Board of Directors
Donna Simons (Chair and Secretary) — Co-owner, A Candle in the Night, Brattleboro, VT. Donna is a founding member of Building A Better Brattleboro, the downtown revitalization organization whose hard work has turned Brattleboro into one of the nation’s most highly desirable small towns. She and her husband own A Candle In The Night, an oriental rug and furniture business that has been located in Brattleboro for over three decades. Donna’s vision and strong organizational skills have helped make the Strolling of the Heifers’ Dairy Fest & Market Place a major success.
John R. Davidson (Treasurer) — CEO, Trust Company of Vermont, Brattleboro, VT. Jack is a graduate of St. Michael’s College and Fordham University Law School. He is admitted to the bar in Vermont and New York, and has specialized in tax, trust, and estate planning since 1972. He led the trust department of Vermont National Bank for 24 years before founding the Trust Company of Vermont in 1999.
William Ames and his wife Nancy operate a farm in Northfield, MA. They harvest oak, maple and pine under their Chapter 61 Stewardship Plan and about 20 acres of hay. Recently they have entered the sheep business with a new breed called Cascade Farmstead and they acquired two Maremma guardian dogs to watch the flock. Bill knows the area, having attended graduate school at UMass, Amherst where he received a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics. The family has owned three farming operations in MA from1974 to the present time including dairy and hay production. He was instrumental in the formation of the Northfield Agricultural Commission, where he served as Chair, and promoted the passage of the town Right to Farm By-Law. Recently he received a local stewardship award for his work in the conservation of local forest and farm lands working with the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust. Bill has been a general partner in a Boston venture capital firm, served on several for profit and not for profit boards, and has participated in agricultural micro funding activities in El Salvador, Central America.
Maurice Casey — As director for the southern Vermont region for Vermont Foodbank, Maurice is taked with expanding the role of the Foodbank in southern Vermont to include building and opening a full service distribution facility, overseeing the growth of availability of food and services to the agencies and hungry people of the region, and becoming a representative of Vermont Foodbank for the region to media, government and the public.
Joseph Famolare — CEO, Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center, Brattleboro, VT. Joe is the president of Famolare, Inc. a company founded by his father in 1934, which became under his leadership a leading U.S. importer of fashion footwear from Italy. Joe Famolare designs are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and in the permanent collection of the Costume Institute, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Cincinnati Museum of Art in Ohio. Joe received the Coty Award for fashion designers in 1973, the Ms. Liberty award for advertising in 1982, and was inducted into the Fashion Association Hall of Fame in 1995. In 1994 Joe founded the Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center (VABEC) in Brattleboro. Housed in a historically renovated antique farm on 120 acres, this center was developed and is primarily a continuing education site encouraging partnerships between business, government, education and agriculture. Joe is president of the newly designated Foreign Trade Zone in Brattleboro. The Brattleboro Foreign Trade Zone (BFTZ) mandate is to attract new companies and stimulate existing businesses in Brattleboro while enhancing the understanding of international opportunities.
Steven Sayer graduated from New York University in 1961 and began his working career with IBM in New York City as a salesman. He went on to become Manager of International Marketing for Magnavox Systems for four years, and then developed a niche business which managed non-electric patient care equipment for hospitals and other healthcare institutions. He sold the company in 2004 and retired to Vermont. He serves as president of the board of Youth Services of Windham County and also a mentor for graduate students at Babson College in Wellesley, MA and at Marlboro College Graduate School in Brattleboro.
Robert Works — Owner, Peaked Mountain Farm, Townshend, VT. Together with his wife Ann, Bob operates Peaked Mountain Farm, home to nearly 100 milking ewes and lambs. They produce Vermont Shepherd, an award winning Pyrennes style cheese, operate an artisanal bread bakery, and sell lamb and gourmet sausages at the farm throughout the year. They also make over 100 gallons of Vermont Pure Maple Syrup each year at their sugar house; use their whey to fertilize 250 blueberry bushes, which are harvested into blueberry scones; and offer classes in bread and sausage making.
Greg Worden, together with his wife, Suzy, owns and operates Vermont Artisan Designs, an award-winning contemporary American fine art and craft gallery on Main Street. He is a trustee of the Vermont Arts Council, a past president of the Arts Council of Windham County, a board member of the Craft Retailers and Artists for Tomorrow national organization and a contributing member of American Craft Week, a nation-wide grass-roots campaign to draw attention to American-made art and crafts. A long-time fan of Brattleboro, he has served in numerous public service capacities through the years.
