Are We Here Yet Podcast
We're telling the stories of entrepreneurs artists and other creative class warriors making a go of it in cities and small towns all over the country. The Are We Here Yet? Podcast blends topics of economic development, urban planning and arts and culture. We are the official podcast for SMGravesassociates.com.
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The Medtech Innovators at Aprexis plus Orrin Evans in The Jazz Room
04/18/2024
The Medtech Innovators at Aprexis plus Orrin Evans in The Jazz Room
The folks at Vermont-based medtech startup are no strangers to the definition of persistence. This is the just the start of why the podcast desired to In this episode you’ll learn the importance for rooting a medtech solutions company from the clinicians perspective. We spoke at length regarding the challenges unique to medtech software firms, namely the challenge to working in an iterative technology that comes up against regulatory imperatives for launching fully developed. We defined MTM or medication therapy management and discussed the growing marketplace as professionals in pharmacology work with a growing geriatric population in an ever-expanding pharma-marketplace. And in The Jazz Room… We met pianist/composer, Orrin Evans at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival. In part one of this interview we talk about his CD “The Red Door”, the meaning of Red, the Jazz Train and Jazz elders.
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Artificial Intelligence at Hypersonic Speed: An Ecliptic Capital Report plus Gary Burton in The Jazz Room
04/11/2024
Artificial Intelligence at Hypersonic Speed: An Ecliptic Capital Report plus Gary Burton in The Jazz Room
David J. Neff serves as Operating Partner at Austin, TX based where he works with portfolio companies on people, process,, marketing, strategy and culture. he spearheads the fund’s concentration on climate change and energy transition as part of ecliptic Capital’s deep tech thesis. Our conversation is focused on the recent report Ecliptic released offering a comprehensive look at considerations for the consequences of Artificial Intelligence called, And we talk with Vibraphonist, Gary Burton. We were able to catch up with him at the 60th Newport Jazz Festival. In the first in our two part interview, Gary tells us about when he started playing the vibes and about his Autobiography that was published in 2013.
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From the Culture Desk: Pianist & Magazine Publisher David Haney
04/04/2024
From the Culture Desk: Pianist & Magazine Publisher David Haney
It was so interesting to talk with pianist, David Haney. Based in Portland, Oregon David travels often to NYC to perform at Joe’s Pub. Since 2012 he’s been the publisher and contributing editor of Cadence Magazine Online. In this two part interview we listen to performances of Improvised compositions featuring David and his friends. David discusses how he became publisher of Cadence Magazine Online.
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One View of Vermont’s Future - Kevin Chu of Vermont Futures Project
03/28/2024
One View of Vermont’s Future - Kevin Chu of Vermont Futures Project
Kevin Chu is Executive Director of the People from throughout the United States can access their thoughtful and well researched information in order to make the case for workforce, middle market, affordable and any other form of housing needed. The core goal driving the work of the organization is to increase Vermont’s population while providing good housing to a more diverse population. The information provided by the project goes well beyond just addressing housing. Like many rural states Vermont’s demographic changes are placing pressure on communities and every system that drives a population. Our conversation brought us together to discuss not only housing from a development and economic standpoint but from a perspective of what’s fair and what’s right for rural citizens of Vermont, immigrants and those US citizens eying Vermont as their land of opportunity.
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Premiere of The Vermont Tech Special Feature
03/20/2024
Premiere of The Vermont Tech Special Feature
Join Vermont tech leaders Will Jeffries, Ryan Munn and Scott Graves as they discover the best this Brave Little State has to offer in technology-driven entrepreneurship. Maybe you’re local, maybe you have a rural project in another part of the country, maybe you just love to talk technology and tech policy. We want YOU to come with us, listen in and join the neighborhood. #ruraldevelopment #techinvestment #ruralinnovation Like what you hear? Have a episode topic you want us to tackle? Let us know.
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A BHM report: The Housing Crisis from Massachusetts Plus: Bertha Hope in The Jazz Room
03/12/2024
A BHM report: The Housing Crisis from Massachusetts Plus: Bertha Hope in The Jazz Room
The housing crisis gripping the United States is gaining a disconcerting momentum in the Northeast, as it is in many regions of the United States. In this episode we’re speaking with Worcester, MA developer Jackson Restrepo regarding the challenges to the housing market in this, the second largest city in New England and one of the fastest growing cities there, as the Biotech sector continues to grow in Massachusetts. This is the second in our ongoing series of episodes focused on the housing crisis in the US for Breaking Housing Matters. Also, meet pianist, Bertha Hope. She talks about her husband Elmo Hope and her CD "Nothing But Love" featuring drummer Jimmy Cobb as part of her ensemble.
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How Immigration Affects Tech in America w/ Davide Dantonio
03/07/2024
How Immigration Affects Tech in America w/ Davide Dantonio
We all hear about the importance of international talent to the US technology sector. We understand how an open set of arms to international trade, travel and immigration plays a role in our country’s success. But our historic relationship to immigration tells a much more complicated story and with the recent threat of closed borders as posed by a possible Trump 2024 administration, we wanted to take a closer look at the lived experience of those plying the waters of our current international tech sector to really find an explanation for why an open society is so very important. Our guest represents the human personification, the energy that comes to us and makes our tech sector vibrant and our country great. Davide Dantonio is with us for this podcast. He’s a Class of ’22 Venture for America fellow and currently plays program lead on no less than 2 Indiana-based gener8tor accelerators. He’s also a podcaster in his own rite. Davide is also Program Manager for two Indiana based programs for , a rural-focused technology fund operating more than 223 accelerators nation-wide. We’re talking multiculturalism and the lived experience of young entrepreneurs living and working in America.
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The Big ‘D’ in Decentralize/Lakecia Benjamin
02/15/2024
The Big ‘D’ in Decentralize/Lakecia Benjamin
Scott M. Graves, host of the ‘Are We Here Yet? Podcast speaks to us regarding the importance for small cities and towns to take advantage of the opportunity recently presented to solve some of the most pressing economic and social issues of our day. ‘For we are, I’m sure of this, at the start of a national movement to decentralize the map. For placing venture capital where it’s needed most, for updating outmoded zoning laws so we can start rebuilding our built environments to serve all of our neighbors and financing policies so more Americans can access the housing they desire. Here’s to transforming our cities and towns for a new generation.’ The Jazz Room w/ Lakecia Benjamin Meet saxophonist, composer, Lakecia Benjamin. We met briefly after her set at the Newport Jazz Festival. She talks about her CD, “Phoenix” and the story behind the project.
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Breaking Housing Matters/Kurt Elling
02/05/2024
Breaking Housing Matters/Kurt Elling
With a background in housing policy, law and international business, author and business leader Peter de Krassel has witnessed the long arc of bad housing policy across the globe. He is launching as a novel means to solve the global housing crisis, one that is designed to address the impasses our current system of financing and policy has created over the last half century or more. Breaking Housing Matters (BHM) is a grassroots movement dedicated to delivering affordable housing profitably. We believe landlords and developers must get a reasonable return on their investment while people must be able to afford decent housing. Our proposed Housing Subsidy Solution (HSS) could become a public-private model for local communities to achieve affordable housing profitably around the world. Full disclosure: AWHY? Podcast host Scott Graves is now agent to BHM. Working with SMGraves Associates, Breaking Housing Matters intends to develop its program to proliferate throughout the United States beginning with the leadership of the city of Rutland, VT, USA. The Jazz Room welcomes Kurt Elling Our interview with Kurt Elling at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival includes stories about the people who have lifted him up through the years and his personal observations of The Jazz Room during his visit.
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AI & NeuroDiversity: A conversation with Dr. Meltem Ballan, Ph.D.
01/27/2024
AI & NeuroDiversity: A conversation with Dr. Meltem Ballan, Ph.D.
We’re launching a closer look at Artificial Intelligence; how it has and will shape our society. How you can shape an informed perspective around what’s sure to play a significant role effecting all of us for centuries to come. Rather than do this investigation from a good/bad standpoint, we’d rather treat all of YOU, our listeners as the smart and curious people that you are! So away we go! Our guest, Dr. Meltem Ballan, Ph.D. has decades of experience in digital technology, data science, and AI. She is a leader, entrepreneur, and advisor who is passionate about creating innovative and impactful solutions for complex problems. She is the principal and founder of Additionally, Meltem is a Venture Partner with She holds a PhD in complex systems and brain sciences, with a focus on computer vision, visual cortex, and natural language processing. She is committed to fostering true diversity and inclusion in the STEM domain, especially AI and data science. We’re looking at AI and neurodiversity in today’s podcast.
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Fighting for Rural Arts Education plus Jose James in The Jazz Room
01/19/2024
Fighting for Rural Arts Education plus Jose James in The Jazz Room
Regional Artist and VSU Castleton student Julie Griffin fills us in on the artist response to the latest attempt by Vermont State University to curtail budget constraints by consolidating fine and performing arts programming between its campuses. Find out what was the response to the proposed change by artists and students alike, get inspired by their response for when you need to organize and constructively show your dissatisfaction with institutional decision-makers. Mentioned in this podcast: , , The Jazz Room featuring Singer / Songwriter Jose James Meet singer/songwriter Jose James. We met with him at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival. We talked about his CD “ON and ON”, the challenges of interpreting the songs of songwriters and his work as singing on the sound track for the movie “50 Shades Darker” Learn more at
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On Peace plus: Dave Holland in the Jazz Room
01/11/2024
On Peace plus: Dave Holland in the Jazz Room
A Definition of Peace from Daniel Parkins. He helps businesses and local civic leaders work with communities to transform conflicts, launch impact initiatives, and achieve sustainable growth. Find Daniel here: and in The Jazz Room: we were able to chat a bit with bassist, Dave Holland just before his set at the Newport Jazz Festival. We talked about the musicians with him on that date and he answered questions from our friend Dave Zox. Learn more about Dave at
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Ep. 134-Space City Innovation
12/31/2023
Ep. 134-Space City Innovation
In an age of decentralizing the map when it comes to venture capital, place takes center stage for an increasing number of communities whose neighborhoods benefit from innovation centers, coworking space, workforce development space and the like. Our guest Robert Pieroni has his own story to tell in founding Downtown Launchpad in Houston, Texas. He’s a successful VC and is currently Director – gBETA ITA & Director of Italian Business Development for our good friends at and he’s with us today to recount his experience building space and the programming to ignite it.
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Knowledge Towns w/ Dominic Endicott
12/29/2023
Knowledge Towns w/ Dominic Endicott
Dominic Endicott believes we can redraw our maps for the 21st century. He has a vision for how knowledge-based ecosystems can create the proliferation of entrepreneurship, jobs, real estate and services in demand for a wider spectrum of rural and urban communities. He spoke with us to talk about his vision as expressed in ‘Knowledge Towns: Colleges and Universities as talent magnets’ which he co-authored with David J. Staley of Ohio State University. Dominic is a partner at NorthStar Ventures and an advisor at the MET fund.
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AWHY - Ep 132 - Ted Timreck
09/02/2023
AWHY - Ep 132 - Ted Timreck
To spend some time re-imagining the story of what came well before us on the North American continent has importance for understanding our future path towards a more equitable and just society. Our modern obsession with consumerism and modernity, emphasizing technology to solve our key issues isn’t working because people, not machines are at the core of our solutions. Our discussion with award-winning documentarian Ted Timreck invites you, our listener, to more closely examine epigenetics in a re-consideration for the cultures of the peoples who once shaped our continent. Consider the importance of environment in shaping us and our world, perhaps in doing so we, the technologists building for tomorrow can build that future to include more of us while building sustainability and meaningfulness; technology in its proper context.
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TJR - Three for the Price of One
09/02/2023
TJR - Three for the Price of One
Three for the Price of One: We had to take a brief break for summer vacation. So M the Media Project is giving you three for the price of one! Joan’s two part interview with our generation’s progenitor of the great American Songbook, none other than Michael Feinstein plus we feature Claire Daly, all in the latest Jazz Room.
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Building The Authentic Leader
06/30/2023
Building The Authentic Leader
Authors John DiCicco, Ph.D. and Robert Cuomo, Ph.D. of ‘The Authentic Leader’ have shared their wealth of experience honed in business ownership and academia in order to complete a crusade of sorts. A crusade to make change where it counts. John and Bob will join (anticipated fall 2023) in developing a program to engage emerging business leaders to better prepare them for the moral hazards sometimes inherent in complex business models. They are at the vanguard of creating a more consistently moral and clear-headed technology business community. This is also aimed at StartUp Rutland’s priority on creating better informed, morally sound technology-based business for our new regional economy to come.
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Alto Saxophonist Tia Fuller
06/30/2023
Alto Saxophonist Tia Fuller
From her 2021 Interview from the summer phenomenon known as the Newport Jazz Festival, host Joan Watson Jones spoke with the fantastic alto saxophonist Tia Fuller. Enjoy as you imagine the Newport bridge view, the sea salt air and the magic of thousands of friends gathering to hear their favorite jazz artists.
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The Devilish World of PermaGrin
06/22/2023
The Devilish World of PermaGrin
Host Scott M. Graves sat down with Dan Cummings and old pal Steven Harnois from PermaGrin, the fantasmic music project that originated as a pandemic project which has resulted in the album, ‘Ode to Entropy. We entice you to listen in with four aural excerpts from said album. From the moment I heard this album I was enthralled and wrote a friend, ‘Brah, it’s like these dudes went to sleep with Hot Rats and The Grand Wazoo on repeat and then woke up the next day to the rest of their lives…’ We hope our interview with Perma Grin represents a new start for you, too. Listen in and let us know what you think in the comments.
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Emerging Technologies from the Rural Northeast
06/17/2023
Emerging Technologies from the Rural Northeast
I spoke with Ryan Munn, tech professional and devotee to trends in emerging technology about what potential we have in northern New England, particularly Vermont-centric possibilities in industries such as financial services, building materials, renewable energy and climate tech. Ryan is a resident of White River Junction, VT and works throughout the central VT region. Garner ideas and reach out to us and let us know your new ideas. Join the conversation in our comments section.
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Eddie Palmieri Part II
06/17/2023
Eddie Palmieri Part II
In Part 2 of this feature Eddie tells us about the many musicians he has collaborated with through the years to make his music not just Latin and not just Jazz but his own brand and style. He also shares stories about his performances across the globe. Learn more about Eddie Palmieri at
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The Outliers: Author John Schlichtman discusses Showroom City
06/08/2023
The Outliers: Author John Schlichtman discusses Showroom City
When is it useful to study an outlier? While we may find phenomena that represent an extreme less useful at times, there are times that discounting an outlier would prevent us from a highly valuable opportunity to explore, to discover and to learn. Dr. John Schlichtman takes outliers seriously. When he first came across the city of High Point, NC two decades ago, he had to see it for himself. Thus began a near two decades relationship John has cultivated with the people and places in High Point, resulting in 2022’s ‘ShowRoom City: Real Estate and Resistance in the Furniture Capital of the World’ The story that unfolds from this Central North Carolina City is a story not only of deindustrialization, class, real estate development and more. The experience of High Point forces us to consider how it is we derive value in business, who gets the benefit of this value and even more to the point, who decides how a city defines itself. John Joe Schlichtman is associate professor of sociology at DePaul University. Schlichtman is an urban sociologist who is motivated by the potential of equitable, just, and productive community development. His research has focused on understanding the dynamics of macro-level processes such as globalization and gentrification: how stakeholders resist or exploit them, the decisions residents make in navigating them, and their influence on the urban landscape. He is co-author of the book Gentrifier, and received his MA and PhD in Sociology with an emphasis in urban sociology from New York University under the supervision of Harvey Molotch (NYU) and Neil Brenner (University of Chicago). For more information, please visit
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Eddie Palmieri - Part One
06/08/2023
Eddie Palmieri - Part One
We have a spirited conversation with Latin Jazz Legend Eddie Palmieri. In Part One, of this feature he tells about his early beginnings and about his brother Charlie Palmieri getting him started in music. He also tells us who were his major influences in Jazz. Learn more about Eddie Palmieri at
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Four Profiles from ‘She Means Business’
06/02/2023
Four Profiles from ‘She Means Business’
We recently hosted Vermont Small Business Development Center’s ‘She Means Business’ event for women in business at our headquarters The Hub CoWorks in downtown Rutland, VT. THis event hosted women business leaders, entrepreneurs in the making, banking professionals and other concerned stakeholders who wish to advance the work women are doing in our region to build our economy. We garnered perspectives from a host of attendees including Sarah Nadler, newly appointed Community Development Specialist at StartUp Rutland, La'Keiah M. Batista Sanchez, Owner of , one of the newest BIPOC and women owned downtown businesses. Also Rutland City Alderwomen and marketing entrepreneur and Mayor Mike Doenges, fresh from completing the first 60 days of his first term in office. Our event was produced in partnership with the , , and a host of other important regional organizations.
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Judi Silvano
06/02/2023
Judi Silvano
Another in the series "Kitchen Table Chats" from Studio 952 in New York City. We talk with Vocalist Judi Silvano. She talks about her CD "Women's Work" . Judi talks about her husband Saxophonist, Joe Lovano, improvisation and personal style in jazz. Learn more about Judy at judisilvano.com.
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Composer Maria Schneider
05/25/2023
Composer Maria Schneider
We met with Orchestra Leader/Composer Maria Schneider at the Newport Jazz Festival. This show is a bit different as per Maria’s request she asked I play 30 seconds of music and one full composition. As you listen to this interview she talks not only about creating her music, but defending her copyrights of her work in this world of free music streaming and music distributors charging artist exorbitant fees for their use digitally.
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A Declaration of Inclusion for Vermont
05/23/2023
A Declaration of Inclusion for Vermont
When Al Wakefield, Bob Harnish, Barbara Pulling and Bill Cohen set out to encourage the 247 Vermont cities and towns to adopt their the goal was rooted in economics, class and above all doing what’s right by people. ‘Vermont has started to see people moving here,’ said Wakefield during this episode, ‘but (sic) other young people have been leaving and they’re not coming back.’ This draws on what many of us in economic development already know. People of all ages and backgrounds want to live in a place they can love and that means for many a place that is materially inclusive of all people. Our episode traces the pandemic-bound effort that began in 2020 and has since led to adoption of the Declaration by 109 communities to date. Vermont is generally considered a place where so many others who don’t fit in can find a home. But not unlike any other part of the United States we’re still working through the issues caused by a lack of economic opportunity for some, the institutionalized racism and other facts of modern American life that we can all involve ourselves in improving.
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Two Perspectives on The Business of Jazz
05/18/2023
Two Perspectives on The Business of Jazz
This month we present two interviews that take you behind the scenes in the music business. Meet Artist Manager Judith Humenick and Jon Catherwood-Ginn, program director for the Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech. Judith Humenick is from Ottawa, Canada. She an Artist Manager who was at the Newport Jazz Festival representing The Royal Bopsters behind the scenes. She talks about a few of the artists she manages and you’ll hear a bit of their music. We met Jon Catherwoord-Ginn at the APAP Conference in NYC. He’s the program director for the Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech. You’ll hear the music of a few of the artists who have performed at the center and learn about the work and challenges of being a program director who brings all forms of art to the community.
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Cultural Intertia: A Conversation Between Vermonters
05/11/2023
Cultural Intertia: A Conversation Between Vermonters
In this AWHY? Podcast Scott is joined by two new friends made since relocating to Vermont in December 2022. Bill Ramage is a professor emeritus of Art, Castleton University and founder 77Art, established to help affect Rutland’s well-being in preparation for what he believes could be a post-retail economy. His collections can be found in, among other places, The Williams College Museum of Art; The Wexner Museum, Ohio State University and Northern New England Museum of Contemporary Art (NNEMoCA), Burlington, VT. Al Wakefield worked in New York City for a number of Fortune 500 companies, including: Mobil, Celanese, Singer and Avon. In 1984, he moved to Mendon and made Rutland County, Vermont his base for Wakefield Talibisco International, a global executive search firm. He is an accomplished business professional. Al was born in 1938 in Harlem, NY and spent much of his childhood in Columbia, SC. ALong with Bob Harnish of Pittsford, VT Al plays an ongoing and instrumental role in ensuring the is adopted by all 251 communities in the state of Vermont. They sat down, two octagenarians and a Gen Xer to learn, to express their concerns and hopes for their community and embody the meaning of this podcast, to explore the cultural inertias that have a profound effect on the decisions we make in designing and building our communities, our economy, ourselves.
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Stan Chovnic & Linda Presgrave
05/11/2023
Stan Chovnic & Linda Presgrave
Meet saxophonist, Stan Chovnic and pianist, Linda Presgrave. Stan talks about his CD “ Love Vibrations for Planet Earth”. Learn more about Stand and Linda at
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