Helen Labun Jordan has been selected as Program Director of e-Vermont, the Community Broadband Project. This new two-year initiative will help rural Vermont towns take full advantage of the Internet to address a wide variety of local needs including economic development, school innovation, job creation, downtown marketing, community engagement, and e-commerce. Today’s announcement came from Paul Costello, Executive Director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) and leader of the e-Vermont Partnership.
“Helen brings a great combination of skills and enthusiasm to e-Vermont,” Costello said. “She will assure all the aspects of this project work in harmony as we help Vermont towns learn to apply digital tools to meet local challenges.”
Jordan moves to e-Vermont after several years with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture where she was instrumental in developing local and regional food systems through a variety of programs, including the Agriculture Innovation Center, Local Foods Matchmaker, and Taste of Place initiative. She also brings a background in federal and state policy issues, as well as grant writing and management. She is the former director of VCRD’s Creative Communities Program where she worked closely with local teams to jumpstart creative economy development efforts across the state.
“Broadband is a vital tool in almost every facet of how rural communities plan for the future; this ambitious statewide project will significantly expand communities’ capacity to use that tool in creative, innovative ways. I’m excited to be part of those efforts”
Jordan earned her B.A. from Princeton University and a M.Sc. in Community Development and Applied Economics at the University of Vermont. She is currently on the Boards of the Vermont Foodbank and the Adamant Co-Op .
The e-Vermont Partnership is led by VCRD and is made up of the Vermont State Colleges, the Vermont Department of Libraries, the Vermont Department of Public Service, Vermont Small Business Development Center, the Snelling Center for Government, Front Porch Forum, Digital Wish, Evslin Family Foundation and Vermont Community Foundation. e-Vermont is supported by a $2.5 million stimulus grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Vermont philanthropists, and corporate partners.
Contact e-Vermont at 802-223-6091 or by email at [email protected]. e-Vermont updates are posted at www.vtrural.org.
