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Consultant cites Kirby Mulch as a working-lands success story despite multi-year permitting hurdles
Summary
A consultant told the Commerce committee that Kirby Mulch overcame complex permitting, environmental and historic-preservation reviews with working-lands grant support, and used the assistance to buy equipment that expanded local market opportunities.
Cynthia Stewart, a consultant who provides technical assistance to Northeast Kingdom businesses, told the committee that Kirby Mulch (owned by Heath Flannel) is an example of a forestry-related small business that succeeded after persistence and grant assistance.
Stewart described a multi-year process that required approvals from the Division for Historic Preservation, a wetlands delineation, river corridor review, floodplain assessment, archaeological field review and mitigation for primary agricultural soils; the company opened in February 2021 after roughly three years of permitting and consultant costs estimated by presenters at about $65,000.
The business received a Working Lands grant (about $30,000) to help purchase live-floor trailers, which enabled wider wholesale and retail distribution and supported some 75 landscape customers and regional buyers. Stewart said the company now sells within a roughly 50-mile radius and that the grant and technical assistance were critical to its launch.
Why it matters: Testimony illustrated how small forestry and wood-products businesses can create local jobs and markets but also how regulatory complexity and upfront costs can impede startups without state or philanthropic support.
