizations in Addison County were awarded a total of $68,669 in all categories for the fiscal year 2022 funding round. 

ACEDC applied for, was awarded, and will administer the grants in the economic development category in Addison County. The grant program requires that the funds be essential to the project’s success, that projects be “shovel ready,” demonstrate job creation or retention potential, and the business must provide a dollar-for-dollar match. 

For the Fiscal Year 2022 funding round, $35,000 was awarded to two Addison County businesses for the following projects: 

• $20,000 to Bristol Bakery & Café Wholesale, LLC, Bristol to purchase equipment, specifically an automatic salt depositor/topper and an automatic cracker cutting device/rotary cutter.
• $15,000 to Wooden Hammer, LLC, Monkton to add an energy efficient heating system to their building expansion.

“The equipment we were able to purchase with this BGS grant has enabled us to increase production throughputs by some 35%, while eliminating tedious manual labor,” stated Kevin Harper, BB&C Wholesale CEO. “Given the customer demand for healthier snacks and the extremely tight labor pool, these additions are a game changer for our growing company.” 

“ACEDC has been incredibly helpful to my business over the years, in several ways,” stated Wooden Hammer owner Ben Raphael. “In particular, their assistance in securing this grant will allow us to switch from mainly using propane to heat our shop to using an air-to-water heat pump that will have most, if not all, of its energy consumption offset by a new solar array on the roof. I'm excited to be making this step as it will help with cash flow and reduce our environmental footprint.”

Contact information:

Addison County Economic Development Corporation: Fred Kenney, Executive Director. fkenney@addisoncountyedc.org or (802) 777-8349

Bristol Bakery & Café Wholesale, LLC: Kevin Harper, Owner.  (802) 453-5920; kevin@bristolworks.org

Wooden Hammer, LLC: Ben Raphael, Owner. (802) 310-1044; ben@woodenhammer.net