[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 71 (Tuesday, May 22, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S5437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO WILLIAM HAZELETT

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate William 
Hazelett of Colchester who was chosen as the United States Small 
Business Administration National Exporter of the Year. Bill has shown 
extraordinary innovation and vision in building a very successful 
business in Vermont.
  Bill Hazelett and his wife Dawn are old friends of mine and 
Marcelle's. Bill is the president of Hazelett Strip-Casting Corp., a 
manufacturing firm that designs and makes continuous metal casting 
machines designed to produce long sheets of metal and wire for 
everything from pennies to aluminum siding to automobile bodies. 
Hazelett Strip-Casting now employs 145 people. Foreign business 
accounts for 70 percent of its $23 million in annual sales, and 
Hazelett Strip-Casting has clients all around the world, including much 
of Europe, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and 
Chile. Bill moved his company to Vermont from Connecticut in 1957 
because, as he says, ``I wanted to ski.'' We are very happy he came and 
decided to stay.
  I commend Bill and Dawn for receipt of this prestigious award.
  I ask that a copy of a May 9, 2001, article in the Burlington Free 
Press outlining Bill Hazelett's achievements be printed in the Record.
  The article follows:

             [From the Burlington Free Press, May 9, 2001]

        Colchester Man Named SBA's National Exporter of the Year

       R. William Hazelett of Colchester on Tuesday received the 
     U.S. Small Business Administration's National Exporter of the 
     Year award from President George W. Bush in a White House 
     ceremony. Hazelett, 82, president of Hazelett Strip-Casting 
     Corp., was honored for building a manufacturing firm for 
     which foreign business accounts for 70 percent of its $23 
     million in annual sales.
       Hazelett had a simple reason for the recognition. ``We have 
     a technology that is superior to any other technology in 
     fabricating sheet metal,'' he said. ``My business was 
     selected (for the award) as being very, very good at creating 
     exporting business for the United States.'' The company 
     designs and makes continuous metal casting machines, 
     behemoths designed to produce long sheets of metal and wire 
     that can weigh as much as 120 tons and cost $15 million. The 
     machines produce sheet metal for everything from pennies to 
     aluminum siding to auto bodies, Hazelett said.
       Clients are scattered all over the world, including much of 
     Europe, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil 
     and Chile, he said. Earlier this year, a Hazelett 
     representative was part of the trade mission that traveled to 
     Argentina with Gov. Howard Dean. Though no sale was made on 
     the trip, it started a process that will lead to a sale, 
     Hazelett said. ``You don't sell one of these machines 
     overnight because a machine might cost $15 million,'' he 
     said. ``You've got a whole plant that might cost $150 million 
     that they go into. It's a very long-term consideration.'' 
     Hazelett was confident a deal would be signed. ``We will get 
     the business because we are the best in the world,'' he said.
       Hazelett, which does all of its engineering and 
     manufacturing in Vermont, employs 145 people. The company 
     moved here in 1957 from Connecticut because, Hazelett said, 
     ``I wanted to ski.''
       In naming Hazelett for the honor, the SBA noted his 
     company's ``stellar success in export marketing.'' ``Bill 
     Hazelett's contribution to Vermont's stature as a world-class 
     exporter center is absolutely outstanding,'' said Kenneth 
     Silver, director of the SBA's Vermont district 
     office.

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