ALEX Beck
Company: Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation
Title: Workforce & Education Program Manager
Age: 28
Favorite Part of Job? The favorite part of my job is that it allows me to work with a wide diversity of people, industries, educators, and community and economic developers from across the county. I get to travel, ask questions, and solve problems our communities face.
Most Inspiring Mentor: Early on in my career, my supervisor, Laura Sibilia, was a huge mentor to me. There was a depth of knowledge about the community, economy, and surrounding politics that I lacked as a new person, and she both provided excellent advice, and gave me space to make my own mistakes.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know: I LOVE to cook. I'll make loaves of bread, try my hand at a newly-discovered dessert from the "Great British Bake-Off", or even a whole lasagna, from scratch! There isn't anything I'd rather do on a rainy Saturday than spend it in the kitchen.
Favorite Vermont Escape: Black Mountain right in Brattleboro has a short, 20-minute hike with a fantastic view. In the summer there are blueberries, and in the winter it's never too steep or icy for a snowshoe. After a long day at work, it's a perfect place to escape to.
Favorite Downtime Activity: I'm not above binge-watching sci-fi movies and flipping through a back-log of The New Yorker magazines, but only actually reading the cartoons.
Favorite Social Media: I am hopelessly addicted to Twitter. I like to think I'm somewhere comfortably between an "Influencer" and "Troll".
What is the best career advice you have received? The best career advice I've ever received was that the best way to be prepared for the work you do is to be in a field or job that you are excited to wake up for every single day.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont? I originally came to Brattleboro to study International Sustainable Development at SIT Graduate Institute, but after falling in love with Vermont, I realized that I could pursue a career in sustainable development in the community I had grown to be a part of.
Career Highlights: Having had a role in building the Southern Vermont Workforce Center of Excellence is certainly a career highlight. I was the program coordinator for the Southern Vermont Young Professionals group, started a number of high school career programs, and have helped local employers find resources and employees needed to grow their businesses. Most recently, I've been going to Washington D.C to be trained by the U.S Chamber of Commerce Foundation for their Talent Pipeline Management Initiative.
More specifically, the Young Professionals Gala has had over 300 attendees the two years we've held it, and I recently presented at the International Economic Development Council's Annual Conference in Toronto, where my proposal on Rural Workforce Systems was selected. With a room filled with 100 economic development specialists from across North America, it was my biggest and most intimidating audience to date.
Community Involvement: I am proud to serve on four non-profit boards in Brattleboro and across the State.
I am the Treasurer of the Downtown Brattleboro Alliance, our designated downtown organization, which is a group of community leaders that continue to inspire me at every meeting. The dedication this group has to the vibrancy of our downtown is unparalleled, and have created some awesome events like the LuvCrawl and Brattleboo.
I also serve on the Windham-Windsor Housing Trust board, which works to ensure access to affordable housing for residents in Windham and Windsor counties. Housing is a part of economic and community development that I don't get to spend time on at my day job, so I really appreciate the opportunity to work on these issues in a different setting.
I also serve on the Brattleboro Community Television board, as well as the Community Engagement Lab board. I wanted to join BCTV because of the excellent and creative job they do educating and informing our local communities, and Community Engagement Lab works to provide learning opportunities to students across the state through the arts and by fostering greater creativity in traditional educational environments.