2017 Vermont Statutes
Title 10 - Conservation and Development
Chapter 15 - Vermont Housing And Conservation Trust Fund
§ 325m Rural Economic Development Initiative

§ 325m. Rural Economic Development Initiative

(a) Definitions. As used in this subchapter:

(1) "Industrial park" means an area of land permitted as an industrial park under chapter 151 of this title or under 24 V.S.A. chapter 117, or under both.

(2) "Rural area" means a county of the State designated as "rural" or "mostly rural" by the U.S. Census Bureau in its most recent decennial census.

(3) "Small town" means a town in the State with a population of less than 5,000 at the date of the most recent U.S. Census Bureau decennial census.

(b) Establishment. There is created within the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board a Rural Economic Development Initiative to promote and facilitate community economic development in the small towns and rural areas of the State. The Rural Economic Development Initiative shall collaborate with municipalities, businesses, industrial parks, regional development corporations, and other appropriate entities to access funding and other assistance available to small towns and businesses in rural areas of the State when existing State resources or staffing assistance is not available.

(c) Services; access to funding.

(1) The Rural Economic Development Initiative shall provide the following services to small towns and businesses in rural areas:

(A) identification of grant or other funding opportunities available to small towns, businesses in rural areas, and industrial parks in small towns and rural areas that facilitate business development, siting of businesses, workforce development, broadband deployment, infrastructure development, or other economic development opportunities;

(B) technical assistance to small towns, businesses in rural areas, and industrial parks in small towns and rural areas in writing grants, accessing and completing the application process for identified grants or other funding opportunities, including writing applications for grants or other funding, coordination with providers of grants or other funding, strategic planning for the implementation or timing of activities funded by grants or other funding, and compliance with the requirements of grant awards or awards of other funding.

(2) In providing services under this subsection, the Rural Economic Development Initiative shall give first priority to projects that have received necessary State or municipal approval and that are ready for construction or implementation.

(d) Services; business development. The Rural Economic Development Initiative shall provide small towns and rural areas with services to facilitate business development in these areas. These services shall include:

(1) Identifying businesses or business types suitable for a small town, rural areas, industrial parks in a small town or rural area, or coworker spaces or generator spaces in rural areas. In identifying businesses or business types, the Rural Economic Development Initiative shall seek to:

(A) identify businesses or business types in the following priority areas:

(i) milk plants, milk handlers, or dairy products, as those terms are defined in 6 V.S.A. § 2672;

(ii) the outdoor equipment or recreation industry;

(iii) the value-added forest products industry;

(iv) the value-added food industry;

(v) phosphorus removal technology; and

(vi) composting facilities.

(B) explore with a small town or rural area whether underused or closed school buildings are appropriate sites for coworker or generator spaces.

(2) Recommending available grants, tax credits, or other incentives that a small town or rural area can use to attract businesses.

(3) In providing services under this subsection, the Rural Economic Development Initiative shall coordinate with the Secretary of Commerce and Community Development in order to avoid duplication by the Rural Economic Development Initiative of business recruitment and workforce development services provided by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.

(e) Report. Beginning on January 15, 2018, and annually thereafter, the Rural Economic Development Initiative shall submit to the Senate Committees on Agriculture and on Economic Development, Housing and General Affairs and the House Committees on Agriculture and Forestry and on Commerce and Economic Development a report regarding the activities and progress of the Initiative. The report shall include:

(1) a summary of the Initiative's activities in the preceding calendar year;

(2) an evaluation of the effectiveness of the services provided by the Initiative to small towns, rural areas, and industrial parks;

(3) a summary of the Initiative's progress in attracting priority businesses to small towns and rural areas;

(4) an accounting of the grants or other funding that the Initiative facilitated or provided assistance with;

(5) an accounting of the funds acquired by the Rural Economic Development Initiative for administration of grants or other funding mechanisms and whether these funds are sufficient to offset the cost of the Rural Economic Development Initiative; and

(6) recommended changes to the program, including proposed legislative amendments to further economic development in small towns and rural areas in the State. (Added 2017, No. 77, § 1; amended 2017, No. 77, § 12.)