ST. JOHNSBURY- The Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce has received a new member on its board. Patrick Sodums, who is currently the sales manager and conference manager of the Burke Hotel, explained why he had wanted to be a part of the business industry. Sodums is originally from Spencer, New York and had decided he wanted to do business in Vermont because he likes the peace and the small community atmosphere. 

Sodums has been involved in business ever since his childhood. He started out by living on a farm and growing plants. He had shared his experiences on how he had grown onions and sold them. He even had mentioned how he would tell his grandmother that he would give her the onions for free but would make others pay for them. He even claimed that he had raised animals on the farm as well as doing any other farm chores around the farm. When he was older he had various jobs in business that had led him up to being the hotel sales manager. 

 

"I started out right after graduating from my undergraduate degree working for a company in the finger lakes region of Upstate New York they produced grape seed oil from unused grape seeds, it's a huge wine country over there, there's over four hundred wineries around Cayuga and Seneca Lake and all of the grape seeds were just being plowed under. So they were being unused, the grape seed oil is a valuable product, so the C.E.O. of that company decided take those seeds bring them in house, process them, store them, and then process the oil. So my first job was working in the back of a warehouse working with those seeds, bottling the oil, pressing them in the oil, packaging them in the oil and then taking them out and selling them at shows and that for me really cemented my interest in economy and development and commerce because I got to really see the whole process and to really understand what it took to get this product started, packaged and sold," said Sodums. 

 

He had gave his thoughts on how businesses are important here in the Northeast Kingdom. He had mentioned how keeping the tourists here is very important as well to keep the Northeast Kingdom alive. 

 

"Fear is sense of entrepreneaul spirit, in terms of the development of the economy is entrepreneaurs are critical and those small start of companies that really smatter this region, you know can really contribute to our overall economy as a state," said Sodums. 

 

Sodums also has had experience with working with college students before being the sales manager. Sodums has worked as an admissions counselor at Wells College in Aurora, New York as well as an assistant director through the Upward Bound Program that is held at Lyndon State College.