Bob Paquin began his professional career in 1977 as a Legislative Assistant in Senator Patrick Leahy’s Washington office. His duties included Defense, Foreign Policy, and Appropriations.
In the early 1980s, he returned to Vermont as director of the Senator’s Montpelier office and liaison with the Vermont General Assembly. In this role, Bob’s duties included Vermont’s Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Environment. He was actively involved in many legislative and funding efforts on behalf of Lake Champlain, the Connecticut River, the Green Mountain National Forest, Long and Appalachian Trails, the Northern Forest as well as general water quality, farm, and forestland protection issues. He is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from EPA Region I.
In 2009, Bob was appointed State Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency where he oversaw multi-million dollar farm loan and farm disaster programs and ten offices. He retired at the end of 2016.
Bob was born in St. Albans, holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Vermont, and studied at the London School of Economics. He and his wife Theresa reside in Shelburne and the Paquin family has owned a seasonal camp on Plot Road in Johnson since the 1970s. In May 2024, GMC purchased 12 acres from the Paquin family adjacent to the camp that hosts 300 feet of the Long Trail, significant corridor acreage and abuts the Long Trail State Forest.
