Friday edition
September 11, 2026
forestenterprise.org · northeastforests.com
Prepared from public sources. Links lead to original material.
What is useful this week
- Working Lands has put real numbers and dates on its FY27 Business Enhancement round: $10,000–$50,000, no match, applications October 9–December 10, with planning help available now.
- Vermont’s workers-comp guidance makes subcontracting less casual than many small operators assume: the hiring business carries the burden of proving the worker is not an employee.
- NRCS Vermont’s FY27 EQIP signup date is September 25, creating a near-term reason for farm and forest operators to talk with NRCS now rather than later.
- Two sector examples are worth stealing: targeted grazers publish per-acre pricing tied to site difficulty, while trail contractors sell maintenance packages instead of treating every trail as a one-time build.
- For office-heavy work, Vermont’s three-acre stormwater rules create a long pipeline of feasibility, design, permitting, and implementation work extending well beyond the current year.
Best Practical Business Item
Working Lands: start planning before the portal opens
The FY27 Working Lands Business Enhancement Grant opens October 9 and closes December 10. Awards run from $10,000 to $50,000, $508,000 is available, and there is no match requirement. Eligible uses include equipment, infrastructure, market development, R&D, and workforce training. More useful than the opening date: grant-project planning assistance is already available through the Farm & Forest Viability Program, including help thinking through the project and reviewing financial statements.
Why it matters: The best use of the next four weeks is not writing prose; it is choosing one project with a measurable business result and getting the P&L, balance sheet, and 12-month cash-flow projection ready.
Useful for: Emma and Adam directly; also forestry and wood businesses in the broader FBS network.
Labor / Subcontractors / Risk
In Vermont, “subcontractor” is not just what you call the person
Vermont Department of Labor guidance says that if you pay an individual to perform work, workers-comp coverage may be your responsibility unless you can document one of the recognized exceptions. The state recommends written agreements and proof of coverage or an approved exclusion where applicable; it also puts the burden of proof on the hiring entity.
Why it matters: A $35–$60/hour subcontractor can become much more expensive if the relationship is later treated as employment or if an injury falls back on the hiring business. The paperwork belongs in the job-cost calculation, not in a file drawer after the fact.
Useful for: Jeff, Tom, Cory, Adam and any member who uses occasional labor.
Pricing / Field Example
Targeted grazing: make the hard parts visible in the price
California operator ScapeGoats publicly prices lighter, accessible ground at roughly $850–$1,000 per acre and dense brush or steep/rocky terrain at about $1,000–$1,800 per acre, plus transportation. The exact numbers are regional, but the pricing structure is portable: forage density, terrain, fencing difficulty, water access, transport, setup and daily care are explicit price drivers.
Why it matters: This is better than one blended “goat rate.” It turns site difficulty into a visible scope variable and gives the customer a reason why two acres are not necessarily twice the same job.
Useful for: Adam directly; also anyone pricing field work with highly variable site conditions.
Value-Added / Recurring Revenue
A trail contractor selling maintenance packages
ProTrail, a mountain-bike trail contractor in Washington, separates new builds from restoration and explicitly offers maintenance packages to keep trails in condition over time. That is a small wording choice with a large business implication: the relationship does not end when construction does.
Why it matters: Maintenance can turn reputation and installed work into recurring revenue, smooth shoulder seasons, and provide appropriate work for less-experienced crew members. A proposal can price year-one construction with optional one-, three-, or five-year maintenance.
Useful for: Tom directly; also George and Jeff for any service where the completed project creates future maintenance work.
Field / Technical Business Example
Vermont stormwater work has a long runway
Vermont’s current three-acre rules set October 1, 2027 as the application deadline for affected sites in the Lake Champlain, Lake Memphremagog and stormwater-impaired watersheds, with permit coverage due October 1, 2028 and implementation of treatment practices generally by October 1, 2033. DEC maintains the site list, engineering-feasibility materials and a list of stormwater engineering firms.
Why it matters: For a small engineering practice, this is not one deadline; it is a multi-year pipeline of feasibility, budgeting, design, permitting, owner representation and construction-related work. The sales question is which owners need help earliest and which assignments can be productized into a defined feasibility package.
Useful for: Cory directly; George may also see construction/drainage opportunities downstream.
Grants / Programs / Opportunities
NRCS Vermont EQIP: September 25 signup date
NRCS Vermont lists September 25, 2026 as the FY27 EQIP signup date. EQIP can support agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers with practices addressing soil, water, erosion, habitat, drought and related resource concerns.
Why it matters: The useful move is a conservation-planning conversation now. Even when the payment goes to the landowner rather than the service business, funded practices can create demand for fencing, grazing infrastructure, forestry work and related implementation.
Useful for: Adam and Emma directly; potentially Jeff and other forestry service providers through client projects.
Value-Added / Market Development
Butterfly Bakery moved from word-of-mouth to intentional growth
A recent Vermont Working Lands case study describes Butterfly Bakery’s shift after more than 20 years of mostly organic, word-of-mouth growth. A 2025 Business Enhancement Grant supported a deliberate marketing and communications strategy aimed at stronger branding, national reach and direct-to-consumer sales.
Why it matters: Good reputation is an asset, but it is not automatically a sales system. The useful question is what repeatable mechanism turns “people know we do good work” into inquiries, repeat purchases, referrals or maintenance work.
Useful for: Emma and Tom most directly; broadly useful to the whole group.
Mental Model / Better Decision
Goals point; systems produce
James Clear’s useful distinction is that goals choose a direction while systems are what repeatedly generate the result. For a small business, that means “improve cash flow” is not yet operational; invoicing every Friday, keeping a tax reserve, reviewing receivables weekly, and requiring deposits on certain jobs are systems.
Why it matters: This is especially useful where the same frustration recurs. If pricing, office work, follow-up, maintenance sales or job closeout keeps slipping, the question is not whether the goal matters enough. It is whether there is a repeatable trigger and process.
Useful for: Everyone, especially Jeff and Emma on time management and Tom on slow-season preparation.
Worth Discussing at the Next Meeting
What work are you still treating as a one-off that could become a system or recurring offer?
Examples might be trail maintenance after construction, annual invasive-plant follow-up, recurring stormwater inspections, seasonal fence work, repeat farm-product boxes, or a standardized feasibility package. The interesting part is not merely identifying the service — it is deciding what has to be standardized enough that selling it a second time is easier than selling it the first.