3rd 'Creative Economy'

Meeting Is March 28

The Randolph area is moving ahead this spring with a trio of creative economy projects designed to highlight, and build on, the ways that cultural and community activities support local economic development.

A public forum to design action plans around each of three priority areas will be held on March 28 at Vermont Technical College’s Langevin House, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Light snacks will be available starting at 6.

The projects that will be a focus of work are:

• Improving local Internet access.

• Promoting environmental initiatives that define Randolph as a green community.

• Forming a group to explore the area’s creative economy, opportunities for creative partnerships, and needs for support of creative economy projects.

These projects come as part of a community process led by the Creative Communities Program at the Vermont Council on Rural Development.

Randolph has dubbed their version of the process the Culture, Community, and Commerce Initiative, reflecting the three areas emphasized through their work. This initiative has taken participants through learning about the creative economy, discussing its relation to the Randolph area, brainstorming particular projects to undertake, and then narrowing the big project list down to three priority items.

"It’s been great to see 50 and more people coming out to our forums," says Sharon Rives, local chair for the process, "With these three projects, we hope to draw in even more people interested who have specific interests in these areas. We’re building our local resources."

Creative Communities Director Helen Labun Jordan said that environmental goals increasingly have had a place in economic development programs, like Creative Communities.

Such initiatives often preserve a traditional landscape, like compact village centers surrounded by agricultural lands, or encourage people to think consciously about how sustainability fits into local culture. At the same time, these initiatives can be a business opportunity for creative thinkers who invent new ways of doing things to support a "green" ethic, she said.

Information on the Creative Communities Program is available online at http://www.vtrural.org.

Other Creative Communities Program participants have included: Bellows Falls, Hardwick, the Lake Champlain Islands, Plainfield, Rutland, St. Albans, St. Johnsbury, and Windsor.