VAAA Open House Event Highlights - October 1, 2009

With the support of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, the Vermont Aerospace and Aviation Association (VAAA) held its quarterly Open House at Goodrich's Vergennes, Vermont Facility on Thursday, October 1. The event was sponsored by Aviatron of South Burlington, VT and featured an impressive lineup of speakers, including:

Vermont Lieutenant Governor, VAAA Chair and ASA National Chair, Brian Dubie
Charles H. Huettner, Executive Director, Aerospace States Association
Ted Brady, Office of U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy
Gary Loftus, VP and General Manager, Goodrich
Bill Berg, Senior VP of Aerospace & Defense, Vermont Composites
Gary Lownsdale, Director of Research & Development, Plasan Carbon Composites; Plasan North America
Mike Allocca,President, ITAR and Import/Export, Allocca Enterprises
Linda Rossi, Assistant State Director, HR Training Grant Program for VAAA, Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC)

Event highlights:

1. As a result of a VAAA survey, Vermont Business Magazine, compliments of John Boutin, Publisher, will be promoting a Quarterly VAAA Feature to run in January, April, July and October of 2010. This feature will include: a featured member article; the VAAA Directory for those who want to be listed; and dedicated advertising for VAAA members. If interested in learning more, contact John Boutin and his staff at (802) 863-8038.

2. VermontTV.net is producing an on-line feature film to prmote the VAAA and aerospace and aviation in the Green Mountain State. We need your financial support and sponsorship. Sponsorships are available at the platinum, gold and silver levels. To become a sponsor today, contact Bill Heyman at (802) 522-0614.

3. University of Vermont's Vermont Business Center is offering a Professional Certificate in Import and Export Trade Operations and Procedures, on-campus, and over a 3-day weekend. Depending on eligibility, 50% of the tuition is covered by the Vermont Department of Economic Development. For more information, please contact Tracey Maurer at Tracey.maurer.1@uvm.edu.

4. As we develop and promote our top priorities for the 2010 legislative session, we need to hear from you! Please contact Michael Belyea, Legislative Director at the Vermont Chamber of Commence, and share your experience and the issues impacting your business.

Michael can be reached at mbelyea@vtchamber.com or by calling (802) 229-2293.

5. Mansfield Heliflight, our June 18 VAAA Open House Event Sponsor, has been waiting two years and now has a brand new Bell 407 helicopter for sale and executive use.

To learn more, please contact Tina Lindberg at TMSLindberg@aol.com.

6. Join us for a Vermont Chamber of Commerce Webinar with the Vermont Procurement Technical Assistance Center, Vermont Agency of Commerce & Community Development, on November 12th at 11a.m. This educational webinar will help shepherd Vermont companies through the process of identifying and securing federal contracts on the bid registry for more business and job creation. To register for this webinar, click here.

7. As a sub-contractor to Plasan North America, JBM Carmel, another Bennington-based company, manufactures armor for military vehicles. Capabilities include sand blasting, robotic and manual welding, laser cutting and precision bending. JBM has recently added 25 jobs with more to follow. To learn more, contact Sonya Keough at sonya@jbm-usa.com.

8. Hawkeye International recently relocated their company from California, bringing 15 new jobs to North Hyde Park in Lamoille County. Hawkeye manufactures and distributes vacuum bagging systems for composite manufacturing. To learn more, contact Carrolyn Kelley at CKELLEY@HAWKEYEINTL.COM

9. Vermont's Regional Technical and Career Centers have been added to the VAAA website as an online resource and to help connect graduating students with hiring directors.

10. Be sure to visit the VAAA portal and website featured on the Vermont Chamber of Commerce website at for updates on the VAAA Directory (100+ companies now listed), on-line resources and news on upcoming events.

Oct 1 Event Photos:

Jeff Munger of Senator Bernard Sander's Offoce, Charles H. Huettner, ASA, Richard Turner, Aviation Program Manager, AOT