BRATTLEBORO-Vermont's non-commercial low-power community radio stations, including WVEW-LP 107.7 FM in Brattleboro, got a big boost from the state Legislature with the inclusion of a one-time $150,000 grant in the fiscal 2026 state budget.
The grant will be divided between the state's seven current community radio stations and three more stations that are under construction and will be on the air in the coming months. The funds will be used to help these volunteer-run broadcasters to upgrade equipment such as transmitters and backup power sources to better respond to emergencies and natural disasters.
The program will be administered through the Vermont Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Vermont Association of Broadcasters (VAB).
Johnny Gifford, executive director of Brattleboro Community Television (BCTV), and John Lightfoot, president of the WVEW Board of Directors, were among the people across the state who helped make this grant a reality.
Brattleboro's two nonprofit media organizations have worked together in recent years, sharing programming and expertise.
Gifford said the effort to secure state funding "has been in the works for some time," but the flash flooding events in Vermont in 2023 and 2024 highlighted the need to get information out to people who have no access to cellular phone or internet service.
"Radio is something that can hold fast," Gifford said. "The infrastructure has been around a long time. There's a reason why it's still around. It's resilient. So we made the case we could be a resource for the community to provide up-to-date, hyperlocal information."
For example, in central Vermont during last summer's flash floods, community radio station WGDR in Plainfield managed to stay on the air during the emergency.
"Community radio in Vermont is very connected, and we learned from what [WGDR was] doing during that time," said Gifford. "They were providing up-to-date information on how to apply for assistance, where to find shelter - whatever people might need. This was something that a small community radio station in Vermont was doing and we felt, 'Why can't we do that too?'"
Lightfoot said a similar example of community radio stepping up in a disaster happened in North Carolina during the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Helene last September that left scores of communities isolated.
"That's the immediacy and resiliency of community radio," he said.
"It was a huge model for us," said Gifford. "It fits nicely into our vision and what our volunteers want to be doing."
WVEW and other community radio stations are already part of the Emergency Alert System (EAS), which broadcasts emergency alerts and warnings to the public.
But under the current Trump administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is facing chaos and cuts in its capacity amid calls from top officials to dismantle the agency.
"We've always had the ability to report on emergencies," said Gifford. "What this money is doing is ensuring our resiliency so that the community can take hold of that responsibility rather than relying on a message from FEMA."
The Legislature steps up
Most Vermont community radio stations operate with no paid staff and with annual budgets of under $25,000. They are too small to get the type of grant funding that could fund significant infrastructure improvements.
Last year's floods in Vermont and North Carolina "were a tragedy, but it was also a wake-up call," said Gifford.
Lightfoot said the community radio stations around Vermont came together to form the Vermont Community Radio Network, which joined with the VAB to lobby the Legislature for assistance.
"We coalesced around the VAB and had monthly calls as the more established stations helped the new stations get off the ground," he said. "That's a little bit of where this funding will go."
The initial ask was for $205,000. "That number ebbed and flowed," said Lightfoot. "Almost nobody thought we'd get money in this budget cycle, and this [would be just] a dry run."
The bill containing the request, H.307, according to an email from VAB executive director Wendy Mays, got delayed for weeks as the Vermont Legislative Council evaluated its financial impact.
The legislation "got introduced late, and before we had a chance to see it or find additional cosponsors, [it] got assigned to the wrong committee (where it is still sitting on the wall never relieved from nor taken up by the House Energy & Digital Infrastructure committee.)"
Mays credited Sen. Andy Perchlik, D-Washington, the new chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, who proposed the community radio grant be tied to funding for the Vermont Access Network (VAN), the association of community media centers in Vermont. That meant that the funding could be administered through the Secretary of State's office.
"Thanks to Johnny Gifford's advocacy for community radio among the VAN board of directors, VAN was supportive of this proposal," Mays wrote. "Although ultimately the grant reverted back to being tied to emergency response through Vermont Department of Public Safety, that proposal and Johnny's advocacy made VAN recognize the value proposition community radio stations collectively provide, which is good for everyone long term."
A series of Budget Conference Committee meetings took place between key members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees.
Mays said these negotiations "were nail-biting to watch, but two things happened to save [the bill]":
First, Perchlik "did not give in during negotiations," she said. And second, "you all stepped up at a moment's notice, activated supporters and let members of the House Appropriations Committee know that this grant matters."
The combination of Perchlik's support - he has been involved with WGDR over the years and is a champion for community radio - and the lobbying of the VAB and the community radio stations turned the tide.
On May 7, at a Budget Conference Committee meeting, lawmakers announced a compromise of funding the grant at $100,000.
Mays said Perchlik then found some money from another program and got the House side to agree to bring the community radio grant funding up to $150,000.
The budget was signed on May 9, and Mays said that, "as far as we know, [it] is a done deal."
"I cannot express enough just how significant and incredible this is," Mays said. "This was our first attempt as a group to try to get funding, and we succeeded where so many others have not. That in and of itself is remarkable!"
Building up an information ecosystem
Lightfoot said WVEW has increased its news and public affairs programming in the past few years.
"We have a new show called The Bratt Cast, where we interview local people and provide updates on what's going on around town," he said. The one-hour show airs live on Wednesdays from 6 to 7 p.m., with a rebroadcast on Thursdays at 7:30 a.m.
"There's been a collaborative spirit between BCTV and WVEW," said Gifford. "Because BCTV is providing so much coverage of local events and government proceedings, we've been rebroadcasting a lot of that on the show."
Gifford, who was a DJ at WVEW before he joined BCTV, said that "there's a really solid group of DJs" now at the radio station "and a really solid board that cares, and that's the only reason why we can do this."
Lightfoot said WVEW had nearly 50 original shows on its schedule. "It's really been thriving," he said. "It took a dive during Covid, but we've really come back."
Also helping with the surge in local programming is the move of WVEW's studios to the ground floor of the High Street & Green Building, next to the Harmony Lot. Since moving into the fully accessible space in 2023, Lightfoot said it has enabled more people to come into the studio to produce programming.
Gifford said WVEW should get its funding from the grant by this fall, with about $25,000 expected.
"Hopefully, by next year, we'll be fully outfitted for an emergency," Gifford said, "but this summer, so long as we're not completely underwater, our programmers will show up and band together to broadcast all the information we need to broadcast."
"We're building something that can serve people," he added. "And people see the worth and the value of what we're doing in those desperate moments."
This News item by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.