11/24/2025 - Bridgewater, Vt. – ShackletonThomas and VEDA have a long, successful relationship that has seen the furniture and pottery maker overcome natural disasters, a fire, and a pandemic.

###

Bridgewater, Vt. – When Charles Shackleton arrived in Vermont from his native Ireland in the early 1980s, he wasn’t a furniture maker. Yet. In fact, he came across the ocean with Simon Pearce, another future household name (and future VEDA borrower) and worked for him as a glassblower.

Eventually Charles made the decision to branch out on his own and make furniture. He and wife Miranda Thomas, a potter who worked for Simon Pearce, too, started their business ShackletonThomas in parallel to their family – both in the late 80s in Quechee. The duo worked in tandem in basement workshops and slowly grew the business over time, eventually selling their wares at their old friend Simon Pearce’s shop.

Today the company sprawls throughout the picturesque Bridgewater Mill, with spaces for pottery, furniture and rental apartments to help with overhead costs. It has about 20 employees and a global reputation for careful, hand-made items.

“They’re very classic,” Shackleton said of his furniture pieces. “They’re contemporary interpretations of classic designs. But the key factor is that we are very focused on people using their hands and being able to show that in our work. In other words, we’re not a factory. Every piece we make, you can tell that some human being has had a hand in crafting it.”

A partner that has been on this journey for many years is, of course, VEDA. The company’s original loan officer, Steve Greenfield, served as a sort of mentor for Shackleton. As artists working to learn about production and running a business, this was a huge asset.

Buying into the Bridgewater Mill three decades ago remains perhaps the largest VEDA impression, but it was a series of very unfortunate events that sealed the relationship.

First came Tropical Storm Irene, which ravaged Vermont in 2011. It washed out all the machining at ShackletonThomas and forced the shop to close down. Then it was the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted businesses across the globe, ShackletonThomas being no exception. A second flood in 2023, years after Irene, forced them to replace all the motors used in their machines. Finally, in 2024, a fire on the building’s top floor left smoke damage and water damage from a sprinkler system that wouldn’t shut off. But, Shackleton said, despite it all, “We’re still here to tell the tale.”

With each disaster came opportunity to make improvements and build up resilience against potential future issues. VEDA was by the company’s side throughout the devastation, providing loans. And most recently, as insurance policies were slow to pay up, VEDA stepped in with a loan to bridge what became a large financial gap. VEDA Loan Officer Sam Buckley, Shackleton said, “Was readily helpful and sensitive to the situation, and made it so that we could get through.” And oddly enough, working with VEDA actually reminds Shackleton of home.

“I come from Ireland, and Ireland is like one big family. And when you talk to people everybody knows everybody, and it’s a very rural community, mostly, and that is the same with Vermont. And that’s why I love Vermont, because it’s beautiful and rural and there are close communities where people talk to each other and live together. That’s the same for the state and VEDA — it feels like you’re talking to someone who is like, almost related to you.”

###