NEWPORT –– A recent survey shows that Vermont, including the Northeast Kingdom, needs population growth and housing to support that growth. Information to support that claim was presented during a forum at the North Country Union High School Auditorium on Monday, Feb. 9.
Dr. Umair Malik, owner and operator of Blue Spruce Health, has been working with Newport City Downtown Development (NCDD) for a couple of years. In the year he’s been with the organization’s housing committee, that includes Newport City, Mayor Rick Ufford-Chase, as well as others. At least part of their focus has been looking at solutions for building and sustaining affordable housing in Newport. The committee has been working on many different strategies throughout the year. During their effort they came across Kevin Chu’s presentation and his work through The Vermont Future’s Project which was basically looking at increasing and building the economy of Vermont, the infrastructure, and the healthcare business.
“Interestingly enough they found that housing was a top priority for all of those things,” Before the presentation, Malik said of The Vermont Future’s Project. “Naturally the topics aligned and he’s done presentations on the subject across the state many times before.”
Malik’s group found Chu really helpful at educating their committee, so they invited him to Newport to speak about some of the initiatives they have been doing locally. He went on to say that Newport put through a master plan for revitalization and reinvigorating their local economy and their downtown.
“As part of that, this fits into sort of bringing together that momentum and educating everybody about that growth,” he said.
Malik said that Chu’s organization that works with the state has some key demographic data. He added that there is an effort called ‘Initiative 802’ which is to bring Vermont’s population to up to roughly eight hundred thousand people. According to the United Census Bureau, the state’s population in July 2024 was 648,493. During this week’s interview Malik said bringing in that many people means the state needs housing and jobs, as well as the infrastructure to support the increase to make it a real achievable dream.
“Of course this isn’t something that happens overnight,” he said. “It’s probably years in the making, but it at least helps frame the blueprint for that.”
Malik estimated the goals will probably happen within the next five to ten years. His committee is looking at different initiatives such as bringing in housing of various types. Before the presentation Malik said he hoped the public’s takeaway was that with some clear data there is hope that Vermont can grow and do it sustainably, do it environmentally friendly, keep it relatively affordable, and can accomplish all the goals without compromising what Vermont is. Malik disagrees with the mindset that there are not a lot of jobs in this area.
“There’s a lot of employers who’ve talked about being unable to hire because there is no housing for those folks,” he said, who added that he wasn’t there on Monday to talk about jobs because he is not on that committee. Instead, he was there to talk about houses and houses fit into jobs and into the economy. “That’s a critical part.”
Malik’s committee has been in talks with larger companies that exist outside of Newport to come in and invest in Newport, but a lot of that is dependent on whether there is a population here and are there homes for that population.
“It is one of those tough chicken or the egg questions,” he said. “Which one do you bring in first? There is no doubt that housing is one of those top now priorities because not only are we not making housing for folks to come here and to live in, we need housing at least for our population, so that they do not move away. So, we’re trying to solve that problem first alongside with economic development.”
“This is an interactive process, and this is something we want to do collaboratively with the locals,” Malik said. “We want to make sure what Newporters want and what they believe in. This is meant to be something where we’re going to be receptive to input. We want to do what Newporters feel is the focus. This is not a top-down driven approach. We’re trying to work with everybody. We want to encourage people to reach out. We want people to share their ideas. Helping where they can help. Volunteering if they think they can. All of that’s welcome.”
The invite is open to the entire Northeast Kingdom. They’ve even spoken to the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce about how they can help. Malik said the focus is Newport, but Newport serves the surrounding communities as well.
“Basically, what’s good for one is good for the other as well,” he said. “We’re discovering this as we go along. Folks might come here thinking we’ve got answers and we’ve got solutions, but really the idea is we’re working through this together and I want everyone to kind of see that. I want folks to understand there’s moving targets. Every time we think we’re starting with some initiative, of course our government comes around with some crazy new move and we are forced to pivot and change. No one can predict what is going to happen in the next two to three years federally. Honestly, we’re all wondering what is going to come next. We’ve just got to be nimble. We must pivot.”
Before the presentation, Ufford-Chase said he hoped that folks in the northern Northeast Kingdom get the best information possible, information the presenters can provide about the statistical realities.
“We’re working at trying to figure out where we go from here and we want to bring people along, so they understand what the issues are and have good questions,” he said. Ufford-Chase suggested they’re probably within a month of having a feasibility study on whether or not tax increment financing in this community could be useful and viable. “Depending how that study comes out, then we’ll make next decisions about where we go from here.”
White and Burke Real Estate Advisors of Burlington are doing that study. The firm are the state experts on how to establish an Increment Financing (TIF) District and determining whether or not a TIF District really makes sense. Assuming the numbers work and are feasible, the benefits of a TIF District gives the city a way to enter into public-private partnerships to build out the infrastructure that is necessary for developers to be able to do the things the city needs and wants.
