by Olivia Hatch, Vermont Business Magazine What is the future of Vermont? How do we attract and keep young people in the state? How do we build a more robust and dynamic economy? These questions are on the hearts of Vermonters, especially as we were one of only three states that saw a population decline in 2024. Attracting young professionals and entrepreneurs could be the key, but what is here to attract and keep them?
The answer is co-working and innovation hubs.
The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) defines coworking, maker, and entrepreneurship organizations as spaces that “offer events and programming that allow the community to connect, network, collaborate, and share knowledge.”
These are flexible and non-flexible spaces where professionals ranging from entrepreneurs and small businesses to creatives and remote workers can stumble upon their next co-founder or just clock in for the day in a productive environment, the possibilities are endless.
The Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships (Leahy Institute) at the University of Vermont (UVM) is supporting research into innovation hubs in partnership with four co-working spaces and their UVM student interns.
Alana Bauer worked with the Hub CoWorks in Rutland, Henri Zamanian at DoNorth in Lyndonville, Sam Keller at Hula in Burlington, and Olivia Hatch at Black River Innovation Campus in Springfield, allowing for a diversity of perspectives in the initial research.
Each intern contributed to their hub and the consortium in two key ways: working on a project[EM5] for each hub and conducting research for the Leahy Institute. The projects included building reciprocity and collaboration, hosting community events at Hula, developing marketing operations, improving digital spaces, and assisting in day-to-day operations.
As interns, we also worked with Professor Erik Monsen to learn more about the personal experience of co-working in rural areas as well as better understanding the value of co-working for Vermont.
The initial round of research has found that connections to both the community and individuals in the spaces drives success; the ability to create organic opportunity with passionate people is immense and allows for community development both in the spaces and beyond.
This thrives on the idea of collaboration over competition, fellow users and spaces are not competition, but resources to collaborate with.
Coworking spaces are hubs for innovation, but their value goes way beyond this into both community and economic development. Vermont’s rural nature makes you think that these spaces wouldn’t be common, but totaling at least 23 spaces across the state, there are many opportunities to get involved.
While every co-working space is different, they are all an incredible resource for a variety of professionals and their value goes way beyond work, as our research has found. So why haven’t you heard a lot about them?
Resources are limited; these spaces are often nonprofits or operate as a passion project and don’t have the time and fun ding to devote to getting the word out. This is why it is so important for more people to interact with the many offerings; from after school programs that develop the creative economy, to business accelerator programs that can provide depths of expertise and resources, to simply accessing co-working spaces more frequently.
Co-working spaces and innovation hubs are lively in this state, but they need more support from individuals and communities, as well as the local and state government. More investment into these spaces can have enormous benefits for developing the Vermont economy – not as something new, competitive and foreign, but as something community-driven, collaborative, and uniquely in tune with the Vermont spirit.
Imagine the future of Vermont as a vibrant, community-focused, ecosystem of creativity, collaboration, and entrepreneurship and at the heart you will see co-working. Find your personal hive using the map above.
Olivia Hatch is a senior at the University of Vermont majoring in Economics and Political Science with a minor in Business. Originally from Berkshire, Vermont, she interned with the Black River Innovation Campus in Springfield, VT, this summer through the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships at UVM.
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