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RDCs urge state to revive small‑business technical assistance grant after high demand
Summary
Regional Development Corporations told the committee a prior small‑business technical assistance program funded 209 projects statewide and left roughly 300 applicants waitlisted; RDC leaders requested the program be reconsidered for funding this session.
Andy Jewel, president of the Regional Development Corporations of Vermont, told the committee that a recent statewide small‑business technical assistance program administered by RDCs funded 209 projects and left roughly 300 applicants on a waitlist.
Jewel said the program distributed about $1.25 million in the last round and that average awards were small—designed to pay Vermont vendors to provide technical services such as websites, marketing and inventory management. “The average award was $3,463,” he said in describing the program’s typical grant size and purpose. He said the program allowed RDCs to “connect [businesses] with a web developer” and pay for the vendor to deliver the work, which often kept small firms in business or allowed them to grow.
The program included an intake and a vendor vetting process; RDCs required scopes of work and post‑project evaluations and removed underperforming vendors from the vendor list. Jewel said the RDCs maintain vendor registries and that the administration and application infrastructure already exists, which would allow the program to restart quickly if funded.
Committee members asked for performance metrics: completion rates, deliverables and vendor vetting. Jewel said RDCs maintain spreadsheets and success‑story booklets and can provide outcome data electronically to the committee, and that a data lead (Melissa Bowney) coordinated program metrics.
Jewel said the program prioritized certain groups at the direction of the state—BIPOC business owners, people with criminal-justice histories, rural enterprises, women and “mature Vermonters”—and recommended the committee consider restoring funding to meet persistent demand.
Committee members asked how applicants were prioritized and how RDCs ensure vendors complete work; Jewel described intake, scopes of work, end‑of‑project evaluations and vendor removal as controls the RDCs use.
Jewel said the program gave RDCs a “foot in the door” with small businesses that otherwise struggle to meet the requirements of larger incentive programs, and that restarting the program would help the RDC network better serve vulnerable and undercapitalized businesses.
