Vt. Foodbank to move into Book Press

October 31, 2008

BRATTLEBORO -- Starting Saturday, the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation's Book Press will have a new tenant.

On Thursday, BDCC signed a lease agreement with the Vermont Foodbank for 21,000 square feet of warehouse space to store comestibles for distribution in Windham, Windsor and Bennington counties.

"They approached us six or seven months ago looking for space to build a distribution center in southern Vermont," said Jeff Lewis, BDCC's executive director. "We showed them our own space in the Book Press and four of five other spaces we thought were appropriate but not owned by us."

The Foodbank settled on the Book Press because of its proximity to the interstate, its ceiling height and the amount of space available, he said.

"Plus we were able to work with them using our architect and engineer to get them through the early design stages."

The new location will reduce transportation costs for the Foodbank, said Judy Stermer, the Foodbank's director of communication and public affairs, and will make it easier for food shelves, meal sites, senior centers and afterschool programs to provide services to their clients.

The leased space will be used for food storage, sorting and delivery.

"A lot of the agencies we serve have limited space and are unable to take once a month the quantities they need to serve their communities," said Stermer. "Having a facility in Brattleboro means the agencies can pick up food more frequently."

Having the new facility in Brattleboro will mean the Drop In Center won't need to store as much food on site, said Melinda Bussino, executive director of the local food shelf.

"Our hope is it makes food more accessible for less money," she said.

Donated food being shipped into Vermont from the south had to first go to Barre and then back to Brattleboro, said Stermer, because of the lack of storage space in southern Vermont. Now the food can go directly to the new warehouse.

That's especially important because in the past year, the Foodbank has seen its transportation costs increase by 27 percent, said Stermer.

The new space will also serve as a pick-up point for Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which supplies 35 pounds of food a month to seniors and women and children recently off the Women, Infants and Children program.

It's the Foodbank's hope that the Book Press will become a stop for local community bus services, making it easier for people enrolled in the CSFP to pick up their monthly allotments, said Stermer.

The Vermont Foodbank is the state's largest hunger-relief organization, serving communities in all 14 counties of Vermont through a network of 270 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior centers and after-school programs.

Last year, the Vermont Foodbank distributed nearly 6.5 million pounds of food to more than 66,000 Vermonters in need of food assistance. Vermont is seeing an increase of 25 to 30 percent over this time last year in the numbers of people seeking food assistance, said Stermer.

"Folks that were making it a year ago, working families, are not able to make ends meet. Wages are not keeping pace with the cost of living."

Lewis said the BDCC's plans for the Book Press space was for use as manufacturing space "At the end of the day the employment and services provided by the Foodbank are needed in the community," he said.

Over the next year, the space will be retrofitted with offices, freezer and cooler capacity, racking, sorting rooms, parking and access for the public. From four to six staffers will work in the new facility.

"The BDCC has been great to us," said Stermer. "They have worked to insure that the facility will be what we need."

BDCC is the regional development corporation for Windham County, Vermont. They own and operate the Cotton Mill facility and the Book Press to attract and support business. About one third of the Book Press, which is now called the Business Park, is still available for leasing, said Lewis.

Bob Audette can be reached at raudette@reformer.com, or 802-254-2311, ext. 273.

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