Wednesday, April 8, 2026
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM | Check in & Complimentary Continental Breakfast
Once you arrive at the Woodstock Inn, head downstairs to the conference room to pick up your badge and then get yourself settled. Enjoy some complimentary pastries, coffee, and tea, and, I don’t know, give someone a hug. I’m sure they need it.
8:30 AM - 8:45 AM | Welcome & Summit Kickoff
We’re so excited you’ve joined us for the 3rd annual Municipal Solutions Summit. We’re happy to see some familiar faces and some new ones. As we get “just one more cup of coffee” we will go over the summit format and encourage you to take a deep breath. The next two days are about you. We will give you some strategies to take home, help you expand your network (and therapy group), and have some fun.
8:45 AM - 9:15 AM | Municipal Management in 2026: Epic Fails and Marginal Gains
Let’s check the vibes and build some trust. At your table, share one success and one failure from the past year—and what you learned—as you get to know your fellow participants.
9:15 AM - 10:30 AM | They Don’t Have a Fu Clue About Being a Manager
(Facilitator checks under the tables and behind the doors and assures you no selectboard members are here) Let’s get real and discuss what we do, how we can be better, and how we should manage in the current political climate.
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM | Break
10:45 AM - 12:00 PM | On a Scale of 1-10, I Think I’m an 11: Manager Reviews
If your self-esteem isn’t low enough, now it’s time for your public execution review! We’re all contractually obligated to have them, but what should they be? Since all of us in this room know better than anyone what this job entails and how to do it, let’s come up with our own review system. Using the knowledge and experience in the room, we’ll brainstorm what a town manager review should be, create and build out templates, and keep the secret of getting a perfect score to ourselves.
12:00 PM - 1:15 PM | Lunch
Grab lunch with your colleagues at the Inn or in Woodstock (Lunch is not provided on Day 1).
1:15 PM - 2:30 PM | It’s Ok, We’ve Solved It (PT 1)
We know it’s the last sessions of the day and everyone’s a little tired — so naturally, it’s the perfect time to solve Vermont’s housing crisis. CHIP has arrived with plenty of fanfare, but what does it actually mean for towns? Does the state strategy match real housing needs on the ground, and are we actually shifting local perspectives on housing? With help from several Summit sponsors who specialize in Vermont housing, this interactive session will have you working in small groups to explore the tools available — from CHIP and state programs to practical local solutions. No pressure — just Vermont’s housing future.
2:30 PM - 2:40 PM | Break
2:40 PM - 3:45 PM | It’s Ok, We’ve Solved It (PT 2)
Just in case we didn’t solve Vermont’s housing crisis in an hour, we reserved some more time. In this session, we will take the previous session’s strategies and build out feasible blueprints we can bring back to our municipalities to start the development revolution.
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Complimentary Cocktail Party
Hey, you did a lot today. You solved the housing crisis, you ensured a perfect annual review, and you helped another manager feel better about their job. You deserve some fun. Join us at Positive Pie for a few drinks and apps on us and some post-day one conversation.
Thursday, April 9, 2026
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM - Complimentary Breakfast
Head downstairs to the conference room to get yourself settled and grab a breakfast sandwich before kicking off day 2.
8:30 AM - 9:45 AM | Danger Lurks Behind Every Door: HR in the Modern World
Open your closet and search through all your hats until you find your least favorite one that is battered and buried in the back – your HR one. In this session we’re going to stress test your current employment situation and give you some cold sweats by asking what-if questions. We hope this session will help you better plan for what happens when an employee leaves, quits, etc. We will brainstorm pitfalls, succession planning, and more.
9:45 AM - 10:00 AM | Break
10:00 AM - 11:00 PM | There’s an app for that! Resource Template Creation
We all fear AI is going to take over the world, but what about 20 disheveled town managers working together to create useful templates? The world shall feel our wrath! Let’s work together to make our lives easier and we will try to make sure they are not just cocktail recipes.
11:00 AM - 11:10 AM | Break
11:10 AM - 12:00 PM | Spontaneous Think Tank
We know we can’t cover everything in two days, so think of this as a lightning round of constructive conversation around the more niche topics that we couldn’t get to.
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | Complimentary Lunch at the Woodstock Inn
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM | Mental Health
How are you holding up? Really. Municipal management is a demanding, thankless, occasionally absurd job. In this session, we’ll focus on you — how to empower your team so they can support you, how to stay focused on your real priorities, and how to keep the daily shiny objects from ruining your life.
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM | Cookin’ with Tom
This is Tom Marsh’s last summit as an active Town Manager before he inadvertently ends up working for VLCT. So let’s get the man a drink and a chair and see what advice he has for us.
2:30 PM - 2:45 PM | Wrap Up
Year three is in the books. How did we do and where do we go from here? We’ll talk through what’s next and how we can stay in touch.
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | Not ready to go just yet? Join us at the bar in the Red Rooster to chat and grab a drink on your way out.
As a thank you for participating in this conference, we’d like to buy you one last drink at the Red Rooster before sending you back to reality where you can apply everything you’ve learned over the last two days.