When Raj Bhakta, the founder of WhistlePig Whisky, bought the campus of the former Green Mountain College in Poultney last year, he announced vague plans to create a school that would combine hands-on learning with his new brandy making operation.
While he’s pushing ahead with his spirits business, it’s Bhakta’s wife Danhee who’s spearheading efforts to open a school on the former college campus, something locals are watching closely.
More from VPR: Raj Bhakta On Buying GMC: ‘It’s The Biggest Bet I’ve Ever Taken’
When Green Mountain College closed in 2019, it was one of many small private colleges that couldn’t balance rising costs with dwindling enrollment.
For the town, where the college had been an economic engine for more than a century, it was a gut punch.
Patty McWilliams, owner of Hermit Hill Books, echoed what many locals are…
