[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 83 (Tuesday, May 20, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4481-S4482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING THE BAKER COMPANY

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I congratulate the Baker 
Company, a cutting-edge small company from my home State of Maine that 
has earned tremendous recognition as the Maine International Trade 
Center's 2008 Exporter of the Year. The award will be presented to the 
company at the Maine International Trade Day dinner this Thursday, May 
22. The company's leadership on a host of safety issues--and the loyal 
customer base it has earned around the world, including in Europe, 
Asia, and Africa--make the Baker Company most deserving of this award.
  Founded in 1949, the Baker Company, headquartered in Sanford, has 
consistently been a leader in designing and manufacturing biological 
safety cabinets, fume hoods, and clean benches. These products make 
laboratories worldwide safer, more efficient, and better equipped to 
focus on essential scientific research. From its beginnings, the Baker 
Company has always been at the forefront of crafting new and unique 
products to lead the industry. In 1951, the company unveiled the very 
first clean air cabinet. The firm's solid commitment to craftsmanship 
and its stellar reputation gained the Baker Company significant 
acknowledgement over the years. In 1979, Lockheed Aircraft Biosystems 
chose the company to build a biological safety cabinet for a NASA 
shuttle flight. Since that time, the firm has only increased its 
ingenuity and has worked with enterprises worldwide to make 
improvements to their technological safety.
  To best promote its role at the vanguard of laboratory safety, the 
Baker Company founded the Eagleson Institute in 1989. Dedicated to the 
memory of the firm's longtime president, John M. Eagleson, the 
nonprofit institute promotes the practice of lab safety through a 
variety of mediums, including seminars, lectures, and interactive CD-
ROMs. The seminars comprise a vast array of topics, from fundamentals 
of laboratory safety to safety cabinet technology. The seminars are 
delivered through a variety of instructional techniques, including role 
playing, problem solving, and demonstrations.

[[Page S4482]]

While the firm hosts frequent sessions at its Sanford headquarters, it 
occasionally offers them at various locations across the globe. The 
Eagleson Institute is the Baker Company's distinctive way of making a 
difference in the industry and of sharing the trade's most critical 
asset--safety--with others.
  The Maine International Trade Center, which is presenting the Maine 
Exporter of the Year Award to the Baker Company, is Maine's small 
business link to the world. The center is a public-private partnership 
between the State of Maine and the businesses that play such a crucial 
role in expanding the State's economy. The center's goal is to increase 
international trade in Maine, and, in particular, to help Maine 
businesses export goods and services. Clearly, it sees in the Baker 
Company the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation that make Maine's 
small businesses among the best in the world.
  Throughout the decades, the Baker Company's name has been synonymous 
with unmatched quality and exceptional safety. From its early days, the 
firm has possessed a commitment to the pharmaceutical, life science, 
and biotechnology sectors and a determination to create a safer working 
environment for people in those industries. I congratulate everyone at 
the Baker Company for their impressive accomplishment in garnering the 
Maine International Trade Center's 2008 Exporter of the Year Award and 
wish them lasting success both here and abroad.

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