Kingdom planner wages war on poverty, using wood

from The Times Argus

By Carla Occaso Staff Writer

ST. JOHNSBURY — The Northeast Kingdom's vast forests are home to wildlife and a scenic backdrop for recreation. For Jim Davis, an economic development planner in St. Johnsbury, they may also be the key to ending poverty in the region.

Davis, a 48-old Derby native, wants to use those forests to create work and in the process to create homes. His mantra is simple: "We have a need for housing," Davis said. "We need jobs. We have wood."

Working with Northeastern Vermont Development Association and the Agency of Human Services for the past few years, Davis came up with a conceptual plan called "The Homestead Project." His idea is to make inexpensive homes using wood panels made of pulp and cheap wood, partly using prison labor. Housing units could sell in the $75,000 to 80,000 price range — land not included.

The building panels would be made of three layers including a structurally bonded wood flake exterior, insulation in the middle and plywood or finish interior, and they could come in varying sizes. "You basically make a sandwich," Davis explained.

Although still in the conceptual stages, Davis said structures would use environmentally friendly, energy-efficient building practices.

Money has started rolling in for the plan. Davis has received three grants totaling $76,000: The Northern Forest Association gave $15,000 for a feasibility study, USDA Rural Development gave $41,000 through the Rural Business Opportunity Grant and the state of Vermont federally funded HOME program gave $20,000, Davis said.

The Ford Foundation is also a possible funding source if the project became a national model.

Startup costs, factory size and other factors would be determined by the host community needs. "It (a factory) can be placed in almost any community in the state of Vermont," Davis said. And since the Northeast Kingdom has ready transportation access to Interstates 91, 93 and 89 as well as a working rail system, the homes could be shipped throughout New England, or even beyond.

Housing units could also be shipped to areas that are experiencing a housing disaster, such as was the case after Hurricane Katrina, Davis said.

NVDA, a nonprofit regional development agency that assists towns with planning and development, is sending out a request for proposals to 14 consultants later this month to study how best to structure a startup affordable home manufacturing facility.

The idea has won kudos from the Agency of Human Services. "It is a poverty eradication program when it comes right down to it," said Gregory MacDonald, regional field director for the

Agency. "It is pretty large in scope."

MacDonald said the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport already has a vacant building that could be used for a factory. It was built a couple of years ago with Vermont Correctional Industries with the idea of training inmates to have manufacturing skills, but has not yet started operations. The project could provide training and, later, jobs for inmates getting out of jail, and it could also help provide housing, MacDonald said.

"This is all just a dream right now," MacDonald said. "It is a great idea. It pulls in all sorts of people and resources."

"It is a pretty cool way to use low-quality wood to put into a wood base product that puts people back to work so if Ethan Allen does leave, we could maybe replace workers and not have an economic crisis," Davis said, referring to furniture maker Ethan Allen Global, Inc., the area's largest employer.

Davis, who has a background in fund-raising, building and running a hockey rink in Santa Barbara, Calif. and is also a founder of an indoor multi-sport recreational facility in Derby, said he was inspired to look for an economic safety net when Ethan Allen's Island Pond furniture plant closed in 2002 leaving hundreds of workers without jobs. The company started in Beecher Falls, Vermont, over 100 years ago and still provides roughly 1,200 jobs in the Northeast Kingdom, with plants in Orleans and Beecher Falls.

"We're going to attack poverty by putting people to work and teaching them to create wealth," Davis said. "That's what people need. That's what people want. Everybody wins."