VEC’s History

The Vermont Environmental Consortium began with Governor Howard Dean

In 1999, Governor Dean led a trade mission to Taiwan, which included several Vermont environmental companies. During this mission, the Chinese Petroleum Company proposed a major joint venture to allow Vermont firms to pursue pollution remediation contracts throughout East Asia. Upon returning to Vermont, Governor Dean proposed that the Vermont Agency of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Vermont World Trade Office work with environmental firms to explore this opportunity. The genesis and concept of a Vermont Environmental Consortium (VEC) was born when it was clear that the proposal was beyond the capacity and resources of any single Vermont environmental company.

With a grant from the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund, VEC was established as a Vermont non-profit in June 2001 and Norwich University served as an administration support mechanism for VEC.

VEC hired a full-time executive director in 2004 with funding from the Vermont Department of Public Service, Vermont Technology Council, and Vermont Chamber of Commerce. From 2004 until 2008, VEC launched a series of workshops, conferences, and educational videos funded by these and other public and private sources. In 2008, as the economy limited funding for VEC, it reverted once more to an organization run by a volunteer board of directors. Today, VEC continues to maintain a volunteer board to run the organization.