Vermont Entrepreneur

Rob Downey will speak on his successes as an entrepreneur in his several businesses American Flatbread and The Farmhouse Tap and Grill.  He will set a great example as he has raised a great deal of money to fund these companies and understands the dynamic and complexities of equity financing and how to attract financiers starting with a 30 second "elevator pitch".

Rob Downey is a co-founder of Third Place, Inc, which owns rights to develop American Flatbread restaurants and manages the Zero Gravity Craft Brewery brand.  Rob is a lawyer, green business enthusiast, strategist and entrepreneur based in Burlington, Vermont.  His diverse background includes industrial sales, politics, land use planning, economic development and energy-efficiency financing, environmental and tax policy research, and wind energy market development.  More recently, Rob has co-developed several restaurants in Vermont including the Bobcat Cafe in Bristol, American Flatbread at the Marble Works in Middlebury, and American Flatbread in Burlington.  Rob has also served on several local non-profit boards, including the Intervale Center, the Burlington Currency Project, the Food Enterprise Center, and the Farm Aid Vermont Committee.