The CCA is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization that works with community members and other organizations to enhance the quality of community life for those residing, visiting or doing business in Cabot.  Community economic development is an obvious strategy to implement the CCA mission and here is a timeline of how CCA participation in and leadership of these efforts has evolved.

In June of 2010, economic development was on the minds of community leaders when a community-wide survey, conducted by the Cabot Planning Commission, revealed that residents identified “a healthy economy” as the number one factor in maintaining a high quality of life in Cabot. 

In early 2011, the Cabot Coalition facilitated meetings of community organizations to explore ways to collaborate and share information.  These meetings generated interest in creating a  community and economic development plan and a committee to implement initiatives to create a more vibrant, healthy and sustainable community and local economy.  Projects completed by this group, called Cabot Worx, included a business locator map for tourists visiting the Creamery visitor center and submitting grant applications for community development projects.

Economic Development is included in multiple goals of a comprehensive update of the Cabot Town Plan adopted in June 2012.

In September of 2012, the CCA facilitated the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) Community Visit in Cabot.  Many priorities were identified, but the top three were to:

• Develop a Cabot Agricultural Network
• Develop a Community Arts Center
• Improve Community Communications

An additional priority that received attention was economic growth within the community.  Economic development was not listed as a priority in the Community Visit Report and Action Plan because it was already included in the 2012 Cabot Town Plan, adopted just a few months before the Community Visit.

The three priorities in the VCRD report are essential economic development tools and continue to be actively addressed through programs of the CCA – the Greater Cabot Working Landscape Network, Cabot Arts, and The Cabot Chronicle.

In 2014, the Town of Cabot applied for and received Village center designation, which supports the revitalization efforts of small and medium-sized historic centers. This designation makes it possible for smaller communities to access financial incentives, training and technical assistance needed to attract new business and enhance village vitality.

In 2016, after months of work and countless public discussions, a comprehensive update to the 1997 zoning bylaws was put before the citizens for consideration and was subsequently rejected by voters.  The zoning update contained specific provisions that were intended to help address economic development and provide a mechanism for revitalization in the designated village center.

Additionally in 2016, a partnership between the CCA and Town of Cabot began in 2016 with the submission of an application to the VT Agency of Commerce and Community Development for a Municipal Planning Grant.  Cabot was awarded the grant and work began in 2017 to evaluate the constraints and opportunities for Cabot’s Designated Village Center, to create a plan to revitalize the village and solidify its place as the economic and civic hub of the community. The Cabot Village Revitalization Plan was completed in May 2018. 

The CCA created the Economic Development Work Group (EDWG) in 2016 to prepare the grant application and facilitate the work funded by the grant. The EDWG included representatives from Town government including the Select Board, Conservation Commission, Planning Commission as well as village business owners and Cabot residents with a desire to support a new economy in Cabot that can compete with the pressures from online and box store retailers.  

The EDWG is guided by the Tasks for Strategic Success outlined in the Cabot Village Revitalization Plan released in 2018.  The EDWG was also tasked with developing a plan for the brown building at 3065 Main Street, which the CCA purchased in 2018 as this site is a contributing structure to future economic development in the village.  In 2019, the EDWG commissioned an historical architectural review of the property to survey its existing conditions, history and possible improvements and use for the future.  The EDWG also secured a grant to hire a consultant to assist the group with studying viable options for the site, the costs involved and identifying funding to assist with the selected project/s.  The CCA sold the building in 2021 to a private investor interested in Cabot’s village revitalization.

The EDWG continues to implement some of the strategies identified in the Village Revitalization Plan (local Broadband connections and internet accessibility, recreational trails, and consolidation and/or strengthening festivals and arts events) and in 2022 is focused on workforce housing and childcare. 

In 2019, the CCA further invested time and resources in initiating a new Municipal Planning Grant application that identified trails as a new and successful economic development tool to promote local recreation and connect the village with assets the State of VT is investing in – Molly’s Falls Pond State Park on Route 2 and the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.  

The CCA believes that as a community we need to establish a holistic approach to economic development (not just focused on tourism) that involves all key partners to identify strategies that will serve residents and visitors alike.  If you are interested in learning more or getting involved with the CC or the Economic Development Work Group please email [email protected] or call 802-279-4309.

2019    Building Assessment of 3065 Main Street by Vermont Integrated Architecture with support from the Preservation Trust of Vermont recommending demo and replacement of the structure

            Zoning Improvements to Village District approved

            Municipal Planning Grant  for Recreation Trails awarded to map and expand recreational trails

2018    Village Revitalization Plan complete, priorities include

· Support the community work to improve opportunities for trails-based recreation

· Improve coordination of arts programs/community events

· Address key buildings in village center

2016    Municipal Planning Grant for Village Revitalization Plan awarded and CCA establishes its Economic Development Work Group 

2014    Cabot received Village center designation 

2012    Vermont Council on Rural Development Community Visit & Report, led by the CCA in partnership with the Town of Cabot.  Priorities identified include:

· Develop a Cabot agricultural network

· Develop a community arts center

· Improve community communications

2011    Cabot Worx—convened as part of the now defunct Cabot Coalition-  to address the concerns of local business owners and the local economy.  Cabot Worx disbanded in early 2012 and the CCA emerged as a community development organization.

2010    Cabot Community Planning Survey conducted by the Cabot Planning Commission

A Somewhat Short History of Cabot’s CCIF (UDAG) Fund History

By Peg Elmer Hough

If the  request were made at town meeting, “How many of you have been involved in managing the Cabot Community Investment Fund (CCIF) over the years?” a LOT of hands would go up! For thirty years, so many volunteers (including me in the mid 1990’s) have served to manage the fund and distribute the scholarships.

Earlier this year, the CCA Economic Development Workgroup asked the VT Department of Housing & Community Development for grant funding to demolish the brown building at 3065 Main Street. The state responded that “the Town of Cabot won’t be competitive until it accounts for what happened to the $2 million” awarded as an Urban Action Development Grant (UDAG). This was not the first time the town was confronted with this question, so  I decided it was time to pull together an answer.

I had been told by numerous people that there was no clear record of the fund on file. RD Eno served on the then UDAG committee for a long time and did have some old files, including the original history of the fund, that he allowed me to borrow and review. I read all of those documents, old Town Reports, and researched on the web, which resulted in the following story of the CCIF fund, formerly known as UDAG.  

The Town of Cabot, VT, was formally awarded a federal Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) via an agreement executed October 1, 1986. The $2 million grant to the town was loaned to Cabot Farmers’ Cooperative to construct the cheese aging warehouse, cutting plant and waste disposal facilities, and make other improvements on the company’s Cabot property. The town received, and loaned the funds back to the Cooperative in 1991.

The federal UDAG program was initiated during the Carter administration in 1977, to lure private investment development to distressed and declining cities – a novel incentive for public/private partnerships. Eligibility criteria emphasized deteriorating urban conditions. Viewed as a pork barrel failure by some and a huge success by others, Congress stopped funding the program in 1988. A table on the US HUD website lists approximately 3,000 grantees, with more than 50% noting “no information available” and a considerable number indicating that the recipient corporation failed at some point later.   Even though the program was not targeted to a small, rural town, Cabot proved a success story. 

Agri-Mark, a larger New England dairy cooperative, and the Cabot product family purchased the Cabot Farmer’s Cooperative and has expanded since 1986 into a national, award-winning brand. The town used the funds to build a wastewater treatment plant, a senior living community, a town garage, accessibility and other upgrades to the Willey Building, improvements to the Cabot School and other public buildings in the village, along with starting the Cabot Community Association that has spun off innumerable volunteer organizations to support Cabot School, cultural activities, working lands, village center re-vitalization, a community newspaper and more.

The initial agreement listed construction requirements for the Creamery, including paying the loan back to the town, which was done by 1996. The Town was to spend those funds for activities “eligible under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, in accordance with the grant agreement and in accordance with the provisions of 24 CFR Part 570”. At the time, 24 CFR 570 was aimed at a mix of economic development, education & training and housing activities. In the 30+ years since, that section of the Federal Register has gravitated to address solely housing and no longer applies. 

However, the closeout agreement between the federal government, the Town, and the Creamery, executed in April 1992, noted that, once the agreed-on activities were completed, the funds would be considered “miscellaneous revenues” and could be spent on any activities “eligible under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974” and “not governed by 24CFR 570”.

After a voter petition and town meeting action, Cabot created a committee to oversee use of the funds and develop a plan to guide the fund’s distribution and procedures. This provided several benefits, including a secondary level of accountability, and expanded volunteer capacity in a small town with little staff. Also, the plan has been a carefully thought-out guide, approved by the voters, on distribution of the funds. In the beginning, Central VT Economic Development Corporation (CVEDC) supported the town in developing loan review and approval procedures. Over time, the town has used Northern Community Investment Corporation (NCIC), Union Bank and others for that service. Most local Vermont banks and credit unions have fielded questions from the Cabot UDAG Committee over time. 

Initially the plan described four funding areas: commercial loans to existing Cabot businesses and residents, loans for public works, educational loans for residents who planned to work in Cabot and development of an “incubator building” in South Cabot. The plan evolved regularly, to allow for more flexibility and broader access to support community development. The first three funding areas remained for 30+ years, the incubator building idea disappeared early.

The closeout agreement, executed April 1992, included a specific condition that Cabot “use, and not accumulate the revenue…in a timely fashion”. The town was also supposed to provide an annual accounting on use of the money to the regional U.S. Housing & Urban Development (HUD) office in Concord, New Hampshire, and hasn’t. Oops.

When the Cabot voters approved the first UDAG Plan in 1991, it included a goal (among others) to “preserve the fund in perpetuity to serve the greatest number of people in the community”. The Town maintained an active conversation with Richard Hattin, at the regional U.S. Housing & Urban Development (HUD) office in Concord, New Hampshire in the early years and sent him Plan drafts. It appears both the Town and the regional office were not reading each other’s documents. At least two members of the UDAG Committee in 1997 remember a letter from Richard Hattin that stated that the town “asked too many questions” that he “couldn’t really answer”. Cabot felt it was on its own.

The “in perpetuity” goal remained in the Plan, and became embedded in the political leadership of the Town, until 2004 when it was revised to “manage and use the Fund to be able to continue to meet the long-term needs of the community”. The Committee’s repeated requests to the Selectboard to hire a part-time administrator finally happened in 2001 for a brief time, but the UDAG Committee has been supported only by volunteers for a long time. 

In 2013, the name of the UDAG Committee was changed to the Cabot Community Investment Fund. 

Summary of UDAG distribution, 1992-2020, from the information in Town Reports: 

Grants for Public Facilities and Community Life: ~$1.92 million

Loans for Public Buildings: $1.64 million

Commercial Loans: listed in only a few Town Reports, but at least $270,000

Educational Grants: ~$175,000 to more than 100 recipients

The small town that received a massive $2 million grant, that it was told to spend, has managed the Fund carefully for more than 30 years and spent close to $4 million on important community infrastructure. Wow, excellent job, Cabot!