This Op-Ed was authored by Rebecca Towne, CEO of Vermont Electric Cooperative and Chair of the Vermont Business Roundtable’s Board of Directors
My grandfather Harold Putnam was a farmer in Cambridge and proud to be part of bringing electricity to rural Vermont. I recently came across a 1939 speech from his effects, written in beautiful cursive describing their multi-year process and the people who worked so hard to make it happen. It begins with the following story:
Mrs. M. Maynard asked Ernest Hubbard as he stopped to pick up the milk, “when are we ever going to have electric lights up here?”
“Well,” Ernest replies, “The county agent says we can have them any time we want them if we work together and go after them… when willing to put effort enough into it and pull together.”
In an age of quick headlines and 30-second videos, it’s easy to forget that lasting systems take years, sometimes decades, to build. They require deep learning, clear long-term intention, collaboration, and constant adjustment. Those farmers could never have envisioned the ways we use electricity today, but they knew that their farms and communities depended on investing wisely in the future.
As Vermont navigates its most pressing challenges, the county agent’s advice still resonates: if we work together on a common goal with our eyes on the horizon, we can achieve it.
At the Vermont Business Roundtable and at Vermont Electric Co-op, we take that long view. Building systems that serve the next generation is what we do.
Vermont has an aging population and not enough workers, a challenge that has been decades in the making and is unevenly distributed across the state. This is driving costs and exposing broader system inadequacies because our healthcare, housing, and education systems were built in different times and for different needs.
Short-term fixes are necessary political responses to immediate crises – but will not deliver the future we need. That requires structural change. Yes, change brings uncertainty but staying the course brings something far worse: predictable decline.
Just like bringing electricity to rural Vermont, it’s worth it to do the hard work:
First, understand the connection. Our shrinking tax base and rising demands give us two options. We can manage the decline by squeezing the same shrinking pool of income-earners. Or we can grow by strengthening our communities and expanding the tax base that supports them. The idea is straightforward. A larger working population fills classrooms, staffs hospitals, supports local businesses, and stabilizes public funds.
Second, back bold ideas that foster true change. Permitting reforms that allow more housing in village centers. School governance changes that let districts share resources instead of duplicating them. Healthcare investments that bring primary care to rural communities. Improving access and support for technical education tied to local workforce needs. These ideas exist. They will take time to deliver results and they carry risk. But waiting for a perfect plan leaves us exactly where we are. Let your elected leaders know you’re ready for change.
Third, make it local; don’t simply wait for Montpelier’s fixes. Every community can choose to shape its future by encouraging thoughtful development, welcoming new residents, and adapting or leaving behind systems that once worked but don’t anymore. Honoring the past and building something new are not in conflict.
And don’t ignore the change already happening. Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are real opportunities for rural healthcare, education and economic growth. These tools extend what our existing professionals and institutions already do, bringing resources closer to the communities that need them most. The opportunity is real, if we’re willing to reach for it.
Vermont’s small size is one of our greatest advantages. It’s easier for communities, businesses and policymakers to work together. We can be nimble and innovative, adjusting as we learn to keep moving forward. And alongside our healthy skepticism we can work to find a “yes.”
It can start with a local decision: a review board that approves a housing project, a school board that tries something new, a community that welcomes growth. The future isn’t waiting on a statewide plan. It’s waiting on us.
My grandparents’ generation didn’t wait for someone else to string the wire. When that 50-mile electric line began delivering electricity my grandfather noted, “This cooperative electric light line, that has for a long time been a dream line, today becomes a wonderful reality.”
Our problems are different now, but the formula to achieve them is still the same: pull together, take the long view, and go after the dream. Vermonters have done this before and we can do it again.
