Local Business: Vermont Yankee at the Business Expo

Richard January, VY employee, talking to a visitor
Vermont Yankee booth at Vermont Business Expo

Vermont Yankee at the Expo

On May 22 and 23, the Vermont Chamber of Commerce held its yearly Vermont Business and Industry Expo at the Burlington Sheraton conference center.

I went to the Expo this year and Entergy Vermont Yankee had a booth.  Several Vermont Yankee employee volunteers staffed the booth. In my picture, you can see Richard January talking to a visitor  at the booth.

Voices for Vermont Yankee (the book)

Entergy had several copies of our book, Voices for Vermont Yankee, at their booth.   Voices for Vermont Yankee records many pro-Vermont Yankee testimonies made at the Public Service Board hearings last fall.   My husband George and I published this book together, and Entergy had told me that they bought some copies. I think they gave a few copies away at the Expo.

You don't have to go to the Entergy booth to get a copy, though!  You can buy Voices for Vermont Yankee on Amazon as a paperback ($4.04) or you can buy it as a Kindle or a Nook ebook for $2.99.  It's an inspiring book for anyone in favor of nuclear energy: people's statements in favor of nuclear power.

Last time I announced the book, it was only available as an ebook. Now we have it as  a paperback, too. With this print copy available, more people can read it.  You can give it as a gift if you already have your own copy. George worked hard and thoughtfully  to design the paperback. It looks very good (but I'm prejudiced).  You will enjoy it.

Others at the Expo

While I was at the Expo, I was happy to see that GW Plastics, one of my favorite Vermont companies, won the prestigious Deane C. Davis Outstanding Business Award.  As the GW Press Release for this award wrote: During the last two decades, the company has expanded four times in Vermont, investing millions in equipment, facilities, and training, and doubling its Vermont employment. 

I have some connection to Vermont manufacturing, so I was glad to see a Vermont manufacturing company win this award.  My manufacturing connection is mainly through Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC). VMEC is part of a nationwide organization which helps U.S. manufacturers be innovative and efficient.  I used to write Success Stories for VMEC, interviewing manufacturers that had worked with them.   At the Expo, I enjoyed stopping by the VMEC booth and seeing some old friends.

A Vermont Company

Vermont Yankee is a Vermont company (though part of a larger company, which is true of many Vermont employers, such as Ben and Jerry's and IBM).  Vermont Yankee employs many people in Vermont.  It pays taxes in Vermont.  It attends trade fairs in Vermont.

For me, seeing VY's booth at the Expo was a very refreshing and calming experience.  People stopped by and talked: as far as I can tell, most visitors were in favor of continued operation of the plant. (I was not staffing the booth, just visiting, so my knowledge is incomplete.)   All the Expo exhibitors were calm and upbeat. It is fun to walk around a trade show.  Being at Expo was a refreshing change from my trips to hearings in Brattleboro and Montpelier.

Perhaps I spend too much time  at hearings and not enough time at trade shows.  I'm going to try to  change that.