[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 13285-13286]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO ANDREW WHITEFORD

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I am proud to recognize Andrew Whiteford 
of Richmond, VT, owner of Andy's Dandys, maker of all-natural dog 
treats.
  Marcelle and I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew and his mother 
Lucie Whiteford at the bicentennial celebration for Richmond's Old 
Round Church, and we were so impressed with him. Andrew was born with 
Down syndrome, and his family started Andy's Dandys as a means for 
Andrew to have meaningful employment and to provide jobs for other 
young adults with special needs. His work is in line with the best of 
Vermont's spirit of service to others, and for that I ask that the 
article by Lynn Monty from the August 22, 2013, edition of the 
Burlington Free Press be printed in the Congressional Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

[[Page 13286]]



                   [From the Burlington Free Press, 
                             Aug. 22, 2013]

 Richmond Bakery Cooks Up Job-Training Program and Successful Business

       A mother's creative approach to helping her son transition 
     to adulthood, and all-natural dog treats, are the recipe for 
     success at Andy's Dandys.
       Lucie Whiteford launched the Richmond bakery to help her 
     son Andrew (Andy) Whiteford, 21, who was born with Down 
     syndrome, find meaningful employment after high school 
     graduation.
       The business was inspired by her boy's affection for his 
     rescued hound named Rosie and his love for reading recipes 
     and baking.
       ``I hope for him to be fulfilled, happy, healthy, as 
     independent as he wants to be, and to continue to be in a 
     social environment surrounded by people who understand him 
     and love him,'' Whiteford said of her son.
       This Bridge Street bakery is on a mission to illustrate 
     employability, while producing a high-quality Vermont 
     product. The original goal of supporting Whiteford in his 
     growth from high school to adult work life has evolved to 
     serving other young adults with special needs, and teaching 
     them real work-based skills that they can take with them in 
     their job search for future employment.
       ``The mission of Andy's Dandys is to employ and train 
     people to be employable,'' business partner Lesha Rasco said. 
     She is Whiteford's special educator at Mount Mansfield Union 
     High School where he will graduate next year.
       ``It's the revenue stream that makes the mission part 
     possible,'' Rasco said. ``In the future we hope that it will 
     build.''
       Rasco designs and implements individualized work training 
     programs at Andy's Dandys for other young adults with special 
     needs. She has been an instrumental part of Whiteford's 
     growth and of developing his business.
       The business has grown organically, Rasco said. ``Lucie has 
     been buying things and paying herself back.''


                      Baker, decorater, deliverer

       Andrew Whiteford bakes and decorates Andy's Dandy treats 
     and also makes deliveries and works to promote the business 
     at trade shows and seasonal events.
       Andy actually goes by Andrew.
       ``His name is Andrew. We don't call him Andy,'' Lucie 
     Whiteford said.
       ``Call me Andy,'' Andrew Whiteford said with a smile.
       ``He is yanking my chain,'' Lucie Whiteford said. ``The 
     business was named Andy's Dandys because we wanted some link 
     to Andrew, because this was for him, and because it has a 
     nice ring to it. Should we decide to one day make something 
     other than pet treats, we won't have to change the name.''
       On a recent morning, a baker's apron was folded in half, 
     and tied around his waist, not around his neck, just the way 
     he requested. Andrew Whiteford was just as meticulous about 
     dipping each one of the many freshly baked molasses dog bones 
     into bright orange yogurt frosting, as he was about donning 
     his apron.
       ``There are all kinds of colors, like blue, orange, and 
     sometimes brown,'' he said. ``I want to sell these in Las 
     Vegas and on a Hawaii beach someday. I am not joking. It's 
     true.''


                        Preservative free treats

       Joking or not, Andy's Dandys has taken off.
       The business started in 2008. Andrew Whiteford began by 
     selling the treats in school and at Saint Michaels's College, 
     where his father Tim Whiteford is an associate professor of 
     education.
       By fall of that year a few hundred of the colorful dog 
     treats sold from a couple Chittenden County convenience 
     stores. Overall, 8,500 treats sold that year.
       The bakery uses human-grade ingredients and the treats are 
     preservative-free.
       Today, the bakery turns out thousands of treats each week, 
     which sell at about 95 stores in Vermont, New Hampshire, 
     upstate New York, and Maine. Thirty-two thousand treats sold 
     in 2012.
       ``This year we are pacing about 20 percent ahead of where 
     we were last year, and last year was a 100 percent increase 
     over 2011,'' Lucie Whiteford said.


                    Custom shaped for your business

       The bakery has started offering custom-shaped treats that 
     reflect a business' name or product. For example, a flying 
     pig dog treat for the Northfield Savings Bank instead of the 
     standard milk-bone biscuit, she said.
       ``It's about offering customers a Vermont-made product to 
     demonstrate support for a small Vermont business such as 
     ours,'' she said. ``They gave us a shot, and I understand 
     that customers really love them.''
       Lucie Whiteford came on staff full-time last month after 
     leaving her position as an account executive at Fox 44 TV. 
     She hopes to begin drawing a salary as the new quarter starts 
     in September.
       ``It's profitable now which is why I was able to leave my 
     job to do this full time,'' she said. ``Now that I can work 
     on this business full time, I expect to be able to double 
     sales again in a year's time.''


                           The biggest reward

       More than revenues, Lucie Whiteford's biggest reward is 
     watching her son succeed in adulthood. She said raising a 
     child with a disability has been enlightening and rewarding.
       ``We celebrate what most people consider mundane 
     accomplishments, such as learning to speak well enough to be 
     understood, learning to button a shirt or tie a shoe,'' she 
     said.
       Andrew Whiteford has always pushed himself to achieve goals 
     singing a solo at the senior recital, snowboarding down a 
     black diamond trail, and teaching himself how to dip dog 
     treats with two hands at once, his mother said.
       ``He continues to exceed our expectations, reminding us 
     that we should be mindful about not setting the bar low just 
     because he has a disability,'' she said. ``As a family we 
     have all grown so much in terms of learning patience, 
     patience and more patience.''
       Andrew Whiteford has come into his own in the past few 
     years, his sister Marie Johnson said. ``He has a definite 
     interest in this business now,'' she said. ``He has developed 
     a sense of ownership.''
       Their mother agreed. ``Andrew turned a corner this summer. 
     He decided he wanted to come here and work with me. It was 
     what it was all for, and me sticking with it, and having it 
     be a part of our lives, and having it become the thing he has 
     decided to do it, I couldn't be happier,'' she said.
       Andy's Dandys manufactures and packages the treats at the 
     Bridge Street shop, and will be opening a retail store at 
     that location in mid-September.


                               Correction

       This story has been updated to reflect the following 
     correction: Lucie Whiteford launched the Richmond bakery 
     Andy's Dandys. Her name was misspelled in two instances in a 
     previous version of this story.

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