[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 34 (Wednesday, March 14, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S2304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S2304]]
                      TRIBUTE TO ELIZABETH ROBERT

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to congratulate Elizabeth 
Robert, a graduate of Middlebury College and the University of Vermont, 
for her success in transforming the struggling Vermont Teddy Bear 
Company into a highly profitable e-business.
  Ms. Robert joined the Vermont Teddy Bear Company as its Chief 
Financial Officer in 1995 and only two years later rose to the position 
of Chief Executive Officer. In 1997, profits at Vermont Teddy Bear 
Company were way down and the future was bleak. Now, only three years 
later, sales are up 50 percent and the company boasts more than $22 
million in annual sales. This spectacular turnaround was spearheaded by 
Elizabeth Robert, who harnessed the power of the Internet to transform 
the Teddy Bear Company into a successful Bear-Gram gift delivery 
service. The company's website is http://store.yahoo.com/vtbear/.
  Recently, The Rutland Herald and The Times Argus, featured Ms. Robert 
as a ``captain of industry.'' I ask that the full text of the Rutland 
Herald/Times Argus article of March 11, 2001, titled ``Elizabeth 
Robert: A `captain of industry' bears watching'' be printed in the 
Record.
  Liz's success is a shining example for all Vermonter business leaders 
to follow. By taking advantage of the new markets offered by the 
Internet and developing a sharply focused business plan, the Vermont 
Teddy Bear Company has doubled its sales and significantly expanded its 
customer base.
  Last year, I invited Liz Robert to be the keynote speaker at my 
annual Women's Economic Opportunity Conference in Vermont. Ms. Robert 
shared her personal story with hundreds of women who attended the 
conference and encouraged each of them to follow their dreams. As an 
incredibly successful businesswoman and the mother of two teen-aged 
daughters, she is an inspiration for all of us. My wife, Marcelle, and 
I were proud to be there with her.

       Elizabeth Robert: A ``Captain of Industry'' Bears Watching

                        (By Sally West Johnson)

       Elizabeth Robert is nothing like her product. This woman, 
     who took over the floundering Vermont Teddy Bear Co. and 
     returned it to solvency, exudes a cool, angular self-
     confidence that is not a bit like the warm and cuddly 
     personae of her stuffed bears.
       A wiry, athletic 45-year-old, Robert has been with Vermont 
     Teddy Bear since 1995, when she signed on as chief financial 
     officer in what was already a financially troubled time. The 
     charm of founder John Sortino's bear-peddling pushcart 
     operation on Church Street in Burlington had long since worn 
     thin; his successor, Patrick Burns, ``took us on a trip down 
     teddy-bear lane,'' says Robert, explaining that Burns had a 
     vision of turning the company into a Disney-like conglomerate 
     that sold all things ursine. But that idea tanked, and when 
     Burns left town, Robert took over as chief executive officer 
     in October 1997.
       In truth, taking on a top job had been in her game plan for 
     a long time. It's part of who she is, and she knew it. She 
     comes from several generations of highly accomplished women. 
     Her grandmother emigrated from Armenia to Paris, where she 
     worked in the laboratory of Mme. Marie Curie and later, 
     according to Robert, became the first female pediatrician in 
     Geneva. In the early 1940s, Robert's mother was working as a 
     photo editor at Time-Life Inc. ``I grew up in a household 
     where everything was possible,'' she says.
       A Middlebury College alumna, class of 1978, she married 
     English professor Bob Hill in 1980, then had her first child 
     10 days before entering graduate school at the University of 
     Vermont. They have since divorced. With an MBA in hand, she 
     worked at all sorts of jobs for the next few years: at 
     Vermont Gas Systems, as a financial consultant, and as 
     campaign manager for Louise McCarren's 1990 run for 
     lieutenant governor. It was McCarren, now president of 
     Verizon in Vermont, who pointed out the obvious to her.
       ``She told me that I wanted to be a captain of industry . . 
     . and she was exactly right,'' says Robert of her mentor. ``I 
     had been learning, accumulating a skill set with undefined 
     purpose. Now I knew what the purpose was.''
       She leapt into her future by signing on as chief financial 
     officer with a high-tech start-up in Williston, Air Mouse 
     Remote Controls. ``We were constantly groveling for money, 
     constantly short of cash,'' she recalls. If it didn't seem to 
     be a blessing at the time, ``all that experience would be 
     relevant to me when I got to Vermont Teddy Bear.''
       Robert's success at VTB has made her much in demand as a 
     speaker, especially when the subject is business 
     strategizing. Invited to address a UVM graduate class last 
     fall, she immediately turns the tables on her students. 
     ``What business is Vermont Teddy Bear in?'' she asks them. 
     (Hint: The correct answer is not ``selling teddy bears.'')
       ``We are in the Bear-Gram gift delivery service,'' she 
     informs them after a few proffer hesitant guesses. ``We are 
     delivering a highly personalized message, and one that can be 
     changed right up to the last minute.''
       Are Vermont Teddy Bears expensive? Yes, partly because they 
     are exclusively made in America, which costs more than making 
     them overseas. But then VTB isn't selling toys for kids. 
     ``You can't sell the Lover Boy bear off the retail shelf for 
     $65 or $75 even on Madison Avenue,'' explains Robert, ``but 
     you can sell them for $85 if you guarantee delivery the next 
     day and sell them with an embroidered shirt and a personal 
     message transcribed by a bear counselor.''
       She settles into the story of VTB's decline into--and 
     resurrection from--bankruptcy with the confidence born of 
     success. It is a classic tale of a company getting too big, 
     too fast. ``We went from revenues of $300,000 in 1990 to $20 
     million in 1994,'' she recounts. But after an IPO in late 
     1993, ``the company hit the wall. We were spending huge 
     amounts of money: We were advertising on Rush Limbaugh for $1 
     million a year; we spent $8.1 million on the new building (in 
     Shelburne).''
       In some ways, the financial crisis was relatively easy to 
     manage: ``When there is no money,'' she notes, ``the answer 
     is always `no.' '' With Robert's modified, and sharply 
     focused, sales strategies, the company began to come back. A 
     hugely successful Valentine's Day in 1998 liquidated the old 
     inventory and brought in a huge pile of cash. The company 
     picked up corporate-gift clients such as Seagrams, Nabisco 
     and Triaminic, the cold-medicine people. It also focused on 
     direct marketing of Bear-Grams through radio advertising to a 
     clientele Robert calls generically ``Late Jack''--a guy 
     between 18 and 54 years old who has forgotten the holiday, 
     whatever it is. They can bail him out at the last minute with 
     a gift that costs about the same as a nice bouquet of flowers 
     but lasts a lot longer and is more personal.
       In fiscal 1998, VTB reported a net loss of $2 million. 
     Thanks to ``Late Jack,'' in fiscal 2000 company books showed 
     sales of $33 million, with a profit of $3.7 million. At the 
     moment, Elizabeth Robert is pretty much where she wanted to 
     be.
       ``I am now a captain of industry,'' she says. The remark is 
     candid, not boastful. ``I'm not at the end of my career by 
     any means, but I don't see the need to move on at this 
     point.''

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