History of the WRC

Created in 1965, the WRC (then called the Windham Regional Planning Commission) was Vermont’s first regional planning commission. People in seventeen Windham County towns understood that there was a growing list of complex, technical issues that exceeded the expertise and experience of the layperson volunteers who make up our selectboards, planning commissions and other town governing bodies. Today, the WRC provides service to 27 towns in Windham, Windsor and Bennington Counties. Windham Regional Commission’s history is the history of the Region since the 60s.

Booklet: The Windham Regional Commission – Celebrating 50 Years

Read the booklet: PDF

Former WRC staff member Greg Brown has authored “The Windham Regional Commission – Celebrating 50 Years” to tell the history of the WRC.  But this document tells more than just the story of organization.  The founding and growth of the WRC is rooted in the history of the region itself, from the dramatic cultural and land use changes of the 1960’s and 1970’s through the challenges of today, and what may lay ahead.  It is as much a 50-year history of Southeastern Vermont.  

WRC Founders Bill Schmidt and Corky Elwell kick-off the Windham Regional Commission’s 50 Years of Service series looking at the early days of the organization.

Bill Schmidt and April Hensel talk about the development and history of Vermont’s ACT 250 in a presentation to the Windham Regional Commission’s monthly meeting held on March 31, 2015, at the Townshend Town Hall.

WRC Commissioners (and former executive director and staff member respectively) Lew Sorenson and Greg Brown talk about the history of Vermont’s Act 200 and the role the Commission played its development

Former Windham Regional Executive Directors Bill Schmidt and Jim Matteau talk about the Commission’s role in changing the way human resources were perceived by agencies and non-profits locally and across the state of Vermont.

The Windham Regional Commission celebrates its 50th Year on June 25, 2015, with this gathering at SIT in Brattleboro headlined by keynote speaker Governor Peter Shumlin.