July 5, 2019 Membership Communication
It seems that the wait for Summer is over and the heat and humidity are in full swing here in Vermont at long last. July 1st was the start of the 2020 Fiscal Year for our Chapter and we're happy to announce details below on our newest board member Nathaniel "Natty" Jamison-Root and our new executive director, Jack Northrup.
We'll be working through the Summer on programs and tours for this Fall. Please pencil in the second Wednesday of the month for regular programming. And if you're interested in getting involved immediately, we'll be meeting at 5:15 at the Vermont Pub & Brewery on College Street in Burlington this coming Wednesday, July 10th.
July 1st welcomed in our new board of directors, which consist of
President Eric Lussier - Precision Athletic Surfaces - 802-922-8407 - ericdlussier at gmail.com
Secretary Brian Leet - Freeman French Freeman - bleet at fffinc.com
Treasurer Rebecca Campbell - Senior Specification Writer - rcampbell at kalinassociates.com
Director Cam Featherstonhaugh, IV - TruexCullins - cam at TruexCullins.com
Director Nathaniel "Natty" Jamison-Root - Peterson Consulting Inc. - nathaniel at pcivt.com
I look forward to bringing you more news on our Chapter, events and programs and members soon.
My Best,
Eric Lussier
CSI Vermont Chapter President
ACX Summary
ACX19, an annual joint venture with the Vermont Chapter of the AIA, was held on May 21 at the Burlington Hilton.
106 individuals participated, including 40 attendees, 11 community members, 20 speakers and volunteers and 35 sponsors and exhibitors. Professional attendees earned 5.5 CEUs if they participated in the full day.
This is the sixth year of collaboration in putting on the event. From 2016-2019 the number of attendees has been between 40 and 65 annually with total individuals, counting all volunteers, speakers and exhibitor sponsors of 104 in 2016 to 146 in 2017. Over six years the event has netted a total of about $42,850 for each organization.
Feedback was positive on the following aspects of the event:
- Location, and presence of all exhibitors, attendees and sessions within the same room
- Engaging keynote and interesting panel
- Highly rewarding charrette for both community participants and professional attendees
- Opportunity for sponsors and exhibitors to participate with professional attendees on a joint activity (charrette)
- Delicious lunch
- Press coverage, including a write-up in the Albans Messenger and interest from Vermont Public Radio and Seven Days
- Volunteers highly engaged, reported high satisfaction with time spent to make the event happen.
The following concerns or opportunities were raised:
- Some panel members received as less interesting. Climate/energy aspects perceived as preaching to the choir
- Exhibitors want more participation in visiting booths from architects, suggest event-wide rewards raffle or similar
- Some exhibitors/sponsors would like a printed directory of their presence provided to attendees
- Request from certain sponsors was to also bring in and collaborate with related professions, particularly interior design
- Charrette was perceived by some to lack the value more traditional educational sessions would provide. This opinion appears to be stronger among those who did not participate in the charrette
- Cocktail hour perceived as expensive and was poorly attended, seems to hold little to no value for members or exhibitors.
The Board would like to thank all those attending. We look forward to preparing and presenting next year’s event. Special thanks to Vermont AIA and Sarah O’Donnell!
Welcome Aboard Nathaniel “Natty” Jamison-Root, Our Newest Board Member
We welcome our new board member Nathaniel "Natty” Jamison-Root. Natty grew up in Burlington, VT, and developed an interest in the construction industry from a young age. He spent several summers during high school and college working as a construction laborer, and after college had an internship at a large development company in Dallas, Texas. After completing the internship, Natty spent time traveling before beginning a year of service at a non-profit housing trust in Burlington. Expanding on this experience, he spent two years working in fundraising for a non-profit in Chicago. Now returned to Burlington, Natty is excited to return to the construction industry, and has joined Peterson Consulting, Inc. as project coordinator. In this position, Natty gets to participate in every stage of the construction process, from project conception to final closeout. Having completed the CDT course through CSI Vermont, Natty was invited to join the board, and is honored to be involved with the organization. Natty recently took and passed the CDT certification.
Welcome Aboard Jack Northrup, Our New Executive Director
We also welcome our part-time new Executive Director, Jack Northrup. Jack is President of New England Market Research, Inc. of Middlebury, a company that works with nonprofits, foundations, government agencies and private companies conducting primary research and statistical analyses. Clients include the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the Aspen Institute, NeighborWorks America, the Association for Energy Affordability, the cities of New Orleans, Oakland, New York, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Providence, RI. He has co-authored several publications including case studies for the FB Heron Foundation, community development strategies for the Responsible Endowment Coalition and philanthropy for AltruShare Securities. Additionally, he designed the curriculum for the first CDFI Online Training and is a primary author of an Industry Analysis 2005-2010 for the CDFI Fund. He has taught at the University of Vermont and at the Graduate School of Business at Southern New Hampshire University.
Jack was Director of Research for Integrated Media Measurement Inc., of San Mateo, CA, President of the New Hampshire Consumer Utilities Cooperative, Vice President of the Institute for Cooperative Community Development, a nonprofit research firm, a city planner for Bloomington, Indiana and a vice president for several nonprofit housing development corporations and loan funds. He holds a BS and MS from New Hampshire College and a MBA from Dartmouth College.
We are excited to work with Jack and look forward to what his years of experience bring to our membership.