| VBSR Fall Workshops and Webinars Announced We are delighted to share a full calendar of virtual learning opportunities this fall, including a wide variety of leading edge topics: Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, Becoming a B Corp, Inclusive Workplace Practices, Post-COVID Consumer Trends, Financial Literacy, ESG Investing, and more! All workshops and webinars are open to both VBSR members (including all employees of member organizations) and non-members. Most offerings are free to VBSR members and all are priced accessibly thanks to our Learning Community sponsors and Champion Members. Thank you for your support! View VBSR’s Fall Calendar of Educational Programming |
| Contact Billy Connelly at bconnelly@vanguardrenewables.com today to recycle your commercial food or beverage waste at a Vermont dairy farm.20th Annual VBSR Awards Ceremony Register for the 20th Annual VBSR Awards Ceremony Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event. Contact VBSR Membership Manager, Toby Aronson, at TobyA@vbsr.org to reserve your spot! Vermont Changemakers Table Accepting Applications Vermonters 35 and under encouraged to apply! The Vermont Changemakers Table is a group of young Vermonters seeking to collaborate and build relationships that bring positive change to Vermont and its communities. Since its inception in 2016, the program has connected and empowered over 75 young changemakers throughout the state. A collaboration between VBSR, Vermont Community Foundation, and High Meadows Fund, this year’s Changemakers Table cohort will convene a group of 20 Vermonters with diverse backgrounds, occupations, and experience for a series of in-person and virtual gatherings over 7 months. Participants will choose a crosscutting issue facing Vermont communities to focus on. This free program is open to both VBSR members and non-members. Applications will be accepted through Wednesday, September 15th. Learn More and ApplyClick here to register and join us for our free virtual townhall: Investing in Vermont’s Communities with special guest Will Belongia, Executive Director at the Vermont Community Loan Fund. Join us for a VBSR Networking Get-Together! Tuesday, September 21st 5:30 – 7:30 PM Scott Farm Orchard, Dummerston Thank you to our Event Sponsors: Register for the September 21st Networking Get-Together Thursday, September 23rd 5:30 – 7:30 PM The Intervale Center, Burlington Thank you to our Event Sponsors: Register for the September 23rd Networking Get-Together Interested in additional visibility? Consider Sponsoring a Networking Get-Together! Networking Get-Together Sponsorship ($300 Chittenden County / $275 Outside Chittenden County) • 30-45 seconds to speak at event • logo, 75-100 word company description, and link on VBSR event webpage • logo and link on email invitations to VBSR contacts around host county • logo displayed prominently at event • social media visibility through sponsor thank yous and event promotion To reserve a sponsor slot, please email VBSR Membership Manager, Toby Aronson (tobya@vbsr). Opportunities are limited and first-come, first-served. We Want to Hear from You! 2021 VBSR Membership Survey For more than 30 years, VBSR has been changing the face of business. Our members are leaders, innovators, and influencers, with impact reaching beyond the marketplace to advance leading-edge policy and practices, bolster communities, shape the Vermont brand, and fuel the social responsibility movement. Our diverse membership represents all sectors and geographic regions of Vermont – from sole proprietors to the largest employers in the state – and is united by a single vision: a just, thriving, and transformative economy that works for all people and the planet. Help us maximize our collective impact by completing this 4 minute survey. Survey participants will be have a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Skinny Pancake or Vermont Flannel Company! Take the Survey Today!  Call for Nominations: VBSR Board of Directors VBSR’s Board of Directors works together to set the vision, strategic plan, policies, and programs of our organization in order to best serve VBSR’s mission. In order to serve all of our members, we seek a Board of Directors with a diverse set of viewpoints representing a broad set of experiences, perspectives, and skills – from across industries, identities, and the state. Any individual who is employed by or an owner of a VBSR member business or organization is eligible. Self-nominations are welcome and encouraged. We especially encourage nominations for those who identify as women and non-binary, people of color, veterans, individuals with disabilities, members of the LGBTQ+ community, rural businesses, and other identities and lived experiences traditionally underrepresented in dominant business culture. Learn more about the nomination process and meet the current board. Nominations due Friday, September 27th! Nominate Yourself or Someone Else for VBSR’s Board  We have a BIG call to action: It’s time to revolutionize work so it finally works for everyone. We have an opportunity and an imperative in Vermont to create an economy that works for everyone, including women. That’s why our friends at the Vermont Commission on Women, Change the Story VT, Vermont Works for Women, the Vermont Women’s Fund and Let’s Grow Kids have come together to focus on solutions to support women in fully participating in the workforce with a campaign called #MakeWorkWorkForUs. From advocating for policies like paid family leave and affordable, high-quality child care to closing the gender wage gap, elevating women-owned businesses, and supporting more women to pursue leadership roles, we all need to work together to make work work for women and for all of us. Everyone has a role to play: policymakers, employers, employees, advocacy organizations and community members – together, we can #MakeWorkWorkForUs. Visit https://women.vermont.gov/makeworkworkforus to learn more and get started.  Investing in Vermont’s Future: Community Conversations with Speaker Krowinski and Pro Tem Balint Starting this week, House and Senate leadership are seeking public input to guide their decisions around how to spend the remaining federal dollars Vermont received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA.) With a massive influx in federal stimulus funds, increases in state revenues, and additional federal money on the way, Vermont has an invaluable opportunity to make key investments in Vermont’s pandemic recovery, address longstanding inequities, promote public health, and strengthen Vermont’s communities, businesses, environment, and climate. The process of deciding where, when, and how to allocate these dollars begins with you. Throughout the fall, Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski and Senate President Pro Tem Becca Balint will be meeting with Vermonters across the state to hear about the issues that they care about, the struggles their communities are enduring, and what they hope to see more of in Vermont’s future. These discussions will be used to inform policy and budgetary work when lawmakers convene this coming January. Dubbed “Investing in Vermont’s Future: Community Conversations,” these will include not only regional discussions, but intentional conversations with voices not typically heard in the Legislative arena, as well as an online questionnaire to gather additional feedback (linked here.) The first two regional discussions will be held virtually. Future meetings will be announced in the coming weeks and posted on the Speaker and Pro Tem’s websites. Click below to register for one of the inaugural community conversations Addison County Conversation, Thursday, September 9, 5:30-6:30 PMWindsor County Conversation, Sunday, September 12, 1:00-2:00 PM If you are interested in helping to set up an intentional conversation with a community or group not typically heard in the Legislative process, please reach out to cwesley@leg.state.vt.us and ckennedy@leg.state.vt.usThank you to our Champion Members Join VBSR |