Essex Junction, Vermont, United States

🇺🇸 Essex Junction is a city in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. It was incorporated as a village on November 15, 1892. Essex Junction became Vermont’s 10th city on July 1, 2022.

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides daily service via its station in Essex Junction, one of two rail stations in Chittenden County. The Vermonter train runs daily from St. Albans in northern Vermont to Union Station in Washington, D.C.; passing through Essex Junction. It was formerly called the Montrealer; its terminus being at Central Station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Essex Junction was the nearest Amtrak station to Burlington until the Ethan Allen Express was extended to serve Burlington directly on July 29, 2022.

The city is part of the Essex Westford Unified Union School District which operates K-12 schools including Essex High School. The city is surrounded on three sides by the Town of Essex ("Essex Town").

Essex Junction is home to GlobalFoundries' Burlington Design Center and 200 mm wafer fabrication plant. GlobalFoundries is the largest private employer in the state of Vermont, with approximately 3,000 employees.

History IBM and GlobalFoundries The village history was affected in a major way by the presence of IBM (now GlobalFoundries), which chose Essex Junction as the site for its facility in 1958.

In 1958, IBM leased a 40,000 square feet (3,700 m²) facility in the south-east part of the village for its new Data Processing Division. By the end of the year, there were 500 workers. In 1969, the plant expanded to 820,000 square feet (7.6 ha).

In 1982, employment reached an all-time high of 8,000. In 2007, the town listers dropped the value of the plant from a high of $147.5 million to $104 million. The plant's workforce was a little over 5,000 in 2011. As a GlobalFoundries operation since July 2015, the plant retains about 3,000 employees.

Cyberbullying In 2003, as a result of the nationally publicized suicide of an Essex Junction teenager, Vermont and other states passed legislation against cyberbullying.

Separation from town of Essex On November 2, 2021, voters in the village of Essex Junction voted overwhelmingly to separate from the town of Essex, citing an unfair tax burden. The vote was 3,070-411 in favor of separation.

Geography Essex Junction is located south-west of Essex and is bordered on the south by the Winooski River. The city is 6 miles (10 km) east of downtown Burlington via Vermont Route 15. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.7 square miles (12.3 km²), of which 4.6 square miles (11.8 km²) is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²), or 3.72%, is water.

Economy

Personal income

The median income for a household in the city was $53,444, and the median income for a family was $61,985. Males had a median income of $40,287 versus $26,910 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,142. About 1.8% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Industry

The largest industrial facility in Vermont is GlobalFoundries' semiconductor plant in Essex Junction. In 2007, the then-IBM plant had the largest assessment in the town, $104 million.

Champlain Valley Exposition Essex Junction is home to the Champlain Valley Exposition, a former dirt racetrack that has evolved into a large event field, with stadium seating for concerts, and multiple halls that can host a variety of indoor events.

Champlain Valley Fair

The 10-day Champlain Valley Fair is the most notable event held at the Expo. The state's largest fair consists of five components blended together at the same time: • A large agricultural exhibit with a dairy cows, other farm animals, and 4-H-style events for both livestock and agriculture. • A commercial exhibit for a variety of local and regional vendors to showcase their products to the public. • A large area dedicated to a mix of local foods like real maple syrup, and conventional fair foods such as fried dough and cotton candy. • A midway provided by Strates Shows with rides typical of a large traveling carnival. • Nightly concerts, which in 2010 included Lyle Lovett, Keith Urban, and Justin Bieber.

The Fair was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions. The headliner for the Fair Darius Rucker will return to the Fair in 2021.

Over the last decade, total fair attendance has been almost 300,000 per year. In 2010, the fair had 46 carnival rides and almost 200 vendors.

Other Expo events Other events held at the Champlain Valley Expo include an Antique Car Show, WOKO Giant Flea Market, Nightmare Vermont, Vermont International Festival, and the Champlain Valley Balloon Festival.

Education The Essex Westford School District was consolidated in 2017. The district includes and funds schools in Essex Junction, Essex Town, and Westford. The schools in Essex Junction include Essex High School, Summit Street School (K-3), Thomas Fleming School (4-5), Albert D. Lawton School (6-9), the Hiawatha School(K-3), and the Center for Technology Essex.