Around the Chamber - April 2023

Behind the Scenes with Chris Blanchard

Each month, "Behind the Scenes" features an interview with a leader in our community designed to provide readers a glimpse into his/her interests and passions inside and outside of the workplace

This month, "Behind the Scenes" sat down with Chris Blanchard of Bristol Electronics

Where did you grow up?

I consider South Starksboro and Bristol to be my “hometowns”. Although I lived in New Hampshire for 10 years and 29 days, I have always been a “Vermonter” in my heart. My grandmother used to say, “You can take the girl out of Vermont but you can’t take the Vermont out of the girl”.

First ever job?

My father opened Bristol Electronics in 1972. Once I moved from the sixth grade at Lincoln Elementary School to Mt. Abe, I remember walking to the “shop” most afternoons after school. I enjoyed seeing my grandfather helping Dad keep up with the television repairs a day or two a week and going out with Dad in the service truck to “keep him company”. I don’t remember when it transferred from “hanging out” to “working”. I guess it’s never felt like “working”. Most of the time it still doesn’t.

Where did you go to school?

Chris Blanchard

I attended Mount Abraham Union High School. My children attended Mt. Abe and many of my grandchildren will do the same. I take great pride in that school. It brought me through seven years and then gave me the opportunity to be an integral part of my children’s extra-curricular activities year later.

I hold dear in my heart my connections to this community and the people I have connected with through Mt. Abe. I met my very first sweetheart when I entered the seventh grade there. We dated in sophomore year then went on to live full lives apart from each other for 34 years after graduation, both having had children and some grandchildren during that time. We reconnected in early 2020 and have now married. Between the two of us, we currently have eight children and fifteen grandchildren.

Who was your greatest inspiration growing up?

My parents and grandparents were inspirations on so many levels. My parents, including step-parents, taught me that leading an active life, taking care of all whom you love, volunteering in the community you call home and living life to its absolute fullest was the only way. I’m so glad they did! My father, David Cobb & grandfather, William (Bill) Cobb were role models in how to run a business and treat their employees and customers as if they were their neighbors. They never came out and said that. They just did it that way. My step-mother, Elissa Cobb taught me a love of horses and that the hard work of keeping them is well worth it. This love of and connection to animals and the value of hard work transfers into so many parts of my life and living.

Behind the Scenes with Chris Blanchard

Typical work week?

What do the words “typical” and “work” mean? I think these words gets set aside when you enjoy what you do in every part of your life. My “work week” can be 5 days long and it can be non-stop for a month or more. My work days are similar in that they can be just over 8 hours at my desk and can run more like 12-14 hours. I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of finding the right options to offer folks when they ask about solar and heat pumps for their homes and small businesses. Working through all of the calculations is fun. I also thoroughly enjoy sitting down with people in their homes to provide the education that I would want to have if I owned their property and had their goals. Brainstorming together to find the right fit is incredibly rewarding.

My husband says that my “non-work” days are just as busy, if not more so. I think he heaves a sigh of relief when Monday morning comes around. We keep busy when I take a day away from the business. I love gathering, splitting and stacking the needed fire wood for the sugar house and family members, working alongside family and friends, pitching hay with my best friend and helping her with her horses in whatever way is possible, spending time in the Adirondacks with my daughter at her resort, spending time doing whatever I can with our grandchildren, fishing in our small boat and in our kayaks, taking runs on old work roads through our insanely beautiful woods with our pup Timber and just about anything else that gets me outside and moving. There is no sitting still for me.

Biggest career challenge?

Technology changes constantly. Bristol Electronics began selling, installing and repairing small electronics, televisions and rooftop antennas 51 years ago. It morphed easily into those 12’ satellite dishes that we all remember in the 80s. I remember helping Dad build them on the garage floor. Thankfully satellite dishes became smaller and less obtrusive. When an employee came to us and stated that he had been researching solar and that we should consider it, we all jumped at the opportunity to learn about a “new” technology (to us) in 2009.

I see large and small technology changes often and on the horizon in both solar and heat pumps. This winter I attended a seminar about the changes in the refrigeration that will be allowed in heat pumps soon. The manufacturers are all scrambling to change their processes to utilize different refrigerants. Three weeks ago we changed the solar module manufacturer that we will use going forward because of the benefits their modules provided over the previous manufacturer. This is how we grow. This is how we become better stewards of our home. These are the kinds of changes that excite me, motivate me and keep me learning.

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Member Milestone

Celebrating 25 Years!

Founded in 1998, Otter Creek Engineering (OCE) started with four employees and focused primarily on water and wastewater design and permitting. From those humble beginnings with a 2nd floor office on Court Street in Middlebury, OCE has expanded across the state and into New Hampshire, with offices in Rutland, East Middlebury, and West Lebanon, New Hampshire. OCE now has a staff of 20, with four licensed professional engineers, a hydrogeologist, a natural resources ecologist, and a robust support staff, including junior engineers, surveyors, technicians, and communication, GIS, and permit specialists. OCE’s services have similarly expanded and now include water, wastewater, stormwater, roadway/transportation, site design, survey, and asset management.

2007 Otter Creek Engineering Staff

We’ve been fortunate to grow over the years, and as the civil engineering needs of Vermonters change, we are always looking for ways to provide the most environmentally sound and efficient service possible. We appreciate those we’ve worked with over the years and look forward to more in the years to come!”

Initially, Jason explained the work OCE had done over the years was simply standard civil engineering fare: designing water and sewer lines, half-million-gallon water tanks, stormwater practices for commercial sites, drinking water treatment systems.

Jason Larocque, OCE President and one of the four founding members of the company, was both excited to mark the occasion and thankful for the support of the community: “We value where we live, and the work we do helps ensure our neighbors have infrastructure that will allow them to lead happy and healthy lives.

When pressed, he admitted that OCE had engineered some truly unique and innovative practices throughout Vermont—from the slow sand filtration system for the City of Rutland’s drinking water supply to high-tech wastewater pump stations in Middlebury and PFOA treatment systems across Vermont.

When it comes to OCE’s continued success, the approach can be summarized into the following key components:

2002 Otter Creek Engineering Staff

Member Milestone

Celebrating 25 Years!

Collaborative Relationships – OCE takes pride in working with clients to help assess their needs and develop solutions that meet their requirements from a technical, financial, and operational perspective. No one knows a community, its needs and challenges, better than its own community members. OCE hits the ground running by compiling this information to help develop solutions that will best work for the project at hand.

Funding, Regulations, and the Small Community –Vermont is full of small communities, which come in different sizes and organizational structures. Village centers, rural towns, fire districts, and mobile home communities all face the same challenge of providing water and wastewater services at an affordable user cost. Small communities are regulated in the same manner as the large municipalities and must follow the same rules. Often these communities do not have the customer base to support such improvement projects affordably without additional funding support. OCE’s experience, relationships with local regulators, understanding of the rules, and familiarity with a variety of funding sources will be an asset on any project.

Capacity and Professional Partnerships – With those twenty-five years in operation, OCE has learned efficiencies and developed long-standing professional partnerships with specialized consultants. These relationships have allowed OCE to provide comprehensive and coordinated project scopes and to efficiently work on a large number and wide variety of projects.

Practical Approach and Attentive Design – A practical approach to projects, with an attentiveness toward simple and effective design solutions, is the foundation of what OCE does. The collaborative process we develop with our clients, combined with our practical sensibility, results in projects that are constructible, maintainable, and effective.

Experience During Construction – Since OCE’s inception, we have been providing clients with experienced staff with a practical construction background. Our staff has a reputation with clients and contractors as being fair, practical, and even handed. Our staff is well organized and responsive to the project and the Owner’s needs because we take a personal ownership and pride in your projects. During construction, we assign experienced staff to serve as the client’s Resident Project Representative (RPR). They are not just problem solvers; they stay ahead of the Contractor, anticipate issues, and work toward making sure issues don’t become problems to start with. The experience of our staff allows us to be flexible with construction phase budgets, to meet each client and project’s needs.

OCE is proud to make its home in Addison County and will continue to provide exceptional civil and environmental engineering services!

2013 Otter Creek Engineering Staff

2021 Otter Creek Engineering Staff

Focus on Non-Profits

The Women’s Center organization has existed in Addison County since 1986 with the mission of supporting those facing unplanned pregnancies and helping meet the myriad needs that accompany parenting and life's other challenges. In a world of increasing social pressure, The Women’s Center provides a refuge where confidentiality, honesty, and respect are part of our core commitment of care and competence.

We do this by empowering women with accurate information, free services, and practical support with a holistic and compassionate approach. One-on-one, clientfocused care and attention allows us to listen to and address the specific needs of individuals.

Over the decades, as the nature of social and relational challenges have changed and new methods of service have been identified, the Center has evolved and grown to offer services that are tailored to educate, support, and empower in a variety of ways. The trained staff and volunteers are equipped to offer peer counseling alongside the medical services that are provided under the supervision and direction of a licensed medical physician.

The Women's Center offers the following services, free of charge:

PREGNANCY CONFIRMATION AND SUPPORT

- Pregnancy testing via lab-quality tests

- Options Counseling

- Limited Ultrasound

MATERIAL ASSISTANCE

- Maternity Clothing

- Diapers, Wipes, Baby Supplies

- Baby Clothing Size NB to 5T

- Earn-While-You-Learn Program to earn points for essential items or gift cards

PARENTING EDUCATION

- One-on-One, In-Person, or Virtual Classes

- Baby’s First Year: Infant Expectations, Safety, Nutrition, & More

- Toddlers: Developmental Milestones, Potty Training, Behavior Issues

- Older Children: Discipline, Character Issues, Communication

- Co-parenting: Stepparents and Single Parents

- Fathers: Practical Lessons on being a great father; Dad-to-Dad program

PREGNANCY WELLNESS AND CHILDBIRTH EDUCATION

- One-on-One, In-Person, or Virtual Classes

- Pregnancy Expectations, Health, Nutrition, etc.

- Labor and Delivery Courses

- Breastfeeding Courses

- Education on Postpartum Depression

HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS AND LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION

- One-on-One, In-Person, or Virtual Classes

- Information about STIs and STDs

- Developing Communicative, Positive Partnerships, and Healthy Boundaries

- Budgeting, Planning the Future, and Job Searching

RECOVERY SUPPORT

One-on-One or Group Counseling and Support for:

- Post-Abortion

- Abuse or Domestic Violence

- Relationship Loss

- Pregnancy Loss/Miscarriage

At The Women’s Center we recognize that we are not able to meet every need and work hard to become acquainted with the myriad resources in the area. Addison County has an amazing community of supportive organizations, and the staff at The Women’s Center seeks to partner with others to provide wrap-around services so that no need is neglected.

Some have understood that The Women’s Center is a pro-life religious organization that counsels a woman not to terminate a pregnancy, or that we push a religious agenda, offering client services contingent upon taking religious classes. This is false.

The staff and volunteers share a faith that motivates us to value each person and to treat them with dignity and respect. That means counseling and support is geared to provide information on all options so that any decision is a well-informed one. This allows an individual to be able to look back on that decision knowing that they made the best choice with all the information. When one feels they have no other options, The Women’s Center opens options and provides a path forward with more choices that are attainable. And the Center is there to continue to walk alongside individuals with an abundance of support, no matter what choice they make. No pressure and no judgement.

We don’t want you to take our word for it, but to hear directly from clients about their experiences at The Women's Center!

CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

“You gave me a chance and put me in the right direction.”

“I’ll be forever thankful for what you did for us.”

“They don’t judge, and everyone is so outgoing.”

“I like your honesty.”

The Women's Center is a 501c3 non-profit where community support ensures our ability to meet the needs of local women and men facing unexpected pregnancies and other life challenges. We are 100% funded through the generosity of individuals, businesses, and organizations in the community. We encourage those who are unfamiliar with, or are uncertain about, the services and practices of The Women’s Center to contact us or stop in to learn more.

The Waybury Inn first opened its doors in 1810 as a stagecoach stop and was known as The Forest Tavern. James Madison, the fourth President of the United States, was in the White House and working on the Bill of Rights. There has been a great deal of history that has passed through the doors of the Waybury Inn but one thread that has constantly been nurtured, that of hospitality, quality lodging and fine food and drink.

The Waybury Inn staff are anxiously awaiting the lovely weather and outdoor dining that comes our way in spring. Our outdoor Terrace and Deck overlook well developed lawns and gardens and is a pleasurable dining experience. Our dinner menus offer sophisticated and casual fare prepared by an exceptional culinary staff. We provide catering, dining, and creative bar services throughout the year in all of our four dining areas and, of course, on our Terrace in the summer and fall.

Waybury Inn – follow us on Facebook, visit us

Thank you!

Welcome New Members Sweet Charity, Vergennes & Women of Wisdom (WOW) Thank you!

Each month in "Around the Chamber" we will recognize new and renewing members for their support in helping ACCOC enhance and improve the business and non-profit communities in Addison County.

Officers

Robert Feuerstein, Kennedy Brothers (Chair)

Megan Mandigo, Marble Trail Financial (Treasurer)

Nancy Foster, Champlain Valley Properties (Secretary)

Adam Rainville, Maple Landmark (Past Chair)

Phil Summers, ACCOC (Executive Director)

Directors

Dickie Austin, Black Sheep Bistro

Amy Carlin: Middlebury College

Doug Dewitt, Bristol Financial Services

Meaghan McLaughlin, National Bank of Middlebury

Ned Horton, Otter Creek Bakery and Deli

Marty Kulczyk, Robert Frost Mountain Cabins

Bethany Dever, Dever Accounting Services

Article IV, Section D Designate Directors

Karen Duguay, Better Middlebury Partnership

Renny Perry, Addison County Economic Development Corp.

Renny Perry, Vergennes Partnership

Bill Sayre, Addison County Regional Planning Commission

Alicia Standridge - Bristol Core