NEK Collaborative

10/08/2026

It was a beautiful fall day at the Vermont Council on Rural Development's Leadership Summit at Vermont State University Castleton Campus! The NEK Collaborative was honored to moderate a conversation on Safe Streets, Accessible Recreation & Inclusive Mobility alongside friends from Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sports, Vermont Center for Independent Living, Vermont Land Trust, and Upper Valley Trails Alliance!

We were also grateful to celebrate longtime Vermont Council on Rural Development leader Paul Costello and his well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award.

And what a joy to watch Kate Baxter share statewide about Vermont's Northeast Kingdom’s own Lunenburg community and its incredible efforts!

10/02/2026

09/30/2026

FROM VERMONT TO TIMES SQUARE!

On September 17th, RuralEdge made it to the Nasdaq Tower in NYC — and seeing our newly completed Newport Crossing featured on the big screen was an incredible moment.

Newport Crossing is RuralEdge’s newest housing development, bringing affordable homes to the Newport community and reflecting what’s possible when strong partnerships come together. We’re proud to partner with Community National Bank in our shared commitment to creating more safe, stable, affordable housing for Vermonters.

Seeing RuralEdge and Community National Bank featured together on the Nasdaq Tower, with “Creating Affordable Housing for Vermonters” front and center, was an incredible moment for our organization.

From Newport to New York City, we’re proud to celebrate the partnerships and people helping make affordable housing possible across Vermont.

09/29/2026

Vermont Public’s latest installment of Vermont Edition’s Town by Town series shines a spotlight on Vermont's Northeast Kingdom Lemington, a tiny Essex County community tucked along the Connecticut River on Vermont’s eastern border.

With fewer than 100 residents, deep forests, and a strong connection to the land, Lemington is a wonderful example of the character and resilience found throughout our Kingdom! It was a joy to listen to community members like Sharon Ellingwood share their stories 💕

🎧 Give a listen and fall 🍂 in love with Lemington!

vermontpublic.org/show/vermont-edition/2026-09-29/town-by-town-lemington

09/28/2026

RuralEdge Rockstars!

It was a big day for housing in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom last Friday! RuralEdge celebrated the opening of their 40 new housing unit Newport Crossing project with an inspiring ribbon cutting ceremony!

Joined by partners who helped bring the project to reality, we heard from Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak, Vermont Housing & Conservation Board, Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), NeighborWorks America, Community National Bank, VT, other lenders, and Newport City Council.

The project transformed the former Sacred Heart convent into perpetually affordable housing, plus adding family-focused units in Newport Center, bringing new life to underutilized properties and helping meet a critical regional need.

Congratulations, RuralEdge, and to the Newport community!

09/24/2026

Vermont Treasurer Mike Pieciak visited Lyndonville this week as a stop on the Flood Resilience & Recovery Tour. He hosted a roundtable discussion at the York Street meeting house focused on the local impacts of flooding and what communities need to recover, rebuild, and prepare for the future. The tour is also part of the Treasurer’s work on Vermont’s Climate Superfund cost assessment.

The conversation, facilitated by Vermont Council on Rural Development, brought together municipal leaders, recovery partners, businesses, state officials, and community organizations to talk about more than just the financial costs of disasters, including impacts on public health, local governments, businesses, and the capacity of small communities to respond.

The NEK Collaborative sat alongside Vermont's Northeast Kingdom community members, municipalities, legislators, and organizations such as Kingdom United Resilience & Recovery, Northeast Kingdom Organizing , NEKCA - Northeast Kingdom Community Action, Northeast Kingdom Council on Aging, Kingdom Trails, Northeastern Vermont Development Association, and others to share first hand experience on recovery gaps and vulnerabilities, successes, and opportunities to prepare for the future.

09/21/2026

Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund's Forest Innovation Summit brought together leaders from across Vermont’s forest economy right here in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom at Burke Mountain!

From landowners, foresters and loggers to sawmills, biomass producers, wood manufacturers and fine furniture makers, and the lenders, nonprofits, government partners, and technical experts who support them, the summit highlighted the incredible breadth of Vermont’s working forest economy.

For the NEK, forests are more than a landscape. They are jobs, businesses, communities, heating, manufacturing and a vital part of our regional economy. The NEK Collaborative was glad to be part of the conversation about innovation, resilience and the future of Vermont’s working forests.

09/18/2026

The NEK Collaborative joined our friends and partners at Do North Coworking for the annual See Change Sessions at Hula, digging into big questions like What becomes possible when rural and urban innovation ecosystems work together?!

From forests to entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, and communities, we’re exploring new ways to connect rural resources and create lasting opportunity across the Northern forests.

09/15/2026

What becomes possible when housing, conservation, and community development move forward together?

The NEK Collaborative was glad to join the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board’s Shared Futures convening, which brought people from across sectors together to connect, learn, and explore how stronger partnerships can turn shared goals into action. We’re big believers that the best work happens when we break out of our silos, build relationships, and tackle big challenges together.

Grateful for the conversations, ideas, and new connections, plus fun to see some Northeast Kingdom faces in the room too!

09/08/2026

Lunenburg LOVE 💕

The NEK Collaborative was fortunate to take a tour of Essex County’s Lunenburg and Gilman Village! We are in awe of this community’s deep connection to its land, history, and rural way of life.

But Lunenburg is also looking ahead. After recently going through a Vermont Council on Rural Development Community Visit process, groups like Lunenburg Community Events, Social Engagement and Recreation Task Force have been coming together to breathe new life into community spaces like Fox Field & Forest and the Reverend George L. Fox Memorial Chapel & Museum! The community also secured a Better Connections grant to help shape the Gilman Village Revitalization Plan. Once home to a paper mill, but what’s next!?

We loved getting out and learning more about this special corner of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom! You should too! All will fall in love with Lunenburg! 🍁 💕