e-Vermont Project Update

On Wednesday, February 23, Congressman Peter Welch met with members of the e-Vermont Broadband project at the Poultney Elementary School.  Our state’s only Representative met with VtSBDC’s State Director Lenae Quillen-Blume, Statewide Broadband Business Advisor Patrick Ripley, e-Vermont Project Director Helen Labun Jordan , and Heather Chirtea and Eric Bird of Digital Wish.

To date, VtSBDC has provided 335 hours of broadband business training to 167 Vermonters since “on the ground” services began in October 2010. In just over 5 months, VtSBDC’s broadband advisor has met with 47 business owners, startups and nonprofit organizations, totaling 191 hours of no-cost one-on-one broadband business advising and counseling services.

All of these efforts are aimed at bolstering Vermont business owners’ online presence and building revenue in Vermont businesses. With increased online marketing, business owners reach new customers. With increased office efficiency, business owners save money on supplies, unnecessary utilities and can direct those saved funds back into their business. While our efforts are varied, our goal remains – to boost revenue streams for Vermont business owners and give them the means to put more Vermonters to work. Rep. Welch seemed pleased with VtSBDC’s work and appeared to understand the value in such services.