The Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce is your one-stop source
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Let us know if we can be of any service to you.

We would love to hear from you. Please send us an e-mail letting us know your business needs, ideas, and suggestions. We'll correspond back and let you know how we think it will fit in here in Our Town.

Brandon on the Rebound. A November 20, 2003 Rutland Herald editorial featured Brandon with the headliner "Brandon on the Rebound." The editorial focuses on the dedicated townspeople who have worked hard to achieve downtown improvement. Civic pride, revitalized buildings, and and improved cultural life are some of the outcomes. "Everyone benefits when Vermont's villages receive the attention of civic-minded and dedicated individuals who have the will and resources to carry out complex and costly improvement projects. A walk through Brandon is proof of it." 
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Downtown is Complete. Within a one mile walk, downtown Brandon offers residents and visitors two banks, municipal offices, medical offices (general practitioners, dental, physical therapist, and veterinarian), a pharmacy, a supermarket, post office, a hardware store, a florist, lumberyard, a bookstore, hair salons, insurance, legal, and real estate offices, library, laundromat, restaurants, video store, clothing shops, gift shops, two fine country inns, several bed & breakfast inns, antique shops, and art galleries. Add to that three town greens, a pocket park with waterfall, and magnificent 19th century architecture -- The picture is just about perfect  (see the next entry for a couple of additions that would really round out the picture!!). 
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We Are Looking for These Types of Businesses. Brandon has industrial and commercial space available for small businesses -- either start-ups or relocations. Contact us for further information and we will assist as possible to get your business up and running in Brandon. Here is a partial list of spaces available. Please see the list of "businesses" needed on our homepage.
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Schools are Exceptional. Neshobe School serve just over 300 students in grades K-6. Well-known for its family atmosphere and dedicated staff, Neshobe, located in Forest Dale, is a warm and welcoming school which boasts impressive curriculum and co-curricular schedule.  All children study music, French, physical education, and art on a weekly basis. Older children participate in band and chorus! The school's computer lab is state-of-the-art. Neshobe School has many after-school sports opportunities for students in all grades.
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Otter Valley Union High School enrolls approximately 700 students in grades 7-12 from six surrounding towns. OVUHS provides an excellent opportunity and its students have had some of the state's top SAT scores in the past few years as well as several National Merit Scholars. The school offers an exceptional array of subjects, AP courses, alternative programs, clubs, theater, music, and outstanding sports teams. They have a nationally ranked debate team and sport teams routinely compete for state championships. The school is located three miles south of downtown Brandon on Route 7.

TheThe Moosalamoo Center for Experiential Education is an alternative program at OVUHS. The program offers learning opportunities through experience & reflection. In addition to the regular academic curriculum, educational experiences are often derived from travel, community resource instruction, as well as a progressive, individualized contract designed by the student and staff advisor. Specifically, this program is geared toward students who learn better when challenging, hands-on experiences are combined with traditional, classroom-based instruction. Creativity, problem solving, self motivation, initiative, and inquisitiveness are typical traits of a successful experiential high school student.

In addition to top-quality schools, Brandon has a number of Scouting Troops. Troop 111 is a Boy Scout troop, chartered by the Neshobe Sportsman's Club, Dan Boyce, Scoutmaster, 802-247-4842.

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Service Network is Abundant. Brandon’s young child services are outstanding. Available services include private home day cares, a non-profit day care center (Children’s Growth Company) and pre-school through high school public school system. The Parent-Child Center at Neshobe is a great resource for families of young children. For older residents, the Brandon Senior Citizens, Inc. are a very active group. The Brandon Town Office is an excellent resource for all types of information from permitting to zoning to transfer station hours.
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Home to Several State-of-the-Art Manufacturers. 

The New England Slate Co. -- Specializing in providing quality roofing slate for repair work, restorations, and new construction. Located in Pittsford.
New England Woodcraft -- A family owned and operated furniture manufacturer based in Forest Dale which supplies high-end solid wood furniture directly from the factory to the buyer .
Neo-ems -- A state-of-the-art custom contract manufacturing business.
Tucel Industries -- A leading research-driven manufacturing corporation that discovers, develops, innovates, manufactures and markets the broadest range of hygienic cleaning tools for our habitat, health and hygiene. 
Vermont Tubbs --  Manufacturer of fine home beds and bedroom furniture, as well as living room hardwood furniture. 
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Job Opportunities Abound. A robust Vermont economy has kept Brandon’s businesses hopping. A variety of jobs are available. Please refer to the Chamber of Commerce's Membership Directory for a complete list of area businesses and contact those of interest to you. The Rutland Herald is the daily newspaper with most of the area's job listings. The Addison Independent, out of Middlebury, is published twice weekly and also covers Brandon.
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Business Services. Route 7, Vermont's main north/south corridor on the western side of the state, runs through Brandon, and we are at the crossroads of Route 73. This is good news for your visitors, your packages, and your transportation needs. National services such as USPS, UPS, RPS, and FedEx make daily stops in Brandon. Both the Rutland Airport and Burlington International Airport are close enough for your business travels. The Ethan Allen Express is the daily Amtrack rail service between New York City and Rutland (15 miles south of Brandon). 
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Brandon’s Arts & Antiques Niche is Growing and Growing. While Warren Kimble might be the best known artist in the area, he is not the only one. And now that he has closed his public gallery / museum, you can find his art elsewhere in town. Visit Brandon's art cooperative, the Brandon Artists Guild, located in downtown. Brandon's arts and crafts school, Country Owl Studio, has an impressive array of courses and original art for sale. Liza Myers, artist of "Wild, Real & Possible Things" has established an impressive studio downtown co-located with her husband Jim's frame shop, James Frames. Antique shops in Brandon, Antiques By The Falls, Branford House Antiques, and 4 Conant Interior Design, have a wide variety of antiques, collectibles, and one-of-a-kind treasures. Gallery in-the-Field is a gallery of contemporary art located at 685 Arnold District Road. The Judith Reilly Gallery, featuring Judith's fabric art, is open on Friday and Saturday afternoons at 24 Conant Square. Visit with Judy in her historic home and marvel at her quilts and pen and ink drawings. Also visit the Medana Gabbard Gallery at 1340 Grove St. (Route 7 North), open seasonally. Artisans at the Bend is located "at the bend" on Route 7 near the edge of the village. The barn is a studio/gallery for creating contemporary folk art paintings and sculpture.

In Proctor, visit the Vermont Marble Museum -- Worlds Largest Marble Museum - Movie, Hall of Presidents, Artist in Residence, Marble Office, Bathroom, Chapel, Kitchen, “Earth Alive” Geology display room, Calcium Carbonate in everyday life, Sample Room, Plaster and “Pointing” display, Marble Market, Custom Marble Work, Extensive gift shop, Quarry Trail, Wine Tastings, Relics, 100 displays and much more. Open 7days a week, 9:00–5:00, Mid May to November. Large parking lot.  Tour Groups Welcome. Call 800-427-1396 or 802-459-2300. 52 Main St., Proctor; 

There are winter arts events which bring many local and state-wide performers to town, helping to warm up many a cool winter night. Briggs Carriage Bookstore, Gallery in-the-Field, and the Brandon Inn host other performances throughout the year. Annually, the Chamber of Commerce sponsors a free Summer Concert Series in Central Park. During the second weekend in July, Wyman’s Pond is transformed into a home for thousands of bluegrass music lovers enjoying the Basin Bluegrass Festival. Branbury State Park, located on the shore of Lake Dunmore, serves up a whole calendar of events throughout the summer. In 2008, the Brandon Town Hall will open to the public and will host cultural and arts events.

Brandon's Independence Day Celebration is the largest in the State and is held annually on the Saturday closest to July 4th. Besides the spectacular parade, the day-long event offers children's activities, a Neshobe River ball race, a fiddler's contest, concessions, fireworks at dusk and more.

Be sure to check out all the area's events.
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Agriculture is Still Important in Brandon. Several successful dairy farms still exist in Brandon providing an important link to the area's agricultural history and inspiration to today's local artists! Wood’s Market Gardens, a farmstand specializing in locally grown organic produce and flowers, is open seasonally. For the pick- your- own- blueberry crowd, head to Blueberry Hill Management Area, situated just up the road in Goshen in the Green Mountain National Forest. The New England Maple Museum houses a phenomenal collection of maple sugaring tools of the trade — both historic and current and a lovely gift shop with a wide array of maple treats. You can visit Kirby's Happy Hoofers and see Mohair on the hoof. They are a very small farm devoted to producing mohair and raising registered Angora Goats and a few Shetland and Icelandic Sheep. See Angora Goats of all ages as well what is produced from our fiber. Mittens lined with mohair or socks occasionally available for sale. Directions: Rte 73 East 1.5 miles from the Brandon Inn, the 4th house on the right past the turn to the Golf Course (Barn is not visible from the road). No charge for visits but please call ahead. 802-247-3124.  And located north of Brandon is Maple View Farm Alpacas, which specializes in alpacas. Come learn about these gentle, intelligent creatures then browse the farm store, which features garments, accessories, yarns and toys made from luxurious alpaca fiber. Farm visits are by chance or by appointment. (185 Adams, Brandon. For more information, call 247-5412
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A Full Spiritual Life. Brandon’s many churches provide a combination spiritual and social life for area residents:
    Brandon Baptist Church
    Brandon Congregational Church
    St. Mary’s Catholic Church
    St. Thomas Episcopal Church
    United Methodist Church
In Forest Dale:
    Grace Episcopal Church
    Forest Dale Wesleyan Church
    Living Water Assembly of God
In Leicester:
    Church of the Nazarene
    St. Agnes Catholic Church