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Shaftsbury Board Compiling a Comprehensive Business and Organization Directory

Posted: January 21, 2025

SHAFTSBURY – The town's Economic Development Committee is compiling a comprehensive directory of local businesses, freelancers and non-profit organizations. "This directory will highlight the incredible talent and resources within our town and support Shaftsbury residents who operate businesses or organizations elsewhere," states promotion for the directory.

"While many towns have directories, we haven't found any other communities that have built a similar one specifically aimed at supporting businesses, freelancers, and non-profits in this way," said Andrea Bacchi, a member of the committee, in an emailed response to questions on Sunday. "Our directory is unique to Shaftsbury, and we're excited to see how it can make a difference here."

One can join the directory by answering an online questionnaire. The deadline for filling it out is Feb. 10. It will be published on March 1.

The directory will be accessible online on the Town of Shaftsbury website, and is meant to help connect businesses and organizations with the community, and serve as a valuable resource for networking and growth opportunities.

"I proposed the idea of creating a Business Directory in 2024, motivated by the lack of visibility that small businesses and freelancers often face," Bacchi said. "In my work as a marketing consultant with the Vermont Small Business Development Center, I observed that businesses in our town could really benefit from more exposure. This directory is designed to address that need."

The questionnaire is meant for Shaftsbury residents with businesses or non-organizations located in the town; Shaftsbury residents who operate businesses or non-organizations outside the town; and businesses and non-profits that are physically located in Shaftsbury.

The questionnaire can be found at: here

Besides basic information about the business proprietor and company, the survey also asks for a brief description of the business and the services/products offered, website, social media platforms, and business hours.

Other questions are asked not for publication but to help the Economic Development Committee understand the needs of town businesses.

"We want to better understand the challenges businesses are facing to provide effective support going forward, if and when possible," Bacchi said.

These questions include target audience, success in reaching the target audience, what media and marketing strategies have been most helpful, and is there a local network of businesses with whom one collaborates or sources goods and services from? If yes to the last question, it asks the respondent to list those businesses and their services.

The survey asks what are the main obstacles to the growth of the business or organization and what would help solve these challenges.

Finally the survey asks if one is happy with current levels of business and revenue, year-over-year growth, if you feel "you and your business are well-positioned for medium to long-term success? Why or why not?"

Bacchi crafted the questions with fellow committee member and business owner John Verrochi. "We worked closely together to develop an initial draft, which was then refined by the rest of the committee," she said. "We used market research strategies to ensure we were asking the right questions to achieve our goals."

The committee does not have additional follow-up steps planned at this time. "However, we encourage businesses to attend the Shaftsbury Economic Development Committee meetings, where we discuss ongoing initiatives and opportunities," Bacchi said. "Meeting information can be found on the Town of Shaftsbury website at https://shaftsburyvt.gov."

So far the survey has six submission but she hopes an article in the Banner will help generate more participation.

Bacchi said committee members were disappointed that Front Porch Forum would not publish the survey due to seeing it as competition, but this does not deter the committee from its mission.

"We remain committed to doing what we can to support Shaftsbury's small businesses, freelancers, and non-profits," she said. "We will continue to gather those interested in being part of the directory."

Compliments of: The Bennington Banner
Posted/Author: Mark Rondeau

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