Deane C Davis Business of the Year: Lane Press, Okemo, Vermont Heat & Vent are finalists

Vermont Business Magazine, May 01, 1996 by McQuiston, Timothy

Three superbly qualified Vermont businesses are finalists for the sixth-annual Deane C Davis Outstanding Vermont Business Award. They are The Lane Press in South Burlington, Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow and Vermont Heating and Ventilating in Colchester.

This award is given to the Vermont business whose outstanding accomplishments in 1995 complement its history of success and awareness of what makes Vermont unique. The award is sponsored by Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.

The 1995 winner will be announced at a special reception held May 22 at the Ramada Inn & Conference Center on Williston Road in South Burlington. The reception will start at 6:30 pm and immediately precedes the Vermont Business & Industry Expo Trade Dinner. The winner will be announced about 7 pm and will receive a Vermont granite plaque, hand-crafted by Granite Industries of Vermont in Barre.

Expo '96 will be held at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel & Conference Center on May 22 and 23.

The Lane Press

A Burlington-area institution since the turn of the century, The Lane Press has written its own page on how a company should be run and can be successful. Lane Press produces an average of a quarter million magazines every day--slick business in the best sense of the word.

Lane has printed every issue of Vermont Life Magazine, now 50 years old, as well as Vermont Magazine. Distinguished customers include the University of Vermont and Middlebury College, as well as the universities of Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Its impressive list of titles, now numbering 180, includes AM Best, Journal of Accountancy, Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, An News, Art & Auction, and American Scientist, among many others.

Lane Press has always kept a keen eye on markets and been able to keep ahead of trends. To take advantage of opportunities, it expanded its plant in 1987 by moving from downtown Burlington to a 150,000-square-foot space in South Burlington.

The need for more space was predicated on a strategic decision made in the 1960s to focus on volume printing services, previously beyond the capabilities of Vermont printers. Until 1972, Lane Press offered both letterpress and offset sheetfed printing processes. At that point, it entered the multi-color web printing market, thus securing a competitive niche in mid-rage printing.

Since 1991, the company has focused on strategic planning, prudent capital investing, implementing operating efficiencies and human resource management. With its eye on the future, its quality product and customer service, Lane Press has achieved a double-digit compounded growth rate and created 47 new positions in the last five years, pushing total employment to over 300.

Employees continually receive orientation on the strategic direction of the company. They also benefit from a Tuition Refund Program, as they further their education, and the employees and the company itself are generous benefactors through The Lane Press Employee's Fund, now over 40 years old, which assists numerous organizations.

The Lane Press continues to be aware of its role and stature in the community by involving itself in environmental conservation. Included in this is its development of a prototype plan for Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention, which the State of Vermont and the Printing Industries of New England have used as a model for other printers. It also sponsors community magazine recycling efforts.

Okemo Mountain Resort

To gauge the success and perseverance of Okemo Mountain Resort, one need only hear that Okemo has grown in skier visits every year for 14 consecutive years. Through snowless holidays, January thaws and a persistent recession, Okemo has been regarded as one of the great skiing success stories in North America. In 1982, 86,000 skiers tested their skill on the mountain located in heart of Green Mountains, 1995 saw over 480,000 skiers. Okemo has positioned itself as a skiers mountain, and the skiers have responded.

In 1982, when current management took over, the equipment was outdated and there was a lack of capital. New ski lifts and snow-making equipment was installed--and continues to be updated--and the proper personnel has hired and trained. Employment has more than doubled to a winter-time peak of almost 1,000. The ski resort recently expanded its Solitude area with a new lift and trails, townhouses, condos and private homes. The total economic impact of the resort on the local community is profound.

With that responsibility has come many employee- and company-sponsored efforts, highlighted by the "Ski Ball." The Ski Ball raises money for community projects. Suppliers and local businesses pitch in products and services for auctioning at the ball. This year's proceeds were donated to several local schools to help purchase modern teaching equipment.

With the responsibility every business has to the community in which it is located, a ski resort has a heightened responsibility because of its relationship with the natural environment. Okemo has expanded its snowmaking abilities to include over 95 percent of its skiable terrain. Needless to say, this snowmaking capability requires an enormous amount of water.