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State report finds Vermont’s rural technical assistance fragmented; advocates ask for $500,000 to fund coordinated teams
Summary
Presenters of the Vermont Evaluation of Rural Technical Assistance told the House Commerce & Economic Development committee that TA is fragmented and local capacity is the core barrier; the Vermont Council on Rural Development asked lawmakers for $500,000 in FY27 to fund coordinated community resource teams.
The Vermont Evaluation of Rural Technical Assistance (VERDA) found that technical assistance for small towns is plentiful but fragmented, making it difficult for volunteer-led municipalities to navigate complex funding and implementation challenges, Gary Holloway, downtown program manager at the Department of Housing and Community Development, told the House Commerce & Economic Development committee on Feb. 11.
"Technical assistance, it exists, but it's fragmented," Holloway said, summarizing a year-long effort that combined listening sessions, a 195-respondent survey, interviews with five states and research in 13 others. The project also convened a fall summit attended by about 125 people to ground recommendations in local experience.
The steering committee distilled four priority areas: 1) increase state agency participation and create a municipal service coordination hub to simplify navigation; 2) advance municipal and regional shared-service…
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