Departing Revitalizing Waterbury, Nevin sees a stronger organization and town
August 8, 2024 | By Sandy Yusen | CorrespondentThe past dozen or so years have been an era of transformation for Waterbury as it rebounded after Tropical Storm Irene and emerged after the COVID-19 pandemic as a role model for its resilience and vibrant community.
Today’s landscape reflects investment by local and state governments, industry and small businesses, alongside efforts of many organizations, local leaders and community members.
Karen Nevin's tenure as executive director of Revitalizing Waterbury included the railroad bridge sculpture project (center left), the COVID-19 pandemic, Main Street reconstruction (completion marked with Sen. Patrick Leahy, center right), multiple Waterbury Arts Fests (center and corners) and the recent CV Habitat For Humanity ReStore opening (bottom center). Photos by Gordon Miller
For nearly nine of those recent years, one key player in Waterbury’s recent evolution has been Karen Nevin, executive director of the nonprofit economic and community development organization, Revitalizing Waterbury. In that role, Nevin has had a hand in facilitating many initiatives that have helped nurture Waterbury’s growth and appeal.
Nevin is now stepping down from Revitalizing Waterbury, and her successor is yet to be determined. Her last day is this Friday.
Nevin’s new role will be development director at Prevent Child Abuse Vermont, a 48-year-old statewide organization based in Montpelier. Her charge is to raise funds to grow the organization, which had annual revenues of $1.1 million in 2022, according to its most recent annual report. “I’m looking forward to supporting such a worthy organization making sure every child born in Vermont is safe and cared for,” Nevin shared in her last newsletter to the community.
Nevin joined Revitalizing Waterbury in 2015, armed with experience leading a variety of nonprofit organizations, including Valley Arts Foundation and Vermont Festival of the Arts in Waitsfield, the Mad River Valley Community Fund, New England Culinary Institute, and Vermont State Colleges. She lives in Moretown with her husband and two dogs, one of which she credits with waking her up during the recent July flood, just in time to get outside and divert the rushing water from destroying her home.
Waterbury Municipal Manager Tom Leitz recalled that when he was hired in the fall of 2022, Nevin was the first person to call. “It was a nice warm welcome to town,” he said. “By the time I got here, Revitalizing Waterbury was a very high-functioning organization. So Karen obviously was a huge part of that.”
Nevin admits that wasn’t always the case. When she arrived, the organization was struggling financially. “I remember very clearly saying to the board that it’s time to be a grown-up organization,” she recalled. Her first task was to create the infrastructure to professionalize the organization, including developing a budget, bringing on new hires, and putting processes and procedures in place.
Over her tenure, the organization’s budget nearly tripled, with 2023 revenues of more than $325,000. Her contributions can be seen across town – in the beautification of Main Street, public art installations, thriving events throughout the year, and the town’s many flourishing businesses. Most recently, the Waterbury Rotary Club recognized Nevin’s leadership of the Jack’s Alley refurbishment on Stowe Street by bestowing Revitalizing Waterbury with the Rotary International Paul Harris Award for outstanding contribution to the community at its annual dinner in July.
July 2021: RW Executive Director Karen Nevin looks on as Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk addresses a crowd ahead of Amtrak's return to service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo by Gordon Miller
Bill Shepeluk, Waterbury’s previous municipal manager until his retirement in 2022, says that Nevin’s vision of Revitalizing Waterbury went beyond a downtown organization supporting businesses. “She really envisioned it as a community development organization,” he said. “She definitely took RW to the next step from where it was and really put her stamp on it and made it the organization that we know today.”
Shepeluk worked with Nevin to create a new economic development director position under the Revitalizing Waterbury umbrella, a move that facilitated many new businesses opening in town. In 2022, Revitalizing Waterbury forged an agreement with Black Cap Coffee & Bakery to fill the space in Waterbury’s historic train station, a building owned by Revitalizing Waterbury, after Green Mountain Coffee vacated its cafe during the pandemic. And this past June, Revitalizing Waterbury’s economic development director Owen Sette-Ducati, secured Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore home goods outlet to fill the long vacant space on South Main Street in Waterbury.
Julie Frailey, board president of Revitalizing Waterbury, commends Nevin for shoring up the organization and creating innovative programs. “It’s just so much that Karen has contributed. And it’s because of her enthusiasm and her drive and her passion for Waterbury,” Frailey said.
The board has begun the search for Nevin’s replacement. “Particularly we really need someone with really strong communication skills, because the job involves working with everybody in the town,” Frailey said. She sees opportunities to increase awareness of Revitalizing Waterbury’s mission and expand the organization’s reach along the Route 100 corridor.
December 2022: RW Executive Director Karen Nevin (second from right) at the Black Cap Coffee and Bakery opening at the Waterbury Train Station. Photo by Gordon Miller
Leitz said he appreciates the important role that Revitalizing Waterbury serves in town. “From my perspective, the organization works well, the relationship with the town is good, so there’s no need to course correct,” he said. “Karen is turning over the reins of something that’s stable and functioning. So any changes can be incremental.”
At the same time, Shepeluk believes that leadership changes create new paths forward. “As sad as we are to see Karen go, I hope that folks will look at it as an opportunity to figure out what we can do now to move RW to the next level and have them be even more effective.”
Frailey said Nevin leaves tough shoes to fill. “I really hope that people appreciate all that Karen has done. It’s been a good ride with her at the wheel,” Frailey said.
Nevin sat down for an interview with Waterbury Roundabout at the busy Stowe Street Cafe recently. Between interruptions from RW volunteers, prospective board members, and others stopping by to wish her well, Nevin shared her thoughts on Waterbury’s progress and hopes for the future. As she wrote in her final newsletter, “This is not good-bye, just a ‘see you around.’”
This interview below has been edited for space and clarity.
Q: What highlights from your tenure at RW are you most proud of?
Nevin: I came from an arts organization and I’ve always had a passion for art and public art. So one of my favorite projects was the [Waterbury Special] train sculpture. Every project that came about was because one or two or three people came to me with an idea. And then what RW does really well is that we pull all those people together, and say let’s make this happen. I call them a neutral convener. So Theresa Wood and Barb Farr grabbed me and said we want to do something on the railroad bridge, and things fell into place. The railroad company happened to be in town so we talked to them. And we applied for the Animating Infrastructure grant from the Vermont Arts Council and the next thing we knew we had $15,000 for it and then the Rotary had $10,000 and the money started to bubble up. That one I loved.
Jack’s Alley started in a similar way. In the middle of the pandemic, three different people came to me and said, “Karen, if we ever did something with the alley, MakerSphere would love to create programming.” “Karen, I’m president of Rotary and I’d really love to do something in the alley.” And then the last one was Jack Carter, who said “Karen, I’ve always dreamed about doing something in the alley.” That’s when I said, “That’s it, stop dreaming.”
We pulled together a meeting and applied for a grant, and in order to do the grant we had to have materials ready. So the community pulled the materials together. I was the administrator making sure all of the little ducks are in a row but the work was being done by so many different people. We hit so many bumps, and there’s still fundraising to do, but the fact that we broke ground and it looks like it does today is just thrilling.
Jack's Alley committee leader Karen Nevin of Revitalizing Waterbury addresses the crowd at the June opening of the project honoring former Waterbury business owner, select board member, historian and volunteer Jack Carter. Photo by Gordon Miller
One other is a warm-your-heart thing and that is the Waterbury Acts of Kindness. This is one where you let your staff be creative and see what happens. The idea came from Ariel Mondlak, who was our marketing associate. We had a stack of gift cards that were going to expire on December 31, and I said, “How do we get rid of these?” and she said, “Karen what if people nominated people.” So we designed this idea and from idea to execution was maybe seven days.
Jenna Danyew at Bridgeside Books receives a Waterbury Acts of Kindness thank you from Karen Nevin of Revitalizing Waterbury. Photo courtesy Revitalizing Waterbury
Then, Ivy Computer’s George Pierce reached out and said, “I love this, what can I do to help?” I said, “Well we’ve got so many more nominations than the 20 cards we have. Would you be willing to give so everyone gets something of value?” He said yes. Seeing it happen and the response by the community was great. There’s people who know about it now so they look for it because they know people to nominate. It was 2020, the middle of the pandemic, and we just did our third year in 2023.
And we’ve grown the Arts Fest into a really amazing event. People hated moving from Stowe Street but there were actual legal, financial and safety reasons why it had to be moved. The new location has just really exploded it into an event that the artists consider one of the best events every year. It’s just really fun. I love that event.
Q: Is there anything you wish you could have done that you weren’t able to do during your tenure at RW?
Nevin: The hardest thing has always been to get out of the offices and develop relationships, whether with businesses, individuals, or residents. I do it well, it’s just that the time is hard. I’ve always told people, please come up and interrupt me. Step into my office and say, “Hey Karen, you want to get a cup of coffee?” 99 percent of the time I’ll say yes. Because just getting me out is really important. That’s why I’m really looking forward to the new job. I won’t have any reason not to spend the time doing that, because that’s what the job is.
Q: What is one fun thing about Waterbury you think people should know?
Nevin: The store owners are awesome. When you walk into a store, find the owner, talk to them, they’re such amazing people. They’re fun and cool and creative.
This town is full of public art. In 2015 when I arrived, there was almost no public art. A town that invests in art in this way is a town that has reached a new level of being. They’re not struggling, they’re really thinking outside of themselves and about the community. That’s what public art does. The alley project is the next step in creating an entire space, and there will be public art opportunities and things going on in there, not just the cool bricks.
Q: What can you share about the opportunities ahead for RW?
Nevin: The board in the last year, through conversations with volunteers and in our annual committee meeting this past February, recognizes that now is the time to really rethink RW’s brand. So they’re going to start an 18 month process that will include community conversations to really think that through. Our brand was established in 2012 after the flood and struggles from Irene, so it is 12-14 years old. And it’s time to make something new. We’re pretty sure that we’re “revitalized” at this point.
At the Arts Fest we did a trivia game and counted…do you know how many sit-down restaurants there are in Waterbury? There are 22 sit-down restaurants. There are five breweries now. Part of what’s really fun about this job is celebrating the town of Waterbury. And it’s not hard.
I remember when I came as an outsider I was like, what? Waterbury as a destination? And very quickly I started to understand. We’ve got two state parks – Little River and Waterbury [Center]. I don’t know if there’s any other town in the state of Vermont that has two state parks.
We have a strategic plan, and one of the things we want to create is a volunteer fair where people can come and check out all of the different nonprofits and different ways to volunteer and different ways to get involved. What we’ve learned over time is that a lot of people who’ve moved here start hearing about RW but just don’t know how to get involved. Or, they’ve worked all their life and they’ve just retired and they’re bored but want to do something. Or they’ve worked in or volunteered for one organization all their life and want to branch out. RW needs volunteers but so does the food shelf, so does the Waterbury ReStore. My hope is that they still pull that off this fall, and then have it maybe every other year, to capture new people.
One of the things that really surprised me when I came was the involvement of the community. I’d never been somewhere where there were so many committees made up of volunteers who are passionate about making Waterbury awesome. And then there’s of course all of the town’s boards and committees. I was stunned at how rich the depth of community involvement is in this town. That was one of the most exciting things to learn about Waterbury. And it hasn’t changed, it just keeps growing.
April 2024 groundbreaking for Jack’s Alley on Stowe Street. Photo by Gordon Miller
Q: Do you believe that has played a big role in the town’s revitalization?
Nevin: Yes. The state is full of people who care about each other. That’s definitely different. But Waterbury after the flood was when the town turned a corner. We could either keep going down this path of who we are and have it possibly decline because of what was happening around us, or this town shows up. And they showed up…to muck out, to clean, to raise money, to organize and from there developed this future for itself.
Out of tropical storm Irene, there were 24 things that were recommended to be done that the town had discussed and come up with. The town accomplished 23 of them. One was hiring an economic development director. That position is now firmly ensconced in Revitalizing Waterbury. And that person works on making things happen.
These are all life-changing, community-changing decisions. Just over five years after Irene, I came on board when the state employees started to come back. And we helped make that happen. I think there’s something very unique about Waterbury and the people who live here.
Q: What do you see ahead for the town?
Nevin: Housing. I think the new town manager, Tom Leitz, is phenomenal – he really thinks about the future and really knows his stuff. He’s a great asset in helping to move the town forward. The needs for infrastructure and housing is huge. The issue of affordability is really strong but it’s a Vermont problem it’s not a Waterbury problem. Tom is really looking at ways to improve that.
Q: How has your team received the news of your departure? been received among your team?
Nevin: We had a board meeting over Zoom and they were happy for me. I’ve been honest with my board for a couple of years now that I saw an end time in my mind. Everyone understands.
[Economic Development Director] Owen [Sette-Ducati] and [Communications and Marketing Manager] Dennis [Palic] were a little shocked. I think often staff take a job because of who they’re going to work for and that means the next person isn’t the person that they were planning on working with. But the good news is that Julie and the board will have them be part of the interview process. So they will have as much say as anyone else in hiring.
Q: What are the plans for transitioning leadership?
Nevin: They’re hoping to interview and have someone on board by the end of September. It’s fortunate it’s just a little bit quiet right now. There’s a lot of internal work going on that won’t impact the organization in a huge way if it doesn’t happen right on a timetable.
Q: What skills do you believe are important for the next executive director?
Nevin: I believe it’s important to have someone who has knowledge about the world of small towns in Vermont. Because there are a lot of large issues around the state and around the country that impact small towns differently. I don’t think it’s necessary to have someone who lives in Waterbury. I found it helpful to not be a resident in that it gave me just a little bit of perspective. It’s not a hybrid position or a remote position. You have to come to work, in the office.
Q: Tell us about your new opportunity and what excites you about it?
Nevin: The position is the director of development for Prevent Child Abuse Vermont based in Montpelier. It’s easy to get to and I was really interested in an organization that has an impact statewide.
I’m going to be responsible for the one thing that I’m really good at which is bringing money into an organization. That to me is incredibly appealing. And it’s a subject matter that’s really worthwhile. This organization has a national reputation and provides training around the country. And that’s just impressive.
Q: What else do you want Roundabout readers to know?
Nevin: Just that I’ve loved working with them and for them. I’ve always thought RW is about community and working together and that phrase it takes a village is real and that’s what this town is all about. It’s a special, special place. They know that. But I’ve really been privileged to be part of that for the last eight and a half years. I’m glad I was able to make a little bit of impact on the organization and the town. It’s been a lot of fun.
The town of Waterbury also supports RW in a huge way, so my advice to townspeople is to make sure you keep that. I know it’s on your taxes but that little bit really strengthens the organization to do the work it does. I always say to the Select Board when I make our ask, we do the things you don’t want to. Because a lot of towns hire economic development directors, and in a lot of towns the public works does all the plantings and decorating. A lot of towns have a promotions department. You don’t have to do any of that, it’s all done at the nonprofit. You need to support it.
August 2021: Karen Nevin enjoys an ice cream with then-Economic Development Director Mark Pomilio Jr. at the Main Street completion ceremony. Photo by Gordon Miller
Q: What advice do you have for your successor?
Nevin: Just have fun. Get out there and get to know everybody. It will be interesting to see what skill set I have that they want to keep and what skill sets they don’t have and want to expand on.
Trust the community and the volunteers to do the right thing. Your volunteers and your staff are the only way to get the job done. I don’t recommend micromanaging anybody. You just help direct traffic to move it forward.
Correction: This post was updated to correct the spelling of Ariel Mondlak’s name and titles for RW staffers Dennis Palic and Owen Sette-Ducati.