Montpelier Police Department On July 19, 2025, the Montpelier Police Department received a report regarding the misappropriation of company funds. The company, Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation (CVEDC), reported their Executive Director, Melissa Bounty (42) of Waitsfield, VT, had utilized company funds for personal gain.
After a lengthy investigation, it was found that Bounty had embezzled approximately $71,151.73 from CVEDC during her tenure as Executive Director from 2022 to 2025. Bounty was cited to appear in Washington County Superior Court Criminal Division on January 15, 2026 at 0830 hours.
MPD said there is no further information available at this time.
Melissa Bounty. File photo.
Bounty took over as Executive Director of Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation in January 2023. She had worked with then Executive Director Jamie Stewart in a planned transition since the fall of 2021. At CVEDC, Melissa was one of two state-wide navigators for a large technical assistance program through the Community Navigator Pilot Program which served 182 in state businesses in 2022.
According to IRS records for the most recently reported fiscal years, Bounty was paid $83,429 in 2024 and her predecessor Jamie Stewart was paid $23,706, as their leadership was transitioning and Stewart was retiring. In 2023 Bounty was paid $57,115 and Stewart $92,959. And in 2022, Stewart was paid $76,816.
Bounty is a graduate of the former Johnson State College (now part of Vermont State University) and also attended Hampshire College, the Aegean Center of the Fine Arts, and was twice a Full Fellow of the Vermont Studio Center as a writer and painter. She worked in publishing for almost two decades prior to her move in economic development. As Associate Publisher of Waitsfield-based Chooseco, Melissa oversaw print production and managed vendor relationships with offset printers globally, spending significant time working in Malaysia as well as with printers in Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, and Korea.
December 27, 2025
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