VINS puts its name on 'green' furniture
July 12, 2006
By Bruce Edwards Rutland Herald
The Vermont Institute of Natural Science is partnering with a Ludlow company to create a branded line of handcrafted "green" furniture, with a portion of sales benefiting VINS.
It's part of a larger partnership between VINS and ClearLake Furniture to develop interior spaces and create select furnishings for the organization's new 7,000-square-foot headquarters in Quechee.
The 30-year-old Woodstock-based environmental organization is transforming 46 acres between Route 4 and the Ottauquechee River into an environmental learning center that focuses on the latest environmental issues using exhibits, programs and workshops.
As VINS relocates from Woodstock, the organization is seeking to develop innovative partnerships with businesses and public and private stakeholders, VINS president Jason Drebitko said Tuesday.
"In terms of the building, we're trying to source as many materials locally as possible," Drebitko said. "Lighting for instance, we're looking to speak withHubbardton Forge and use local slate and wood for floors."
He added that with the number of "local resources here in Vermont, it makes sense to support the local economy."
The partnership with ClearLake also provides VINS with a new source of revenue.
"It will be a single piece of furniture that will be branded for VINS, the sale of which would benefit VINS programs and mission-related activities," Drebitko said.
He said ClearLake will also donate two pieces of furniture a year to help VINS' fund-raising efforts.
"This project is one of those type of programs to find new sources of revenue to underwrite mission-related work," Drebitko said. "Nonprofits are being forced to look at earned-revenue opportunities."
VINS annual operating budget of $2 million is funded from individual gifts and donations, grants and revenues from entrance and program fees and the gift shop.
For Frank Procopio of ClearLake Furniture, the partnership with VINS is a natural fit.
"I just think it's a great partnership," said Procopio, who owns ClearLake Furniture with partner Brent Karner. "Our philosophies are very similar, two totally different organizations, but the preservation of natural resources is important to both of us."
While no decision has been made, Procopio they'll likely introduce one piece of furniture a year to be marketed as "The VINS Collection at ClearLake Furniture," or similar name.
The first piece to be introduced in the fall will likely be a "very unique" small table that converts into a dining table.
"It's going to have some unique inlays in it appropriate for VINS, perhaps a natural motif of a leaf or an organic-type form," he said.
For the time being, Procopio said he's inclined to stay with smaller pieces that would be available for sale at the VINS gift shop, at ClearLake's Ludlow showroom and on the Web.
He said other likely future pieces are a rocker, side table and bench.
As far as price, Procopio said a ballpark figure for the rocker would be in the $950 to $1,200 range.
ClearLake Furniture is "green" because it uses only Forest Stewardship Council-certified woods with the furniture guaranteed for life. The wood is also a renewable resource and organic versus synthetic.
The Forest Stewardship Council is a 25-country consortium of environmentally conscious timber operators and others with woods harvested from sustainable forests.
ClearLake Furniture is made from cherry, oak, walnut and maple. Each piece is handcrafted, signed, numbered and dated.
A $2.5 million federal grant is funding construction of the VINS office and program building as well as additional exhibits. VINS is scheduled to move its Woodstock offices to Quechee in October.
It marks phase two of a three-phase project that is transforming the VINS site from a nature center focused on its raptor exhibits to a leading environmental learning center that will showcase the organization's conservation biology and education work in a campus setting.
Phase one of the environmental learning center project opened in June 2004 and included 17 state-of-the-art raptor exhibits, a nature trail and gift shop.
Drebitko said that the third phase of the project, in the planning stage, will focus on broadening the content and number of partners on site to offer year-round programming and activities for residents as well as tourists.
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