The best part is that he'll be back in a decade to celebrate the tenth anniversary of that zinger!
-
Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!
You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!
Stenger and Quiros Ousted from Management of Jay Peak and Burke
- Thread starter thetrailboss
- Start date
The best part is that he'll be back in a decade to celebrate the tenth anniversary of that zinger!
Looks like the Judge is going to compel his Quebec counterpart to make MSSI to appear at deposition...no surprise:
https://vtdigger.org/2017/05/08/jud...il&utm_term=0_dc3c5486db-dc89294d65-405558657
https://vtdigger.org/2017/05/08/jud...il&utm_term=0_dc3c5486db-dc89294d65-405558657
fbrissette
Well-known member
Good. It's likely this whole mess could have been avoided if MSSI had acted responsibly.
Exactly. Perfect example of this is Woods Hole which has had a vibrant research community for decades.
Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app
jack97
New member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2006
- Messages
- 2,513
- Points
- 0
Exactly...... WH is within 90 min driving distance of 3 major universities ranked in the top 15, MIT, Harvard and Brown. Two of which has a long and rich history of Oceanography and physical science. In addition, it is within the same driving distance for four universities, BC, BU, NU and Tuft which are ranked in the top 50. University Rhode Island ranked in top 100 and then there's Yale which is over two hours of driving. WH had some work for exotic undersea communication work which funded some profs that I knew. My point, WH can pull in brain power and they teach as well. Another prof I had got joint a degree from WH and MIT.
Jully
Active member
Agreed. I'm not sure Woods Hole and the NEK are comparable. WH is directly affiliated with MIT. If you get a PhD at MIT in oceanography you will work at WH.
I don't buy that just because Mount Desert Island Labs are a non-profit makes them an invalid comparison. I would say the question is rather is Bar Harbor/Acadia a fair comparison to the NEK and I really don't have an answer to that. I would guess no, but I know that I would have jumped at the opportunity to live and work in the NEK when I was choosing research jobs (I am not necessarily your average researcher though).
Reason why I brought up Bar Harbor is because I thought it presented a good comparison to the NEK.
I don't know how many of you folks have spent any time in Bar Harbor between November 1st and May 1st, but it's an absolute ghost town. Probably 90+% of businesses close. The nearest intellectual capital from a University stand point is UMAINE about an hour away. There's Colby, Bates and Boudin at roughly two hours away. Yet they've got 1300 employee willing to live and work there including 200+ with PHDs.
Now it wouldn't be easy to bring in a high tech employer to the NEK, but it does happen in similar areas with Bar Harbor being something comparable. That's why I brought it up.
Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app
I don't know how many of you folks have spent any time in Bar Harbor between November 1st and May 1st, but it's an absolute ghost town. Probably 90+% of businesses close. The nearest intellectual capital from a University stand point is UMAINE about an hour away. There's Colby, Bates and Boudin at roughly two hours away. Yet they've got 1300 employee willing to live and work there including 200+ with PHDs.
Now it wouldn't be easy to bring in a high tech employer to the NEK, but it does happen in similar areas with Bar Harbor being something comparable. That's why I brought it up.
Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app
jack97
New member
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2006
- Messages
- 2,513
- Points
- 0
Colby, Bates and Bowdion are top Liberal Arts universities and each have biotech programs. So it's understandable on how these schools can feed this lab. And perhaps foster a tech center of several companies. Time will tell whether this could be kick started, the school and lab needs programs and products to flourish.
Not sure about NEK either, it's close proximity UVT and Champlain may have something to do with the lab.
btw, my apologies to the university rankings, I recently went through this when my daughter was deciding about college. Like it or not, we work in industries where the first job is influence by the college program one attends.
UVM, Dartmouth and some top Universities in PQ have strong PHD engineering programs and are all within equal proximity to the NEK as those schools are to Bar Harbor. The NEK is also in a better location logistically with highway access for shipping than is Bar Harbor.
Like I said, the NEK is an unlikely destination for a biotech start up, but no more so than Bar Harbor. If the right plan ever came along (the one in the discussion clearly wasn't) I would think the state should do whatever it can to support it. A similar company to what exists in Bar Harbor would be pretty transformative to the NEK economy.
Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app
Like I said, the NEK is an unlikely destination for a biotech start up, but no more so than Bar Harbor. If the right plan ever came along (the one in the discussion clearly wasn't) I would think the state should do whatever it can to support it. A similar company to what exists in Bar Harbor would be pretty transformative to the NEK economy.
Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app
fbrissette
Well-known member
Burlington is the only place which makes sense in Vermont.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
The Bar Harbor firm is very interesting indeed. I never would have guessed that there would be a biotech company in Bar Harbor that employed in excess of a thousand people. Thanks for pointing it out.
The issue, however, is a little more complicated.
First, we do not know how successful the Bar Harbor company is at their location. I'd like to know if they are fully staffed, and if they are able to attract the candidates that they actually want to attract.
Second, there is not an infinite number of tech graduates who are willing to live in the middle of nowhere New England. It is very possible that the Bar Harbor firm's presence makes it much more difficult for a NEK company to recruit talent.
Third, a lot of people have a romantic idea of living on the Maine coast. Much more than have a romantic idea of living in the NEK.
But the fact that someone figured out how to do it in Bar Harbor is definitely food for though.
benski
Active member
You guys all sound a little afraid to try something new and take risks. Why not try offering biotech jobs in a community that was previously off limits to biotech employees. Some might be excited to have that option.
I don't think any of us object to that, let alone have any say as to where these companies land. And here it's moot because AnCBio was a fraud from the start.
Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone
VTKilarney
Well-known member
The conversation about location is only about 10% of the concern with AnC Bio. The bigger issue is the fact that a liquidated Korean corporation intended to spend massive amounts of other people's money in order to sell an unproven product that very few people believed would ever be approved for sale.
I am going to assume Jackson Laboratory is pretty successful. It was founded in Bar Harbor in 1929 and remained there ever since. That's a very long run through some challenging times in history as well an era where transportation to that area was pretty difficult.
In terms of the romantic idea of living in the NEK vs the Maine Coast, I guess it really depends on what you are into lifestyle wise. If winter activities are your preference than the NEK would be the clear winner. Proximity to a large metro is an advantage for the NEK as well.
I am going to assume Jackson Laboratory is pretty successful. It was founded in Bar Harbor in 1929 and has remained there ever since. That's a very long run through some challenging times in history as well an era where transportation to that area was pretty difficult.
In terms of the romantic idea of living in the NEK vs the Maine Coast, I guess it really depends on what you are into lifestyle wise. If winter activities are your preference than the NEK would be the clear winner. Summer obviously would go to the Bar Harbor area though some folks might actually get annoyed with how inundated with visitors the area gets.
Proximity to a large metro is an advantage for the NEK as well. Newport is under 2 hours from Montreal or 3.5 to Boston. Bar Harbor you are 3 hours just to Portland and 4.5+ to Boston. So, there's a clear "near civilization" advantage being in the Newport area.
I would assume the only real shot the NEK would have at attracting this kind of business is if the founders of the company had a personal affinity to the area. Jackson Labs was started by a former UMaine president.
Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app
Weird. Not sure why part of my post and your quote was duplicated. That wasn't intended
Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app
Sent from my XT1565 using AlpineZone mobile app
Jully
Active member
The Jackson Labs at Mount Desert Island are successful. They do some amazing research and offer some excellent services used throughout New England and beyond. I have friends that work there and the location does not appear to be a flaw at all in them attracting employees anymore than location is a flaw for all employers. FWIW, the MDI labs don't just draw from Maine. They draw from all throughout New England including the Boston area.
Your comment, DHS, about the NEK versus the Maine Coast is a very good one. As I mentioned earlier, I'd have jumped at the chance of working in the NEK and would have not wanted to work on the Maine Coast that far up there. I'm not sure if it balances out, but I bet its pretty darn close.
Like BG originally said though, the issue with AncBio was 90/10 with the 90% being the ridiculous fraud it was. I'd love to see tech move out of the cities more and hope it does. I really hope VT jumps at the opportunity to bring some bio tech and other research into the state. New Hampshire has Dartmouth which brings a lot of medical related jobs and research and some bio tech along with it. VT doesn't have that at this point as UVM is not on the same level. Some private jobs in that department would be awesome for the state, IMO.
Your comment, DHS, about the NEK versus the Maine Coast is a very good one. As I mentioned earlier, I'd have jumped at the chance of working in the NEK and would have not wanted to work on the Maine Coast that far up there. I'm not sure if it balances out, but I bet its pretty darn close.
Like BG originally said though, the issue with AncBio was 90/10 with the 90% being the ridiculous fraud it was. I'd love to see tech move out of the cities more and hope it does. I really hope VT jumps at the opportunity to bring some bio tech and other research into the state. New Hampshire has Dartmouth which brings a lot of medical related jobs and research and some bio tech along with it. VT doesn't have that at this point as UVM is not on the same level. Some private jobs in that department would be awesome for the state, IMO.
DoublePlanker
Member
Some discussion of biotech for Manchester NH. Proximity to labor force in Boston is a key factor.
http://www.unionleader.com/business/Biotech-center-a-golden-egg-for-NHtech_sector_
I think any tech is concentrated. Sure there can be a company anywhere. But there are certain Metro areas that seemingly dominate.
http://www.unionleader.com/business/Biotech-center-a-golden-egg-for-NHtech_sector_
I think any tech is concentrated. Sure there can be a company anywhere. But there are certain Metro areas that seemingly dominate.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
They're not.
Living in a vacation destination Oceanside town is definitely not a good comparison in terms of desirability compared to Newport, Vermont (no offense to anyone from Newport, but, I mean, come on now). That being said, I'm not sure even Bar Harbor could pull this off today if it was a startup, which is what we're talking about. One thing I am sure of, you'd need much deeper pockets than is necessary to pull it off, and again, the "pockets" in this case weren't just empty, they had holes in them.
Correct. Burlington I could see pulling off a biotech startup. Wouldn't be simple, but I could see it.
The problem, however, is that Vermont has politically become shockingly extremist in the last decade or so, and if an entity even so much as thinks about making a profit, Vermont will "punish" that "greed" to death with regulatory burdens and taxation. A start-up in Vermont is a very poor choice, which is why they aint exactly flocking to Vermont.
Last edited:
Like I said, it depends on the person. I spent two stints of six months on Cape Cod during tourism season and I got off the Island every chance I could get and couldn't wait for the season to be done. For the past ten years I've lived within 15-30 minutes of some incredibly scenic beaches in Maine and NH, but I might visit them on average 5 times a summer. The water is brutally cold (and much worse up in Bar Harbor) and the crowds are just not worth dealing with. I do however drive considerably further pretty much every weekend to visit less crowded lakes and rivers. Economics being equal, I'd live in the NEK over Bar Harbor without question.
