By Guy Page
Montpelier police have arrested a former executive director of the Central Vermont Economic Development Corporation following an investigation into the misuse of organizational funds.
According to a press release issued Saturday, the Montpelier Police Department began investigating a report on July 19, alleging the misappropriation of company funds at CVEDC. The organization reported that its then–executive director, Melissa Bounty, 42, of Waitsfield, had used company money for personal purposes.
CVEDC is one of twelve nonprofit regional development corporations in the State of Vermont, according to its website. It was organized in 1976 to provide impetus for the region’s economic development. The volunteer Board of Directors is comprised of local business owners, State representatives, lenders, and municipal officials. Funding primarily comes from the State of Vermont, our municipalities, and dues-paying members of CVEDC.
According to the CVEDC website, the organization’s fiscal year 2025 annual revenue was $552, 560, including $147,856 from the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development and $75,000 for a Department of Labor Intern. The organization also received $149,247 in federal U.S. Dept. of Agriculture funding.
Police said a lengthy investigation determined that Bounty embezzled approximately $71,151.73 from CVEDC during her tenure as executive director, which spanned from 2022 to 2025. According to VTDigger, Bounty was placed on administrative leave in July.
Bounty has been cited to appear in Washington County Superior Court, Criminal Division, on January 15, 2026, at 8:30 a.m., to answer to felony embezzlement charges.
According to the Vermont Regional Development Corporations website, Bounty acted as one of two statewide navigators in the Small Business Administration-funded Community Navigator Pilot Program to facilitate pandemic-responsive projects that linked Vermont businesses with Vermont vendors on service projects.
Prior to working with CVEDC, Bounty spent 16 years working with Waitsfield-based book publisher Chooseco, where she managed editorial, print production, and licensing for the company. She also has been a member of the Board of Directors for the Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center. she graduated from Johnson State College in 2005 after attending Hampshire College and the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts.