Davis & Hodgdon Attends Rutland “Lovefest”

Community leaders gathered last week to take turns saying they love Rutland and Davis & Hodgdon Manager Susan Morel was there to join in the fun!

Rutland Herald: By GORDON DRITSCHILO STAFF WRITER

Community leaders took turns saying they love Rutland on Wednesday.

A crowd gathered outside Awesome Graphics, where owner Mike Napolitano was handing out pizza and bumper stickers with an “I Rutland, VT” logo he designed as part of a civic pride campaign. He said he consciously copied the design from the famous “I NY” campaign.

“I always loved that campaign,” he said, drawing a parallel to New York having emerged from troubled times. “I love New York City and it’s gotten better and better.”

A third generation Rutlander, Napolitano said he sees too much negativity from within the city.

“We always loved living in this community,” he said. “My children had a great education here. … Over the last few years, we’ve noticed the sentiment in our community declining.”

Napolitano said he wouldn’t deny the city has serious problems, such as the heroin epidemic, but there needed to be more of an emphasis on positives. Visitors from outside, he said, are often taken in by the area.

“Hearing the negative things online, I felt like I needed to do something,” he said.

Steve Costello, Green Mountain Power’s vice president of customer care and “Ambassador of Rutland,” said he helped Napolitano with the project because he shared the sentiment.

“Pick a topic that’s been an issue in the past and we’ve made enormous, enormous progress,” he said. “‘I love Rutland’ is an effort to change how we talk about Rutland.”

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Susan Morel, CPA, Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs