Poultney, Vermont Branded as
The Heart of the Slate Valley

Congratulations are in order! 

A new logo (and brand) has been developed for use by the Town of Poultney. You may see it soon on highway signs, letterhead, websites and more! The logo was approved by a variety of local organizations (Poultney Downtown Revitalization Committee (PDRC), Poultney Rotary, Poultney Area Chamber of Commerce (PACC), Poultney Historical Society (PHS), Stone Valley Arts, and unanimously adopted by the Poultney Select Board in May).

The logo was developed over the past year by the Goal 4 Working Group and the Castleton Content Lab at Castleton University, with Nic Stark guiding the process - congratulations Nic and the branding committee! They’ve worked hard to create a branding package for use by the town.

Speaking of goals, this initiative is one of four goals established during the Town’s Recreation Economy for Rural Communities (RERC) planning assistance project in 2021.  Poultney was one of ten communities nationwide to be selected to receive this planning assistance from the EPA Office of Community Revitalization. Thanks to gracious support by several organizations, groups and individuals, the work so far has been purely volunteer. Read more about the town’s RERC plan  on the News page.

The aim of the EPA program is to position Poultney as the region’s top destination for year-round recreation, which in turn will breathe new life, new business and new investment into the area. After a little digital clean-up (websites and more), a new campaign will be launched aimed at inviting all kinds of hikers, skiers, bikers, boaters and more to enjoy what Poultney has to offer!

To volunteer your time or learn more about the branding initiative, send us an email: hello@nicstark.com

So, Why Does a Town Need a Brand?

“...I wish we had a bank again, a pharmacy, more retail…sidewalks and community spaces…more events and organizations…just more to do and see.” 

In our community stakeholder meetings, these were the vast majority of voiced desires for the town of Poultney, and have been for many years. 

Poultney is a town in transition: with the closing of Green Mountain College in 2019 the town is without a major economic driver. Thankfully, non-profit, volunteer and private groups have presented a viable path forward for the town’s economic future. Building upon a long history of outdoor recreation in the area, pivoting Poultney’s economy to a tourism-based outdoor recreation model offers a chance to grow our downtown yet again, encouraging new businesses, jobs and tax revenue for the town and its citizens.

That means we build trails, fix up parks, open related businesses and people will come to visit. Some folks will come to stay. It’s a proven model that’s worked for small towns across the country. But in order for this plan to work, we need to attract new residents, developers and businesses to our little town. 

Branding is the first step Poultney needs to take to turn opportunity into reality: we need to tell the world who we are and why our town is special.  

“A brand — clear, compelling and unique — is the foundation that helps to make a place desirable as a business location, visitor destination or a place to call home. Development of a brand strategy for a city leverages the features of that place to provide a relevant and compelling promise to a target audience. It is not an ad campaign or a tagline. Rather, the branding strategy is a deeper, more emotionally shared vision that influences actions.”      - CEOs for Cities

How The Brand was Developed

An entirely volunteer-led effort pushed this initiative from an action goal born of the RERC workshops to the town’s official brand over the course of a year. Here’s a timeline of how it happened:

• February - April 2021 | Six RERC Virtual Workshop Sessions and several follow-up calls were held with residents of Poultney as well as town, state, and federal employees and facilitators. The final Action Plan can be viewed as a PDF here.

• May 2021 | Attendees of the RERC Virtual Workshops that expressed interest in the Branding Goal were invited via e-mail to the committee’s first meeting. 

• May 2021 | The committee decided on a list of local organizations to work with in collecting input as to the direction of the town brand. These organizations include: Poultney Downtown Revitalization Committee (PDRC), Poultney Rotary, Poultney Area Chamber of Commerce (PACC), Poultney Historical Society (PHS), Stone Valley Arts, Poultney Select Board. 

• May - August 2021 | Nic Stark met with each of the stakeholder organizations and held a brief workshop to inform on the initiative and hear the concerns and ideas of the people of Poultney. You can review the presentation here. 

• September 2021 | After several weeks of searching for an appropriate grant to apply to in order to fund the design work with no success, the committee approached the Castleton Content Lab. The Lab is a student-led group of Castleton University peers that volunteer their time and knowledge to help local non-profits and municipalities produce marketing assets. The Content Lab agreed to partner with the committee in producing a new brand for the Town of Poultney. 

• September - December 2021 | The Castleton Content Lab worked through their creative design process, visiting Poultney, learning its history along with its current set of strengths as well as challenges. They then held their own internal workshops and design sessions. 

• December 2021 | The Castleton Content Lab presented its initial design to the Poultney Select Board for input. The Board agreed that with substantial community support, and a thorough outreach process to the stakeholder groups, it would adopt the new brand as the official Town logo.

• February - April 2022 | Nic Stark put together a second presentation including a workshop element to gather feedback on the proposed design and slogan. Again, meeting with the PDRC, Rotary, PACC, and SVA as well as a number of local design professionals. 

• March 2022 | The new slogan was chosen as an evolution of a previous Poultney slogan from the late 1930’s ‘Heart of the Slate Belt’. The historic slogan was discovered by the committee in posts on the 'Poultney Life' Facebook group run by Janice B. Edwards.

• May 2022 | Final adjustments and polishing to the logo based on community feedback were implemented and the branding was presented to the Select Board of Poultney who unanimously voted to officially adopt the new brand for the town. 

What’s Next?

The branding committee’s work is not over! Now that the brand has been officially adopted the work to update signage, websites, social media, stationary, merchandise (and more) can begin. With a wealth of grant options now on the table, the committee will strive to bring Poultney’s new look to its streets, online and beyond.