[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12920-12921]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                SYMQUEST

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Burlington Free Press recently printed 
an article about SymQuest Group Inc. in South Burlington. It was 
especially interesting to me, as I know the cofounders, Larry Sudbay 
and Pat Robins, very well.
  In the article, Mr. Sudbay was said to make their success and the 
honors they have won seem very easy. One would have to know Larry 
Sudbay to realize that what he makes seem easy can be a Herculean task 
for most people.
  The other cofounder is Pat Robins of Burlington. I was privileged to 
not only be a classmate of Pat's at St. Michael's College, but to have 
the further privilege of maintaining our friendship for the past 50 
years.
  Vermont is a small State with much to make us proud. People like 
Larry Subday and Pat Robins make our State even better.
  I ask unanimous consent that the article from the Free Press be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

             [From the Burlington Free Press, June 2, 2008]

                People, Paper and Pixels Propel SymQuest

                         (By Joel Banner Baird)

       South Burlington.--Behind thick glass, like a motionless 
     aquarium in the company's lobby, the SymQuest Group Inc. 
     server room might hold the visitor's interest for a minute or 
     two, tops.
       Even CEO and co-founder Larry Sudbay can be easily 
     distracted from the racks of hardware and colorful cabling--
     especially when one of his 152 employees walks by.
       In this hardware-and-software company, everyone seems to be 
     on a first-name basis; people are the moving parts at 
     SymQuest. On May 21, Gov. Jim Douglas honored the 12-year-old 
     company as the recipient of this year's winner of Vermont's 
     top business accolade: the Deane C. Davis Award, citing 
     SymQuest for its outstanding commitments to work environment 
     and community--and for its vitality.
       Last week, Sudbay, 51, made it sound simple.
       He described the privately held, office systems management 
     firm's steady, double-digit growth as ``fun momentum.''
       In a nutshell, he said, his goal in management ``is to 
     allow our employees to thrive, and to create raving fans.''
       The company's 3,000 customers must be right: Sudbay 
     predicts this fiscal year's sales to more than quadruple the 
     $9 million SymQuest earned in 1997.
       There's still room for expansion at the company's 40,000-
     square-feet headquarters on Community Drive. But a cautionary 
     history looms, as well: SymQuest is housed in the footprint 
     of now-extinct computer giant Digital Equipment Corp.
       Sudbay and SymQuest co-founder Pat Robins sidestepped the 
     fragile dot-com bubble of the past decade by integrating 
     computer systems development with the lower-tech standbys of 
     office work flow: copiers and printers.
       ``The Jetsons meet the Flintstones here,'' Sudbay quipped.
       Approximately 20 percent of the company's revenues come 
     from toner shipments and service contracts, he added.
       SymQuest continually researches ways to better bridge the 
     gap between pixels and paper.
       Sudbay returns again and again to a fundamental question: 
     how does information--often an intangible product--move 
     through a business? And how is it thwarted?
       His engineers, sales reps and technicians came up with a 
     winning strategy: maximize customers' uptime with secure, 
     off-site monitoring, matched with prompt, people-to-people 
     service.
       Rob Bromee, who directs SymQuest's support center, said the 
     company's proprietary ``Sentinel'' devices allow his team to 
     diagnose and even predict failures on clients' computers and 
     networks.
       ``This is not just patch management,'' he said. ``We're 
     listening. We like to go back upstream from the problem, to 
     see what's causing it.''
       Remote monitoring now extends to printers and copiers, as 
     well. SymQuest can read meters and gauge maintenance needs; 
     customers receive toner shipments days before they're needed.

[[Page 12921]]

       In theory, a company in Bangkok could choose to delegate 
     its IT management to SymQuest. For Sudbay, a 1979 graduate of 
     University of Vermont, the vision remains in New England: 
     Regional is beautiful.
       ``Keeping everyone within two hours is our goal,'' he said. 
     ``Local is too small; regional provides us with the economy 
     of scale for purchasing similar to big Web and Wall Street 
     companies.
       ``This isn't India,'' he continued. ``We're based in the 
     same time zone as our customers. If they need a physical 
     presence, we're able to put our capes on.''
       Sudbay said a tighter network of offices also allows 
     employees to develop ties to their communities. Plaques on 
     the walls at the South Burlington headquarters laud 
     volunteers and charity fundraisers; firefighters, Little 
     League coaches and Penguin Plungers.
       The Deane C. Davis Award also cited SymQuest's direct 
     outreach of cyber-expertise.
       In February, following a competitive grant process, 
     SymQuest awarded a ``$25,000 Office Makeover'' to a drug 
     treatment and youth center near its Plattsburgh office. 
     Another makeover is under way to upgrade networking at a 
     mental illness center in Keene, N.H.
       Neighborliness, Sudbay said, is essential to good business.
       ``Simply put, we're looking for mutually profitable, long-
     term relationships with customers,'' he said. ``The old adage 
     where good guys finish last? Well, it's bogus. Good things 
     happen to good people.''

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