Shelburne Welcomes Food Businesses, Commits to Facilitating Growth

Shelburne Green South Project is now Vermont Artisan Village

The team behind Shelburne Green South is gaining momentum, and their goal of creating a gateway to Vermont’s rich agricultural and forestry offerings may soon become a reality.  Following a successful kick-off in October, they have a new name.  The project will now be known as Vermont Artisan Village. 

For the last three years, J. Graham Goldsmith Architects has worked with Macy Mullican to transform the existing green facility and surrounding 20 acres anchored by Eating Well Magazine into a “culinary corridor.”  The site is just north of Vermont Teddy Bear on Route 7, near some of the most visited attractions in the state, including Shelburne Farms and Shelburne Museum.   

In July of 2013, The Town of Shelburne was awarded a USDA grant to provide marketing and technical assistance to tenants.  Town Manager, Paul Bohne administers the grant, and hired Mullican, Steve Justis and Elizabeth Cullen to manage sales, marketing and technical assistance for the project. Mr. Justis, a private consultant, worked with the Agency of Agriculture for over 30 years, and Ms. Cullen manages Root Consulting. 

So far, several non-food businesses such as Eating Well, Cricket Radio Linen, Nova Naturals, PT360, Sunward Solar and Yoga Roots have established themselves in the original Shelburne Green facility, with around 175 employees working on site. 

A key feature of the new development is that it isn’t built yet – the group plans to customize the combined production and retail space to the needs of each tenant to create a pedestrian-friendly modern farmhouse village.  The prospect list for the village includes culinary tourism businesses, meat and cheese producers, distilleries, bakeries, fishmongers and coffee roasters.  The Vermont Artisan Village team will facilitate partnership opportunities among the tenants to maximize efficiency and minimize the costs of doing business. 

Tenants may dedicate a portion of their space to retail sales, adding to the appeal of the site.  The development team envisions a gradual increase in foot traffic as the complex establishes itself as a resource for locals and tourists alike.  There is also space for a garden, community kitchen and events.     

For more information or to arrange a preliminary meeting, please contact Elizabeth Cullen at ehc@rootconsultingvt.com or 802-419-0826.  To follow us on Facebook, please visit this link.