Businesses owned by Black, Indigenous and people of color are eligible to receive technical assistance and development services through a new collaboration between Gov. Phil Scott’s office, the Vermont Department of Economic Development and the nonprofit Vermont Professionals of Color Network.
“Building equity across the state is a priority of my Administration and that means including all of our community members in these efforts,” Scott said in a press release. “This exciting partnership will help support businesses, our workforce, and further assist Vermont’s economic development efforts.”
Vermont Professionals of Color was awarded the contract to run the program.
Weiwei Wang, director of operations and development for the organization, said she plans to use the grant to hire more people to reach out to business owners and professionals, particularly in southern Vermont and the Northeast Kingdom.
“We do have community members there,” Wang said. “We just are not able to do as much right now with the capacities that we have.”
Wang said she hopes to connect community members with one another. She said that although her organization is called the Vermont Professionals of Color Network, it does not just serve professionals.
“We don’t mean just white-collar office folks,” she said. “We mean everyone: folks who are in the gig economy, folks who are sole proprietors. Everyone who is working for a living, we consider them a professional.”
The initiative is part of a workforce development law the Legislature passed and Scott signed last year, tapping $250,000 from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to reach out to, support, train and provide technical assistance and help navigating resources to Black, Indigenous and persons of color who own businesses.
“VT PoC submitted a compelling proposal to bolster this work statewide and we are confident in the organization’s ability to effectively reach more Vermonters and make connections to the information and services they need to thrive,” said Joan Goldstein, the state’s economic development commissioner, in the press release. “We are excited about this partnership and the additional opportunity to transform our state and generate economic opportunity for all Vermonters.”
Vermont Professionals of Color Network has worked with other statewide organizations to help Black, Indigenous and people of color who own businesses to write grant proposals, apply for forgivable loans, and learn about budgeting and management.
It led Covid-19 vaccination efforts for BIPOC community members in Chittenden County, and it compiles a directory of BIPOC-owned businesses in Vermont.
The Vermont Professionals of Color Network has also been organizing networking events and job fairs, and Wang said she would like to start scheduling these events by region and business sector.