From Hospitality to Farming, VEDA Helps Local Businesses Thrive 

Ellen Bissett DeRiggi and her brother-in-law, Richard Valicenti, are in the hospitality business; Bissett DeRiggi owns two hotels in beach resort towns on Long Island, N.Y., and had long hoped to open a seasonal property with Valicenti here in Vermont, a place they both love. Their family has been vacationing in Deerfield Valley for 25 years.

In spring 2020, Bissett DeRiggi heard about the White House Inn in Wilmington, near Mount Snow, that had recently become available. The small, historic inn was built in 1915 as a summer home for a lumber baron. “The more I heard about the White House Inn property, the more intrigued I was,” she said.

The pair acquired the inn in December 2021 and planned an extensive renovation to take place between the winter and summer seasons. But when Bissett DeRiggi applied for a small business loan, it got held up in the underwriting process.

Given the seasonality of the property, DeRiggi couldn’t afford to wait. Fortunately, she had another option: She turned to VEDA, aka the Vermont Economic Development Authority, a quasi-governmental entity that helps growing Vermont businesses bridge gaps in their financing.

Created by the General Assembly in 1974, VEDA contributes to economic development in Vermont by helping to finance businesses that create jobs and advance the state’s public policy goals.

With VEDA’s help, Bissett DeRiggi was able to get the White House Inn renovation back on track — and VEDA’s staff made it simple. After a site visit, the White House Inn was approved “quickly,” she said.

“VEDA makes it very easy for Vermont businesses to do business with them,” she said. “Honestly, I wanted to work with VEDA from the beginning, and I should have. When the small business loan from the bank was delayed, we saw it as a blessing in disguise.”

Working with VEDA

VEDA is different from a traditional lender; it works in partnership with other lenders to put together a complete financing package, filling the holes that other institutions leave and charging more reasonable rates than are typical for secondary financing. It can approve up to 40 percent of the cost of a project, though that limit doesn’t apply to farmers, renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, or very small loans.

Unlike a bank, VEDA holds no money from customer deposits. It fills its coffers by borrowing from other financial institutions, adding a small premium on its interest rates to cover its overhead costs.

Since its inception, VEDA has made loans totaling more than $2.5 billion to businesses including Ben & Jerry’s, Suncommon, Groennfell Meadery — and the White House Inn.
With VEDA’s help, Bissett DeRiggi could realize her vision for the historic property. She was able to preserve many original elements, such as hidden staircases, an old vault and 14 fireplaces.

She also saved the antique Zuber wallpaper, which shows images of an Italian countryside. It inspired the rebranded Italian restaurant and tavern, Clara’s Cucina, named for Clara Brown, the Vermonter who originally built the house.

“Her spirit is rumored to haunt the hallways,” Bissett DeRiggi quipped.

Another bonus: Because of its unique structure, VEDA is able to help borrowers access low-cost capital. “VEDA gave us a very favorable rate,” Bissett DeRiggi confirmed.

Helping farmers access funds

VEDA also made it easier for Théogène Mahoro to start a farm.

Mahoro came to America from Rwanda in 2004. He arrived in Vermont with his family and got a job with Rhino Foods. He started farming in 2012 at Pine Island Community Farm, which he had heard about through the Association of Africans Living in Vermont. At Pine Island, Mahoro gained experience raising goats and chickens.

In 2015, he started looking into a farm of his own. He sought help from the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board's Farm & Forest Viability Program, which connected him with VEDA. By the end of the year, he was in business. Since then, the Mahoros have been able to move the operation from their first farm in Colchester to a larger farm in Williston.

Mahoro hasn’t given up his full-time job doing sanitation for Rhino Foods. His wife, Hyacinthe Mahoro Ayingeneye, takes care of the daytime chores on their farm, where they raise chickens and grow vegetables. When Mahoro gets home in the afternoon, he takes over the farm tasks.

Their family life is bustling, too — together they’ve raised eight kids. The walls of the Mahoro family home are so covered in family photographs that you can barely see the wallpaper. Only two of their children are still at home; the others have grown up and moved out. Mahoro said his kids will come visit, and they help on the farm when they can.

Today their family farm supplies chicken and vegetables to food access programs, but their products can also be found locally at places such as Mawuhi African Market and City Market, Onion River Co-op. Hyacinthe plans to open a farmstand on the property someday.

Sam Smith, farm business director at the Intervale, met Mahoro through the Farm & Forest Viability Program and assisted him in looking for properties and applying for a loan. “VEDA is very good with farmers,” Smith said. “It understands how hard they work and that their income isn’t like a paycheck every month — it comes at different points of the year.”

Mahoro said having Smith’s help made a big difference, as it was his first time applying for “something like this.'' The process was easier than he expected. For a farmer with busy workdays like Mahoro’s, “easy” was a crucial part of the process.

VEDA makes it convenient

In small towns, convenience stores provide essential services, giving locals a place to fill up their cars and get a quick snack. These stores are often the only place in town where members of rural communities have access to these amenities. Sayed Kazmi operates two such stores, in Hardwick and Norwich. He worked with VEDA to open both locations of M&M Beverage.

“I always wanted to open this kind of business,” Kazmi said, “so when I had the opportunity, I seized it.”

He first took his idea to his bank; the bank referred him to VEDA. Working with VEDA to open his first store was so successful that he went the same route to open the second one.

“Why wouldn’t I work with someone who gave me great customer service?” he said.

Now Kazmi is thinking of expanding.

“If there’s a new business on the market and I like the numbers, I’ll go for it,” he said, adding that he would definitely work with VEDA again. And he would recommend it to any other business like his.

“If something works well, you stick with it,” he said.

This article was commissioned and paid for by the Vermont Economic Development Authority.