Ann Helmus

Vice-Chair

Growing up in suburban NJ, Ann’s happiest days were spent tromping around the woods and streams at a cabin we built in southern Vermont and at wilderness camp in the Adirondacks. Wanting her children to have those experiences, they bought an old farmhouse in Concord in 2000. Over the years, Ann juggled motherhood (kids, dogs, cats—2 of each!) with working as a pediatric neuropsychologist and owning a multi-disciplinary practice providing evaluation and treatment services for children with special needs. She spent 25 years on clinical work, evaluating children and working with their parents and teachers on a plan to support them to function to their full potential. As the business grew to 40 employees and 4 locations in New England, she set aside clinical work for the day to day demands of running a small business. Outside of work, Ann enjoys walking in the woods with her rescue dog, Rio, riding bikes on the rail trail, hiking in the White Mountains, and being part of the local gym.

Jim Levison

Treasurer

Jim and his wife moved to Lyndon in 2019 with their daughter and son-in-law. They were drawn to the region by the community and people, the natural beauty, and the potential of the NEK. When asked “what gets you out of bed in the morning?” Jim responded that it is the excitement and challenge of building and creating new and better solutions, teams, and companies. Jim began his career as a Certified Public Accountant before receiving an MBA from Dartmouth College and working in consulting and management roles for start-up companies. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer for Peel Therapeutics, Inc. A startup biotech oncology and inflammation drug discovery company, in addition to consulting with a number of other organizations. He has helped manage and grow over a dozen start-up companies and not-profit organizations. Jim lives and works on a farm with two Bernese Mountain Dogs and 700 chickens producing eggs for daughter and son-in-law’s commercial pasta business.

Brandolyn Bradley

Brandolyn has been living in Saint Johnsbury since she moved her family from Winooski in 2022 when she saw Saint J and Caledonia County’s potential for families. She was born in Ohio, raised in Virginia, and went to college in Vermont. She has a three-year-old daughter and is a fully remote employee of the University of Vermont Medical Center in Neurology (movement disorders). Brandolyn is passionate about community organizing, diversity, equity, inclusion and creating safe, happy, and healthy communities for all. She has a BA and MA in Psychology, focusing on social justice.

James Sweeney

James has a consultancy and has been the chief technical officer for a family run chocolatier for over 15 years. He owns all facets of technology for a growing retail organization, from infrastructure and the integrations for multiple retail locations to e-commerce and the production floor. He’s responsible for selecting, deploying and managing all technologies and ensuring productivity, efficiency and internal and external satisfaction with the same. James also serves on St Johnsbury’s knob property management committee, donates his time to support the Athenaeum’s technical infrastructure, and works to liaise between other state and local library leaders and the NEK’s regional broadband initiatives. James has degrees in Computer Science, Psychology and Library/Information Sciences. He and his wife and their two boys live in St Johnsbury.

Jay Craven

Jay moved to Vermont in 1974 and since then has worked to organize and advance the arts and film in the Northeast Kingdom. In 1975, he started Catamount Arts. It was first a film series that expanded to include performing arts Presentations. In 1991 he left Catamount to start Kingdom County Productions to make movies, and since then has made 10 feature films, 6 documentaries, 4 radio variety shows for Vermont Public Radio, and an Emmy-winning comedy TV series for Vermont Public Television. Jay has also taught cinema studies, directing and screenwriting to college students as a tenured professor. In 2009, he led the re-establishment of a Northeast Kingdom performance series (KCP Presents). In 2015, forged a partnership for the series with Catamount Arts. He has served on the following boards: The Riverside School, Haymarket Peoples Fund, and the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. He has also consulted on organizational development and planning with Burlington City Arts, The Onion River Arts Council and more than fifty northeastern community arts organizations.

Karina Weiss

Karina’s interest in where her food came from started at a young age. As she entered high school she took a deep dive into veganism and organic foods. In college, she volunteered at a local urban garden and started a Fair Trade Café on campus with fellow students. Now as an adult, local and organic foods are a true passion. She and her husband decided to make the move north, seeking a much-desired life in the mountains. They found a small alternative boarding school for students who needed a change of pace from the traditional high school experience. During their time there, they taught a class that focused on food systems and composting, in which they brought students to local farms throughout NH to learn about where their food comes from. Karina and her family now live in St. Johnsbury, where she works as the Director of Education at the Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to aid our community and support our local farms, by bringing a food co-op to St. Johnsbury.

Mark Clough

Mark works as Vice President and Commercial Loan Officer of the Northeast Kingdom – based Community National Bank, taking care of the needs of CNB’s business customers and prospective customers throughout Caledonia County. Mark and his wife Lorraine have lived on the family homestead in East Peacham for 20 years. Mark has been involved in commercial lending in northern NH and VT for more than 20 years, including the Northeast Kingdom and the Upper Valley. Mark currently sits on eight Boards but most passionate of public education and sits on the Vermont School Boards Association board as well as Peacham and local Supervisory Union boards. He is also a board member of Peacham Community Housing, corporator and former treasurer of Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, treasurer of the NEK Astronomy Foundation and the sits on the board of Opera North in Lebanon. Mark is a graduate of UVM and Northeastern Universities.

Tim Tierney

Interim Member

Tim Tierney is the Senior Economic Development Director for the State of Vermont within the Department of Economic Development. He serves primarily as the Vermont Director of International Trade and Business Recruitment He oversees several initiatives including the State Trade Expansion Program and the Business Support team. Tim represents Vermont on the Eastern Trade Council, The State International Development Organizations, and the New England-Canada Business Council. Tim has also served as the Legislative Liaison between the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the Vermont State Legislature. He served as the State Program Manager of the Northern Border Regional Commission. He was the Agency designee to the Working Lands Enterprise Board as well as the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative. He recently was the Department of Economic Development’s Acting Commissioner during a transition period. Prior to his State position, Tim had primarily worked in the conservation and recreation sector in the mountain areas of New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. He was the Executive Director of Kingdom Trails from 2004 to 2017, Director of Field Programs at the Adirondack Mountain Club and Trails and Shelter Supervisor at the Green Mountain Club. Tim served as the Burke Area Chamber of Commerce President for 6 years and was Board Chair of the Northeast Kingdom Travel and Tourism Association. He also was Chair of the Newark Street School Board for 8 years. He and his wife live in St. Johnsbury.