Vermont Business Magazine Names Three Rising Stars in Bennington County

The annual Vermont Business Magazine Top 40 Under 40, or “Rising Stars” names have been released and three from Bennington County have made the list.

Award recipients were selected by a panel of judges for their commitment to business growth, professional excellence and involvement in their communities.

“We are thrilled by the response to this initiative to recognize these up-and-coming leaders, this is our tenth year” said VBM Publisher John Boutin. “We received over 240 outstanding nominations this year. The five judges had a difficult time picking the top 40. These young professionals have chosen to make Vermont home. For these young professionals it’s not just about business. It’s about them making a difference in their communities,” Boutin said.

Kelly Clarke of Centerline Architects in Bennington, as well as Morgan Oldham of the Bennington Rescue Squad made the list. Joshua Sherman of Old Mill Road Recording of Arlington also made the list. Kelly Clarke joined Centerline Architects 6 years ago as a designer after graduating from Roger Williams University, in Bristol, Rhode Island. Recently, Clarke passed her Vermont State exams becoming a licensed Vermont State Architect. Clarke is currently working on the renovations to the Saint Anthony Hall located at Williams College, an iconic building sited in one of Williamstown’s most visible locations at the corner of Main Street and South Street. She is also an Architecture License Mentor for other young architects looking to become licensed. In addition to her work, Clarke is an active volunteer for a number of community events and organizations including Online Sales Captain at Garlicfest, board member of the Shires Young Professional group, and has been on the Better Bennington Corporation (Downtown Improvement Commission) for the downtown district of the Bennington community where she designed Park at 336 on Main Street pro bono.

As Director of Administration for the Bennington Rescue Squad, Morgan Oldham oversees a department of three administrative staff while co-guiding 40 clinical providers regarding documentation. She manages medical billing for three agencies including data entry, insurance billing, reimbursement follow up, appeals, and collections. Oldham also provides Human resources skills to the Squad including hiring, disciplinary, worker’s compensation, maintaining employee records, and payroll processing. For community service, Oldham helped develop, organize, market “RescueFest”, a community fundraising event. She also reads books to the local elementary schools in observation of Read Across America Day, assists with Teacher Appreciation Day, ran the Elementary School’s Holiday Bazaar, was a DREAM mentor for at-risk kids in low incoming housing situations and made quilts for pre-mature babies.

Joshua Sherman is making a significant impact in Southern Vermont through his professional and artistic pursuits. In 2014, Sherman purchased an historic gristmill and two surrounding buildings in East Arlington. The Mill and the evolving campus (recording studio, gallery, farm, artist development program) and many more initiatives is a major contributor to Arlington’s revitalization. Old Mill Road Recording is now a state-of-the-art luxury destination recording studio and has featured in-house GRAMMY ® Winning Engineer Benjamin J. Arrindell. Sherman’s daytime job of being a medical doctor at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center hospital is equally impactful. He is active in theatre including developing a play about life of Norman Rockwell (Perfect Picture) that has been shown at Southern Vermont Arts Center. Sherman is also the Owner/Publisher of Vermont Magazine, Stratton Magazine, Manchester Life, and the Vermont News Guide.

Rising Star Judge, Bennington Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Chair of the Shires Young Professionals group, and past Rising Star Matt Harrington said of this year’s recipients, “It is encouraging and exciting to see another class of Rising Stars emerge out of our region of Vermont. Knowing each one personally only adds to the level of excitement. It is a top honor in the State of Vermont and all 40, including Kelly, Morgan and Josh, should be commended and celebrated!”

Vermont Business Magazine will honor Vermont's most accomplished young leaders at the Rising Stars dinner on November 7th, 2019. The dinner will be held at the Delta Hotel in South Burlington. The honorees will also be featured in the November issue of Vermont Business Magazine. Of the 40 honorees, there are 15 men and 25 women. There are 15 from Chittenden County, 8 from Windham County, 7 from Rutland County, 3 from Bennington County, 2 from Caledonia County, 1 from Washington County, 1 from Lamoille County, 1 from Franklin County , 1 from Addison County, and 1 from Orange County. The average age of the honorees is 33 years old. The oldest is 39 and the youngest is 25 years old.