Business View Civil and Municipal | February 2021

87 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL FEBRUARY 2021 with a downturn in the economy, a decreasing population, and a bit of a rough reputation from the opioid crisis, it hasn’t let that hold it back. New businesses, residents, and visitors are welcomed with open arms. Citizens of Rutland consistently pull together to take care of each other and the community at large whenever issues crop up. They volunteer in droves to help those struggling – no matter what the cause. Mayor David Allaire believes that the challenges helped people come together. He shares, “I think that’s made us grow stronger in a lot of other ways. We look out for each other. We have been through a few natural disasters, recently, with a couple of wind storms and floods. That seems to be when our community rises to its best level, so we’re very proud of the community feel that we have here in the City of Rutland.” Brennan Duffy, Executive Director of the Rutland Redevelopment Authority, reflects, “The population decline problem isn’t Rutland specific, but encompasses the entire New England region. Rutland isn’t alone there. We RUTLAND , VERMONT have taken on some initiatives to address that issue as a state problem, a regional problem, and a municipal problem.” The city is surrounded by the Town of Rutland, which is a separate municipality now, but they have recently begun working together to help elevate the profiles of both municipalities and to help solve challenges they jointly share. Because, as Allaire says, “We believe what’s good for us is what’s also good for them.” The City of Rutland began as a small hamlet on Otter Creek in the early 19th century. At the time, it was called Mill Village and was always surrounded by the town of Rutland, which was named by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1761 after John Manners, third Duke of Rutland. Back then, small high-quality marble deposits were found in Rutland, and in the 1830s a large deposit of almost completely solid marble was found in what is now West Rutland. By the 1840s, small firms had begun excavating, but marble quarries proved profitable only after the railroad arrived in 1851.