IN THE NEWS
PATRICK O'GRADY | Valley News | 12/06/2018
The Black River Innovation Campus will be able to accelerate its efforts to create a digital economic hub in Springfield after receiving a federal grant this week.
Vermont Business Magazine | 12/05/2018
The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) today announced that the Black River Innovation Campus (BRIC) has received $724,000 in federal grant funds to support continued progress in building a digital economy ecosystem in Springfield.
Rural Innovation Initiative aims to help small towns get funding for remote work spaces
ANNA HENSEL | VentureBeat | 11/16/2018
Small towns are still struggling to amass the high-paying, digital-first jobs needed to succeed in today’s economy. Now a new program from a Vermont nonprofit aims to give them a boost.
New Incubator Aims to Grow Tech, Business Startups in Springfield, Vt
JOHN LIPPMAN | VALLEY NEWS | 9/18/2018
Springfield, Vt. — Springfield once was renowned as a center of the machine tool industry. Now an alliance of nonprofits and town officials say they have taken a big step in making it known as a hub for the digital economy.net.
Springfield Innovation Initiative looks to bring the Silicon Valley to the Upper Valley
JOE MILLIKEN | VERMONT JOURNAL | 9/21/2018
SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – Gov. Phil Scott and Congressman Peter Welch visited Springfield Tuesday, Sept. 18 to join the Springfield Regional Development Corporation and the Center on Rural Innovation in announcing the raising of $1 million for the development of a new economy initiative called The Black River Innovation Campus. The new facility will offer computer science training, digital job training, and an entrepreneur center to help create and cultivate new, innovative jobs for the region.
What rural America needs to succeed in the digital economy
MATT DUNNE | VENTUREBEAT | 6/3/2018
A seismic shift is happening in rural America. The opioid epidemic is disabling a segment of the workforce, retail jobs are giving way to ecommerce platforms, and college graduates are moving to cities in search of higher pay.
CORI: The Solution to Rebuilding Rural America?
MELANIE PLENDA | SENTINELSOURCE.COM | 3/16/2018
There’s a saying that entrepreneurs need 10,000 cups of coffee to get to the right number of people to network with — and to create the community — to be successful.
Opportunity Zones are a chance for us to rebuild rural America
BY MATTHEW DUNNE | THE HILL | 02/15/18 12:00 PM EST
Buried deep in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 is an interesting prospect for struggling communities. A new program, which calls for governors to establish Opportunity Zones in their states, is meant to encourage private investment in low-income regions across the country.
Business accelerator plan generates praise
SUSAN SMALLHEER | RUTLAND HERALD | 1/3/2018
SPRINGFIELD — An innovative plan to convert the former Park Street School into a digital-oriented high-tech business accelerator won praise Tuesday from Vermont’s sole congressman.
Eliminating net neutrality would hurt rural America
BY MATTHEW DUNNE | THE HILL | 12/12/17 11:00 AM EST
A forthcoming decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to eliminate net neutrality will instantly undermine a decade's worth of public investment in rural broadband — at the exact moment rural America is ready to realize the economic potential of the digital age.
The Rural Advantage: How to Make the Best of What We Have
MELANIE PLENDA | SENTINELSOURCE.COM | 12/11/2017
Did you ever wonder what would have happened if Rapunzel, trapped in that tall tower in the middle of rural nowhere all those years, used her ingenuity and available resources to fashion her hair into some kind of ladder to get herself out? What would have happened if she didn’t wait for a prince to come in, lend a hand and take her far away to find her fortune?
Ex-Google exec Matt Dunne has a plan to create a string of tech hubs across rural America
BY ANNA HENSEL | VENTUREBEAT | 11/9/2017 5:20 AM
It’s no secret that while Silicon Valley is gaining jobs, rural America is losing them. A September report from the Economic Innovation Group found that nearly 90 percent of the ZIP codes in the U.S. that qualify as “economically distressed” have fewer than 50,000 people.
Rural America's future is riding on a cell signal
BY MATT DUNNE | WIRED | 06/28/17 06:35 AM
Until recently, if you happened to have a medical emergency while driving through Townshend, Vermont, a hamlet of just more than 1,000 people in the southern, rural area of the state, it would do no good to pull out your iPhone. You would have no signal. "The irony was not lost on us that someone next door to the hospital couldn't dial 911 on their cell phone," says Roger Allbee, CEO of the local hospital, Grace Cottage.
Springfield, Vt., School District to Start a Computer Science Program
STAFF REPORT | VALLEY NEWS | 12/11/2017
The Springfield, Vt. School District is launching a computer science program for middle and high school students, the first of its kind in Vermont, Superintendent Zach McLaughlin announced in a news release last week. The program will start rolling out in January, and is slated to fully materialize in the 2018-2019 school year.