WTF is Happening and What Can We Do?
Chronic turbulence, whether caused by politics, technology leaps or changes in climate is brutal on our emotions, companies, families, and communities. I don’t pretend to have answers to solve those. But, I do know that in these moments of disruption and chaos, there are real opportunities for builders and innovators to bring their optimism, their fight and their solutions to markets underserved and emerging as a result of all the chaos and tectonic shifts occurring.
Here are a few examples that give us some hope:
🚁 Fighting Fires More Frequently – As the LA wildfires raged, we all saw the heroics of firefighters on the ground and airborne. Several of the helicopters used benefited from the predictive health and usage monitoring (HUMS) hardware & software from GPMS International. When safety, uptime and predictive diagnostics are necessary for rotorcraft, large drones and eVTOLs to perform, GPMS is leading the way from Waterbury, VT. The company is a VCET Fund 1 and Fund 2 investment and VCET member.
🏆 Investing in Student Startups – Meyers Cup – UVM hosts the nation’s largest undergraduate student business pitch competition ($250k) thanks to the family of Joy and Jerry Meyers. Founded by three students, Campus Storage Solutions, is this year’s winner and a VCET coworker also. Thank you Chip, Louise and the entire Meyers family for this opportunity to support Vermont’s next generation.
👖 Bio-Based Nylon At Last – lululemon and ZymoChem just announced a multi-year partnership bringing a new sustainable bio-nylon 6,6 material to market. ZymoChem’s bio-based material and its scalable manufacturing process intends to bring a bio-nylon at long last to the world. Based in San Leandro, CA and Burlington, VT, the company is a VCET member and Fund 2 investment.
🤖 Advanced Automation Required – For supply chain control, tariffs and verticalization, more U.S. companies are onshoring their production. Thankfully, Rigorous Technology is making robotic automation a practical reality to take on “dull, dirty, and dangerous” tasks. Employees are happier, worker safety is better and companies are producing more. Rigorous is a VCET Fund 1 investment based in Williston, Vermont.
For the road ahead, let’s remain steadfast in protecting one another, helping those now seeking work through no fault of their own, and assisting those looking to achieve economic independence and power through business ownership. That’s Vermont.
-Dave
