By Keeshawn Nicholson

You may have heard Vermont described once before as a place where there are more cows than people, or as a state that has a lot of great maple syrup. However, it is also a place where innovation is rapidly growing in a world where entrepreneurism is becoming more and more popular. Many of the socially responsible and profoundly successful companies that power today’s economy, such as Ben and Jerry’s, 7th Generation, Burton, Ello, Keurig Green Mountain and the infamous Dealer.com have all exemplified innovation and started right here in Vermont. FreshTracks Capital, an investor whose primary focus is on high growth private companies in Vermont, created a “Roadmap” that gives an overview of the resources, people and places, that serve to help build Vermont’s innovation economy. In the overview FreshTracks lists Champlain College’s BYOBiz, a program led by marketing extraordinaire, Robert Bloch, that encourages as well as supports Startups and Champlain College’s Emergent Media Center, a center that works to inspire innovation in next generation leaders and creators. The overview ends with a list of “22 people to follow”, a list of people who hold the power to influence through the internet. Included in the list are two of Champlain College’s Social Media gurus Elaine Young (@ejyoung67) and Ann DeMarle (@anndemarle).

To see the FreshTracks Capital Roadmap for yourself click here