Vermont spent 14 years as its own country before becoming a state
- Its own currency, post office and constitution, 1777–1791
- The first governing document in America to limit slavery
- Ben & Jerry’s started with a $5 correspondence course
- The Green Mountain State, 14th to join the Union (1791)
How Vermont’s digital economy grew
Vermont declares independence
Delegates meeting in Westminster break from both Britain and New York, initially naming the territory "New Connecticut."
The republic that almost wasn’t a state
Vermont’s independence grew out of a land-title dispute, not ideology — settlers refused to recognize New York’s competing claims over the "New Hampshire Grants." For fourteen years it ran as a functioning nation: its own currency, its own post office, its own courts, while Ethan Allen quietly kept a British reunification option open as a hedge. It only joined the Union in 1791 after literally paying off New York’s claimants — a very Vermont way to end an independence movement.
Two guys, a gas station, and a $5 course
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were childhood friends from Long Island who reunited as adults, priced out of a bagel-shop idea, and settled on ice cream instead — funding their education with a five-dollar Penn State correspondence course before opening in a renovated Burlington gas station in 1978. The scrappy origin became the company’s whole identity, formalized in 2012 when it became the first wholly-owned subsidiary anywhere to earn B Corp certification, two years after Vermont itself became only the second state to pass benefit-corporation legislation.
How Vermont businesses buy websites
Ben & Jerry’s and the Republic story draw the history buffs, but most of Vermont’s businesses are the trades and shops serving Burlington, small towns, and the state’s thousands of independent sugarhouses and farms.
Trades and home services
Vermont towns are spread across mountains — say plainly which ones you actually serve.
Agriculture and shops
Vermont leads the nation in maple syrup production — suppliers to that economy benefit from being specific.
Professional services
A state that values independence rewards a clear, honest, no-nonsense site.
How well do you know Vermont’s digital economy?
3 quick questions. Get all 3 right and you win a 10% off discount code. Every answer is somewhere on this page.
Vermont quiz · 1 of 3
How many years was Vermont an independent republic before joining the United States?
Why FastSites works here
A state that ran itself for fourteen years before joining anyone understands the value of doing things its own way. A clear one-page site, live in days, at a published price, is that same instinct for a small business.