The Rise and Fall of Springfield, Vermont’s First ‘Tech Hub’

The Rise and Fall of Springfield, Vermont’s First ‘Tech Hub’

The city of Burlington is doing everything in its power to become Vermont’s tech hub. The region boasts an international airport and high-speed internet. Next-generation companies such as Dealer.com and MyWebGrocer have joined legacy ones such as GlobalFoundries and General Dynamics. A new nonprofit, BTV Ignite, is gearing up to align “Burlington’s powerful gigabit infrastructure as a tool, test bed and accelerator for economic, educational and community benefit,” according to its website.

Yet, in their quest for a brighter future, Chittenden County’s connectors could learn a thing or two from the past — specifically from the town of Springfield, which was arguably Vermont’s first tech hub. As recently as 1980, the machine-tool industry employed about 3,000 people there and defined the town’s social and economic identity. Known as Precision Valley, Springfield was a white-collar community, populated by engineers and executives, with the highest per-capita income in Vermont.

“All of that has flipped 180 degrees,” said Bob Flint, 53, who recalled a time when there were multiple shifts at Jones & Lamson and Bryant Chucking Grinder Company, two of Springfield’s four preeminent machine-tool companies. The town’s streets were once jammed with commuting workers. But now, said Flint, executive director of the Springfield Regional Development Corporation, they have a different traffic problem: drug dealers. Springfield’s household income today is about $10,000 below the Vermont median, and one-third of its residents receive some form of public assistance.

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