Vendors at last year’s Jay and Keene Sustainability and Energy Fair. (Provided photo — Knut Sauer)

JAY — The towns of Jay and Keene will be hosting a second annual Sustainability and Energy Fair next Saturday, Sept. 6, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Jay Village Green and the Amos & Julia Ward Theater. The event will bring together advocates and business owners with the hopes of providing both resources and fun for the whole community.

This event is a continuation of climate action milestones for the town of Jay, which earned a Bronze-level certification in the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s Climate Smart Communities program in April. The CSC program incentivizes communities to choose from a variety of climate actions, like switching to LED lighting or engaging in code enforcement training. Communities can earn points that can then be leveraged to qualify for state grants.

One category of actions in the CSC program is to “inspire and inform” the community through campaigns and events. Last year, the town of Jay hosted the inaugural Sustainability and Energy Fair to meet this requirement.

Knut Sauer, a town council member in Jay and the chair of the town’s CSC Task Force, said they didn’t have any idea how last year’s event would go, but it ended up being a big success. This year, they are adding more vendors, including farmers and artisans.

Vendors at the fair will include local businesses offering eco-friendly options, suppliers of sustainable products such as heat pumps and solar panels, nonprofit organizations and educational groups. This year, they expect more participation from water advocacy groups like the Lake Champlain Basin Program and the Ausable Freshwater Center.

“We’ve got a big mix of different things,” Sauer said. “It’s not just construction of a home or energy efficiency in the home, but also about fun things to do in terms of stewardship of our rivers, lakes and forests.”

Throughout the day, there will be short seminars on topics including solar energy, heat pumps, composting and electric vehicles.

Carlie Leary, an energy circuit rider at the Adirondack North Country Association, has worked with communities around the area who are participating in the CSC program. She said the program focuses on community engagement to make them more resilient. These kinds of events can connect pieces of the public and private sectors and give local organizations and businesses a platform.

However, she said the best outcome from these events is hope.

“There’s a lot of us that care about the climate crisis, and at times, it can feel like we’re doing this work alone, whether it’s the job that you get paid to do, or you’re trying to compost your food scraps, or you switch to an EV,” she said. “These events show that there are others like us who are doing the work in the spaces that they have skills and passion, and I think they foster hope that change is possible and is already happening, even in our small, rural communities.”

Sauer hopes this event can draw a variety of people. Even for people who don’t see climate change as a priority, things like heat pumps or insulation can be a good investment to save energy and money, he said.

In light of federal changes to environmental policy, Sauer said there is a lot of uncertainty around continued availability of things like tax credits.

The town of Jay is pushing forward with their work — the town was recently awarded $600,000 from the state Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, administered by the state Energy Research and Development Authority. This grant will fund a comprehensive energy audit of the town’s Community Center, along with upgrades that include energy-efficient windows and heat pumps.

However, Sauer said the town has to spend all the money by the end of September 2026 because of recent policy changes. This is a very tight timeframe for this kind of project, he said.

This fair, which brings together a lot of community-led efforts, is important during this time, Sauer said. He added that he respects different perspectives on how federal money is spent, but said this kind of event can be a way of showing elected officials what matters to their constituents.

“If people show that this is what they want and they have an interest in it, come out on a day like this or support the organizations that are engaged in environmental stewardship, I think that’s important,” he said. “I think probably more important now with that uncertainty.”