Why Green Mountain Spinnery
This company was formed by a gathering of local artisans and educators recalling the phrase “think globally and act locally”. In Claire Wilson’s case, she and her husband had met at the progressive Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Together they were raising a family, with Norm Wilson directing Antioch’s first graduate school, located in Putney.
At Norm’s early and very unfortunate passing, Claire organized a local gathering based on the national network of activists committed to the principles of nonviolence called Movement for a New Society, originating in Philadelphia PA.
David and Diana, both graduates of the School for International Training, joined the study group formed as a result of the gatherings. For at least two years, a group of 10 to 15 participants met monthly to think globally about issues of the day and then ask where things stood in our own neighborhood. Much of the world was increasingly concerned over our inability to provide healthy food, in a milieu of fertilizers and pesticides. We were reading Frances Moore Lappe’s “Diet for a Small Planet” in a time of heavy dependence on California produce. Recent arrivals in Vermont were starting new smaller farms, and earlier in the same decade, the Northeast Organic Farmers Assoc., in Vermont, had just been founded.
Meanwhile in the fiber world, old local textile related mills were closing.
Both Claire and Libby, with recent memories of knitting for soldiers in World War II, were sourcing their preferred yarns mostly from Europe. It was Claire, in her quiet, but determined voice who was asking, “When I see sheep in these hills, why do I find no yarn made with their wool?”
Dedication to the Cause
At this time many locals were learning how to practice nonviolent civil disobedience in Movement for a New Society affinity groups to protest the construction of the Seabrook Nuclear plant in New Hampshire. Their dedication to the cause precipitated Claire and Libby finding themselves in a prison cell together. For them, this became “the” unexpected moment available to consider a response to Claire’s question and to now go from defending the environment to championing it with dreams for an ideal enterprise. We had studied from a book called “Small Is Beautiful’, and all of us were determined to create a democratic, shared workplace that could connect our crafts-people to these hills in Vermont.
It was also our wish to serve the local shepherds, who were doing the daily challenging work of caring for the land and animals, by spinning their wool and increasing its value to them, as local yarn, to bring to their consumers. Farmers’ markets were just then proliferating.
We made a list of friends, in our local community, asking them if they would consider loans, with various terms. Wow! For some reason they liked the idea which got us hopeful.
Soon we found three graduate students from The Tuck School of Business to help us in something which we had zero experience with: creating a business plan and selling it to the community. They were able to advocate for us as we met with suited executives from Vermont Industrial Development Association (still in existence today). A recent visit by one of the former students said that our project was the envy of their class. Yes, we got that loan!
Doing It On Our Terms
Of course we wanted this on our terms and created our Statement of Purpose expressing our concern for the lands and animals grazing on them, the surrounding community, and our own in-house dedicated workers.
Asked recently how a company, situated between the farms and the spinning-knitting-weaving community, with so many unknown challenges, could get on its own feet, and then continue to remain a vibrant enterprise?
Claire very quietly will tell you: “You have to really love and believe in what you are doing.”
From left: David, Diane, Libby and Claire receiving the loan and first big break from the Vermont Industrial Development Association (1980?)
Green Mountain Spinnery Today
The company you see here today began from these roots. We have witnessed many changes as our community, locally and nationally, has become more conscious about the potential of natural fibers. So too has grown this realization about the jeopardy of our planet and the need across the globe to regenerate our soils.
As workers with the fibers, we have our own inner soils to care for and how to handle all this creation as a team. Then comes this incredible gift of what these grazers or plants (like organic cotton) can contribute and the variety of beauty we can realize from them.
Our original statement of purpose is still the basis of our mission today:
We hope you can enjoy and participate with us now at Green Mountain Spinnery.
Our Mission
The purpose of the Green Mountain Spinnery can be summarized in the four
following areas:
- To produce and sell the finest American wool yarn from New England sheep
for use by handweavers and knitters. We want to process a wide range of
natural fibers which are locally available and to enhance them with
outstanding colors. We also would like to produce lanolin. - To scale our production (approximately 600 lbs. per week) in ways that
- minimize adverse effects on the environment
- minimize the need for shipping raw materials and finished yarn over long
distances
- To work toward self-reliance in our geographical region by
- providing specialty yarns to area crafts people
- providing a service to sheep breeders, not otherwise available, through
custom processing and fleece acquisition, and thus encouraging diversified
farming using regionally available raw materials to make a product needed in the region - being a model small business geared to meet a regional need; encouraging
others in similar ventures - working toward using a locally available renewable energy resource to
heat our building, heat our water, and power our machinery. Converting to
that source as soon as possible.
- To create a vital work environment where workers are challenged to make use of their skills. To evolve into a worker-owned business.