8/10/2009 Peter Vigue, Presidet, Cianbro Corporation

Sergeant at Arms

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Ed Oliver and Tom Martin was our Sergeants of Arms today. Thanks Ed and Tom!!!!!

Greeter

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Don Plourde served as Greeter today. Next week's greeter for the August 10rd meeting will be Lucille Zelenkewich.

50/50 Tickets

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Tom Martin sold $108 worth of 50/50 tickets. Gary Hammond won $54. Gary will sell tickets next week. No one claimed the 10 free tickets to the next 50/50 drawing so they will go to Rotary.

World Service Cup

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The donations for this month's World Service Cup will be determined over the next week.

Fined for pictures in the Paper

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There were no pictures in the paper last week.

 

Cell Phones

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A $10.00 fee for cell phone ringing continues for the 2008-2009 Club year. No fines assessed today.

On Leave

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Cynthia Corbin.

World Service Cups

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The World Service cups for this month will be determined next week.

Visiting Rotarians and Guests

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Cathy Langlais introduced Steve Malatesta from Cianbro

Bill Arnold introduced Barbara Knowlton

Sue Giguere introduced her husband, Leo Giguere

Kim Lindloff introduced John Nale & Jim Batey

Jim Schmidt introduced Peter Schultz

Bob Jacobs introduced Rick Gilumbaro

Frank Prelgovisk introduced Joby Culver

Gene Beaupre introduced Ken Eskelund & Rotarian Norm Gosline

Janet Parkhurst introduced Richard Parkhurst

What can you do?

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* Tell Board Members what you are passionate about for community projects

* Tell the program committee about interesting speakers/topics you would like to listen to

* Be involved, join a committee

* Be active

* Be positive

Happy Dollars

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As previously announced, and in deference to today's speaker, there were no Happy Dollars today.

Upcoming speaker schedule:

======================= August 17, 2009 Lauren Shaw, Water for Cambodia August 24, 2009 TBA August 31, 2009 TBA

08-09 Board of Directors:

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Ally Karter - President

Sarah Sugden - President Elect

Seth Sherwood - Vice President

Cathy Langlais - Secretary

Steve Kelleher - Assistant Secretary

Allan Rancourt - Charitable Treasurer

Don Borman - Operations Treasurer

Marc Pitman - Club Service

Mark Ford - Rotary Foundation

Eric Haley - Past President

Nancy Gallagher - Public Relations

Debbie Knox - Community Service

Ed Riggs - International Service

Reg Perry - Fundraising

Tom Longstaff - Vocational Service

Waterville Rotary Club Web Site

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http://www.clubrunner.ca/waterville

Today's Program: Peter Vigue, CEO of Cianbro Corp

Speaker, Peter Vigue, President & CEO of Cianbro.  He joined Cianbro in 1970 and has been President/CEO since 1991.  Cianbro is one of the largest and diversified contractors on the east coast.  His topic was Vision for our Maine Economy.  Here are six Maine challenges & opportunities:

Challenge

1 Heating Security-

2 Energy Security

3 Improved Health

4 FoodSecurity

5 Business & Investment Attraction

6 Better Transportation

Opportunities

1. Electricity safest, cheapest & cleanest energy source

(hydro, wind & solar)

Weatherize all Maine homes within 10-20 years, convert Maine's heating & cooling to electricity, provide interest free loans to homeowners.

2. Maine's future, the world's leader in offshore wind.

Collaborate with UMaine, DOE, Statoil Hydro & the Ocean Institute. Deploy demonstration structures & turbines in 3 yrs, attract private capital .

3. Become a model for improved health in US. Create a world class virtual medical school.  Develop R&D programs with Jackson Lab, UMaine, UNE, Maine Med, EMMC, Tufts, Univ. of VT and others.  Partner with National Institute of Health securing funding for Maine to become a laboratory for improving health in the US.

4. Become "Foodbasket" to the Northeast. Expand R&D at UMaine focused on producing food locally.  Attract investments in local agriculture, aquaculture and marketing infrastructure.

5. Business & Investment Attraction. Create a construction financing revolving loan fund for new facilities and equipment.  Develop the Maine Expansion Fund to provide flexible funding for companies seeking to expand, start or locate in the state.

6. Better Transportation.  Extend 1-95 to the northern Maine border.  Build a private east-west highway & utility corridor. Reactivate northern Maine's rail system, north-south, and east-west.

Mr. Vigue feels the quality of life in our state is being challenged.  He doesn't see any vision or strategy for Maine going forward. He sees fewer people in the state to pay the bills as many move south for more opportunities.

Cianbro's president outlines his ideas for state's economy

BY SCOTT MONROE

Staff Writer 08/11/2009

MAN WITH A VISION: Peter G. Vigue, president of Pittsfield-based Cianbro, points to a photo of his four grandchildren while explaining his vision for transforming Maine's economy Monday to the Waterville Rotary Club.

WATERVILLE -- Flanked by a large photo of his four grandchildren, Peter G. Vigue on Monday addressed about 100 people at the Waterville Rotary Club, outlining his grand vision for transforming Maine's economy.

Text on the photo read, "It's all about people." For Vigue, the implication was clear: He's pushing proposals he hopes will improve the future for coming generations.

"What will the future hold for the next 20, 25 years? It's not very promising; we need the infrastructure," Vigue said. In an apparent swipe at current state policies, he added, "We need to come up with creative strategies and approaches and stop this business of taking it off the backs of the people of this state."

Vigue, a Pittsfield resident, has been publicly pushing his proposals for months, stirring speculation that he will be a gubernatorial candidate in next year's open -- and crowded -- contest.

Although he sounded ever-more like a candidate for governor Monday afternoon, Vigue declined to elaborate on his plans, noting that he has a full-time job as president and chief executive officer of the Pittsfield-based Cianbro construction company.

Asked after his talk whether he would run for governor, Vigue said, "I don't know what tomorrow will bring. I know what today will bring."

During his address, an audience member asked Vigue why he kept saying "we" in describing his ideas, instead of "I." Vigue said he was including all of his Cianbro employees.

Vigue's talk to the Rotary, held at the Alfond Youth Center on North Street, drew a standing ovation from the crowd. In his presentation, Vigue covered the gamut of his ambitious proposals, which call for a public/private plan of spending, investing and earning billions of dollars over many years to bolster Maine's heating, energy and food security, health and transportation, and to attract business.

Vigue often pointed to his own company as proof that his ideas can be applied to the entire state. Cianbro has more than 2,500 employees and annual sales totaling more than $450 million.

He said Cianbro has built a high-energy, underwater power line from New Jersey to Long Island, N.Y., and he suggests Maine do the same in tandem with the creation of offshore wind turbines and other energy projects.

Vigue talked about weatherizing all 150,000 homes in the state in the next two decades, while decreasing energy and health care costs.

On the health front, he proposes the creation of a virtual medical school through the state's hospitals, universities and research facilities so Maine can become "a laboratory" for improved health and wellness in the U.S., tapping into millions in funding from the National Institutes of Health.

"It's about the wellness of people," Vigue said. "This is not a very popular topic, but it's real and it's true."

Maine is also well positioned to become the "food basket" of the country, being within one day's travel to major metropolitan areas and two-thirds of the North American population base. Vigue asked the audience to "look at what's happening in Madison" -- a reference to the growing Backyard Farms tomato greenhouse -- and said the state has the potential to be a major supplier of locally made food.

Vigue's business and investment proposals call for the creation of a $300 million revolving loan fund for companies needing financing to construct buildings and buy equipment. Vigue said Maine could distinguish itself in the country by basically providing the incentive of a "free facility" in the state if companies create jobs, which would in turn mean a growing population base stimulating the state economy.

On transportation, Vigue proposes a long-talked-about extension of Interstate 95 to Maine's northern Maine border, increasing use of rail systems and attracting private investment for a $2 billion east-west highway corridor. Such transportation projects, he says, would address the problem of "shrinking communities" in northern Maine -- everything north of Augusta, he said -- while laying the critical foundation of connectivity in a globally competitive market.

Vigue said all of his proposals could be paid for if the state leased the interstate's right of way to Bangor Hydro, which wants to build an underground power line to New Hampshire, and the revenue from that lease would pay for a 50-year, $1.6 billion bond.

"You have to be bold," he said, in answer to an audience question about state leadership. "I'm very committed to this state and the future of my company."

Scott Monroe -- 861-9253

smonroe@centralmaine.com