Vermont Guardian co-founder to speak to venture capital group

BURLINGTON — Vermont Guardian co-founder Shay Totten will be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the Vermont Venture Network.

Totten will talk about the story behind the launch of the Vermont Guardian, as well as the successes and struggles of bringing the paper through its second year of publication.

Vermont Guardian Media is an employee-owned company that publishes the statewide weekly newspaper Vermont Guardian, the monthly Vermont Review of Books and the daily website, VermontGuardian.com.

The Vermont Guardian began publishing in September 2004, along with the website, and the Vermont Review of Books was launched in April 2005. Totten and fellow veteran journalist Greg Guma are the co-founders of the company, which has been financed by private investors from around Vermont.

The Vermont Venture Network (VVN), founded 17 years ago, is a not-for-profit organization that meets monthly featuring speakers from Vermont's business community or financing source.

VVN was created to enhance the interaction and exchange of ideas among Vermont’s entrepreneurs, and has worked successfully with other economic development advocates to bring the right people together to grow Vermont’s economy, according to the group’s website.

VVN meetings are open to the public. Attendees include entrepreneurs, management-for-hire and employment candidates, investors, and those of assistance to start-ups or established entrepreneurial businesses, such as, government agencies or service providers. Previous meeting topics have included technology, specialty-food, manufacturing, consumer products and distribution, to name a few.

The next VVN meeting will take place Aug. 24, at 8 a.m. in the Wyndham Hotel in Burlington.

For more information, visit www.vermontventurenetwork.org, or call 658-7830.

Posted August 21, 2006

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