ClimateReadyVT

Small Business Resilience for a Changing World

ClimateReadyVT is a FREE, self-guided, digital course helping small businesses in Vermont adapt to our changing climate and prepare for climate-related business disruptions.

Busy? Under pressure? Juggling multiple priorities? This program is for you! Download the workbook and learn through the self-guided modules below. You will emerge with a Climate Resilience Action Plan that you can share with your team and use year after year!

Whether you’re a solopreneur, a solar company, or a community café, ClimateReadyVT can help you build confidence in managing your business through climate-related disruptions.

This program was created by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) and was made possible by our sponsors: Efficiency Vermont, The Northern Forest Center, and Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA). Scroll down to learn more about these incredible sponsors!

Self-Guided Course

Complete the form on the right hand side bar to download the workbook for activities & prompt questions as you work through the course! 

Welcome - Start here!

Module 1: Building Emotional Resilience - Mental and physical health are your most valuable business assets!

Module 2: Understanding Climate Change Exposure - 

Module 3: Assessing Risk - 

Module 4: Operations, Continuity & Support - 

Module 5: Legal, Financial, & Insurance - 

Module 6: Human Resources and Communications - 

My Climate Change Resilience Story (Example) - See how it's done!

My Climate Change Resilience Story (Template) - Complete your own!

Hear from ClimateReadyVT alumni!

This course is brought to you by:

ClimateReadyVT was created by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility in Fall 2023 in response to the increasingly urgent need for climate resilience programming that is accessible for small Vermont businesses and empowers them to grow from being reactive to proactive in the face of climate adaptation. ​​

This course is made possible through our sponsors:

Efficiency Vermont helps business and residents reduce their energy bills by incorporating practical, energy-saving measures through incentives, technical assistance, and other support. As the nation’s first energy efficiency utility, they're helping Vermont transition to a more affordable and cleaner future. Their work has helped Vermonters achieve more than $3.3 billion in lifetime savings through efficiency investments and avoided more than 14.1 million metric tons of greenhouse gases. They work with partners throughout the state to save customers money, strengthen the state’s economy, lower emissions, and support the state's clean energy workforce.​

• Rebates for energy-efficient products and services

• Technical guidance that meets you where you are

• Energy loans for businesses and homes

• Training, technical support, and market opportunities for trade professionals

We invest in people and communities to secure regional prosperity and a resilient landscape. The 30-million-acre Northern Forest is the foundation of that vibrant future.

Stretching across northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York, the Northern Forest is home to 2 million people, a destination for world-class outdoor adventure and a $33 billion piston in the region’s economy. The forest is a source of clean air, clean water, and renewable forest products, and its forests store billions of tons of carbon.

With your help, we bring innovation and investment to strengthen communities and shape an economy that sustains both people and nature. Read about our Vision and Mission.

VEDA is Vermont’s statewide economic development lender. VEDA’s mission is to contribute to Vermont’s economic vitality by providing financing programs to businesses that create jobs and help advance Vermont’s public policy goals. Since 1974, VEDA has provided over $2.8 billion in financing to thousands of Vermont entrepreneurs, manufacturers, small businesses, clean energy producers and agricultural enterprises, helping them realize their goals, create jobs, and enhance the vitality of Vermont’s economy. In collaboration with financial institutions and other lenders, VEDA's diverse loan programs help businesses and farmers grow, prosper and create a more vibrant economy for all Vermonters.

With support from:

Download the workbook & follow along!

Download the Climate Resilience Action Plan Workbook for prompt questions, activities, and a place to capture your findings and insights as you work through the course modules.