First Chair: September 2025

The Hustle Never Stopped
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September 2025

Welcome back to First Chair 🚠: Your monthly rundown on Vermont’s startup scene. Today’s gems:


💎 The Hustle Never Stopped

💎 Hack Night THIS month!

💎 Tom Messner on Start Here

💎 Vermont represented on Inc. 5000

The Hustle Never Stopped


Heads down! That’s what September tends to be for most. Capital Markets come back to life, kids go back to school, to-do lists get picked back up and the hustle returns. We see it firsthand here at 266 Main.  As we have a great variety of folks from different professions,  the space is getting busier, the din a little louder, and the dishwasher fuller and fuller.


For the dedicated entrepreneurs, the hustle never stopped.

Yes, some took late summer “vacations” but, all and all, these folks get after it constantly, including on vacation. It’s inspiring really, the dedication and passion it takes to put it all on the line, no matter the season, no matter the headwinds, no matter the ________ (pick your word).


That’s what keeps us and our partners around the state fired up; sharp, dedicated people tackling real problems, from robotic automation to all forms of medical innovation. So while Barlow’s line “there seems to be a beat now, I can feel it in my feet now, listen here it comes again” could describe the feeling of most, for the unbelievably passionate entrepreneurs out there, the hustle never stopped!


So CHEERS to the brave souls out there who see a problem that needs to be solved and have enough grit to work tirelessly to solve it. We are here for you!



Geoff

Come to VCET on September 16th, PostHog is hosting a hack night! If you are interested in building, this is the event for you. PostHog is a YC-backed company that just closed a Series D of $70M led by Stripe. Lots to learn, so come out!


Click here for details and to RSVP.

Limited spots available

Hardware Meetup #7

October 2nd at Hula

Special thanks to our incredible sponsors:

🏆 Inc. 5000 is out. View all the Vermont companies named!


🧀 Multiple Cannatrol customers were awarded at the 2025 American Cheese Society Annual Judging & Competition.


🦾 Rigorous Technology’s RIG was installed at Curtis Packaging in CT.

Stories by VCET Marketing Associate, Blaise Siefer

Prefer to watch or listen to stories? Check out our latest Start Here episode 👇

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Growing high-paying jobs in the state of Vermont is central to VCET’s purpose. Here’s a snippet of some sweet gigs from our job board.

There are currently 370 jobs across 70 companies.

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