One of the owners of Neddo Family Vineyards in Barre will be the speaker at the next meeting of Vermont Catholic Professionals.

Andrew Neddo of St. Monica Parish in Barre said it’s important for Vermont Catholic professionals to network: “Many Catholics feel that they’re alone in the workplace, and building a Vermont Catholic professionals network allows us to see that we are not alone but are actually plentiful and can be economically powerful and helpful to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.”

The April 17 presentation will take place at the Bishop Brady Center, 55 Joy Drive, South Burlington. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m.; the presentation will begin at 9.

The mission of Vermont Catholic Professionals is to join Catholic men and women and those with shared values from the business and professional communities to encourage intellectual discussions, to foster professional and faith-based relationships, and to inspire service and charity to the community in Vermont.

In 2016 Neddo earned a bachelor’s degree in business from what is now Northern Vermont University with the goal of returning to work on his family’s farm to help bring it into the future for more generations.

He is the sixth generation to work on the farm, which has been in the family since 1882.

His business degree allowed him to see how other businesses are run, managed, and marketed — information he can use “for the future betterment of our farm and future endeavors outside of dairy,” he said.

“Working the land is what we are called to do as humans,” he said. “It allows me to work alongside and with God in His creation and to be aware of God’s presence in everything.”

Today the farm’s main operation is dairy farming, but grape vines and fruit bushes/trees were added beginning in 2003. Small grains have been grown since 2017; a beef herd was added in 2020.

The winery was founded in 2013, and the sale of wine began in 2016.

For more information and to register for the Vermont Catholic Professionals meeting, go to vermontcatholic.org/vcp. Breakfast foods and beverages will be provided.

—Published in the April 6-12, 2024, edition of The Inland See.