From the CEO’s Desk: Advancing The Southwestern Vermont Economy
Southwestern Vermont is a region rich in character, creativity, and commitment — but it is also a region at an inflection point.
Like many rural communities, we are navigating workforce shortages, an aging population, housing constraints, small business transitions, and increasing pressure on nonprofits and municipalities to do more with less. At the same time, we see growing opportunities: renewed interest in place-based living, entrepreneurship, cultural tourism, and collaborative problem-solving across sectors.
What is no longer sufficient is maintaining the status quo. Or, expecting anyone but ourselves to solve the challenges before us.
Meeting today’s challenges — and capturing tomorrow’s opportunities — requires deeper investment, new tools, and long-term thinking. It requires philanthropy that doesn’t simply respond to need, but actively strengthens the economic systems that allow communities to thrive.
That is why the Southwestern Vermont Chamber Foundation was created.
The Chamber Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to strengthening the regional economy through workforce development, education, leadership, entrepreneurship, research, and community reinvestment. It expands the impact of the Southwestern Vermont Chamber of Commerce by providing a 501(c)(3) platform designed for long-term, transformational work.
This is philanthropy with an economic twist.
The Chamber Foundation exists to accelerate progress in ways traditional tools cannot — by attracting philanthropic capital, securing state and federal grants, investing in data and insight, and building programs that address root causes rather than symptoms. Its focus is not on short-term fixes, but on durable solutions that strengthen employers, workers, families, and communities together.
Our vision is clear: a Southwestern Vermont where people, businesses, and communities thrive — supported by a skilled workforce, strong leadership pipelines, vibrant downtowns, a resilient visitor economy, and informed, collaborative decision-making.
The Chamber Foundation will mark a new chapter for this region. One defined by progress, stewardship, and collaboration - the cornerstone values of the Foundation. It will also be defined by the shared belief that our greatest days are still ahead.
The Chamber Foundation’s early work will focus on:
Developing and attracting talent through workforce and relocation initiatives
Supporting entrepreneurship and business vitality
Strengthening regional identity, tourism, and cultural storytelling
Building leadership and nonprofit capacity
Delivering data and research to guide smart investment and planning
This charitable organization, in alignment with the Southwestern Vermont Chamber, represents a deliberate step forward: from reaction to strategy, from fragmentation to collaboration, from maintaining to building.
The Chamber Foundation creates a place where philanthropists, businesses, other foundations, families, and community members can meaningfully invest in the future of the Southwestern Vermont economy.
This is an invitation to you!
To invest in the future of Southwestern Vermont, to align philanthropy with economic vitality, and to help shape a region that is not only resilient, but ready.
Because the next chapter of Southwestern Vermont should not be left to chance — it should be built, together.
Always Onward,
Matt Harrington
CEO
Southwestern Vermont Chamber Foundation
