BRATTLEBORO — The Sustainable Energy Outreach Network has received three grants from the Vermont Community Foundation over the past few months.
A $5,000 grant from Modesty is my Best Quality Fund was awarded to provide subsidies for participants in SEON’s training program. Last fall, SEON’s four courses were delivered at the Windham Regional Career Center, the Patricia Hannaford Career Center in Middlebury and the Wadsworth Companies in Jamaica. The importance of this grant is to incentivize carpenters to register for courses and begin a path for certification.
Another $5,000 grant from the Vermont Community Foundation for Capacity Building. Building from core missions of expanding the essential knowledge base of high-performance building professionals in southeastern Vermont and encouraging community engagement in a clean economy, SEON plans to take its fundamental working principles and establish concrete action plans for state-wide growth and organizational sustainability. The outcome of the grant is the creation of a 15-year business plan in five-year increments. Heurista Company of Asheville, NC and Saxtons River, Vermont was chosen as the consulting group.
Finally, SEON’s partner Modesty is my Best Quality Fund, granted $35,000 to support SEON’s staffing needs to grow from part-time work to full-time. The outcome of this donation is evident with a revisioning of the website, logo, and domain name (buildingscience.org). These design changes are considered substantive and reflect SEONs brand to highlight Building Science as core construction principles and skills around which to advance the qualifications of our residential workforce. Toward this end, 10 Building Science courses are planned for delivery throughout Vermont this winter and spring.
