Friday, January 26th, 9-10:30am | Register→ | Google Calendar event→
Our fifth annual NEK Day at the Statehouse event is shaping up to be our most pressing ever. Though clear of the shadow of Covid-19, the NEK has been racked by two historic floods and ever-rising housing complications. Community building and grassroot action networks have shown themselves to be powerful answers to the problems that are to come. Our future will be defined the same way that our region’s past has; by community organization and regional collaboration.
The NEK Collaborative is a convening organization that acts as a unified voice for the NEK. We listen and talk to individuals and organizations all over the Kingdom to determine what's important to you and what challenges you face. We're committed to promoting civic and civil engagement across our region by connecting NEK residents with our representatives in Montpelier whenever possible. It is at NEK Day at the Statehouse that this work, and your worries, meet together with our political representatives to make sure we are all cooperating, bottom to top, with the region’s interests in mind.
This year, we will be featuring speakers speaking to our five identified areas of priority:
Housing
Community Building and Grassroots Networks
Flood Recovery and Resilience
Infrastructure- transportation, the creative economy, and broadband
Workforce Development
Housing
According to North Country Hospital’s Community Health 2021 Needs Assessment, affordable housing and living-wage employment were the Northeast Kingdom’s two most region-defining needs. This has been the case for some time- and is not a new issue for the old residents of the NEK. As with any issue so complex, answers to housing prices, housing affordability, rental rates and houselessness appear and change throughout the years.
Come to NEK Day 2024 ready to share how you or your community have been personally affected by housing or housing related programs in the last few years; as well as ready to hear what regional experts and officials have to say about the issues as a whole.
Community Building & Grassroots Networks
The communities of the Northeast Kingdom can’t be treated just the same as any other. With the most rural and most aged population of Vermont, citizens of the Northeast Kingdom need to look further abroad than their own shoes when making sustainable decisions. In the face of floods and community fragmentation, newly-begun organizations such as Hardwick’s Civic Standard or the NEK Collaborative’s partner NEK Organizing have shown remarkable plasticity and fortitude of response to social tension and climate crises. Volunteers offering manual labor to help regional neighbors recover from flood devastation, as well as assistance in navigating difficult FEMA paperwork, steered the Northeast Kingdom towards a speedy and mediated recovery. The community mobility that NEKO exemplified in 2023 could only be possible where regionally-minded communal sentiment was made to thrive; and the community dinners, dance nights, poetry clubs and fundraisers headed by the likes of the Civic Standard should inspire us to pursue more programs such as those here seen. They have proven themselves to be the shaping forces of our region.
Flood Recovery & Resilience
How can we better prepare for climatological disasters down the road, knowing they are likely to worsen in the coming years? The floods that struck in July, August and December of 2023 are but a sign of things to come. Using federal cash, Vermont has made big investments in new culverts and bridges, flood-proofing buildings, filling in basements, and property buyouts to restore floodplains. It is only through proper communication and collaboration with communities and locals that regional decision makers may be well-guided in future-proofing the Kingdom. Infrastructure and community response readiness must be watched closely and bolstered if our region is to thrive in the coming future. Join us in helping to establish a mutual understanding between the region’s communities and their representatives.
Infrastructure - Transportation, Creative economy and Broadband
With the Northeast Kingdom receiving international recognition for its cuisine and natural beauty in 2023 (see Jasper Hill Farm’s #1 award→ for Best American Cheese at the 2023 World Cheese Championships, or Kingdom Trails’ #2 award→ for the world’s best mountain biking trails), tourism and creative economies are under a new sort of spotlight. Regional transportation, creative marketing and broadband accessibility will all prove definitive of the Northeast Kingdom’s economy in the years to come. Come talk about what’s being done, and what yet needs to be done!
Workforce Development
Workforce development remains a definitive problem in the NEK; making sure that everyone who should work, can work, and can live happily on the wages their work provides. Trained and certified quality labor, accessibility to adult education, and affordable housing remain key components of ensuring that our NEK towns and businesses can stay NEK.
NEK Day at the Statehouse
Date
Virtual Event: Register→ for Zoom link.
This is your chance to connect with legislators and fellow NEKers. Celebrate the region, share priorities, and learn what’s been happening at the state level.
Want to know what to expect? Visit our NEK Day 2022 Recap→ for a taste of what past years have had to offer.
