Northern Border Regional Commission

Overview

The Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) is a federal-state partnership that invests in economic and community development projects to enhance infrastructure, job creation, and quality of life in rural and distressed areas of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.

In 2022 and 2023, Persimmon pulled together a team of three talented consultants (Bina M. Patel, Sasha Tracy, and Michael LeVert) to conduct a large-scale, multilayered research process on NBRC’s behalf. Deliverables included a literature-based landscape analysis; conducting over 70 one-on-one virtual qualitative interviews with infrastructure professionals and community leaders across the region; surveying nearly 200 professionals about their region’s infrastructure needs; and compiling key findings into a final report.

Throughout the project, the team made a concerted effort to listen deeply to everyday people across the region with diverse perspectives and experiences, including workers, town managers, Indigenous Peoples, energy efficiency experts, and community organizers. You can read more about the resulting program — the Catalyst Program — here.