Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407150066
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Wilder spoke at Electro-Tec Corp.'s celebration on receiving ISO-9001 certification, a seal of approval on quality standards that is becoming a must for any companies that want to do international business.
"That speaks for itself," Wilder said of the accreditation. But he could as easily have spoken for himself, because at the end of his speech to Electro-Tec workers, Wilder summed up his candidacy by quoting a hymn: "Let the work that I have done speak for me."
In Blacksburg, plenty of people might not speak kindly of Wilder's work, which during his governorship included budget cutbacks to higher education that prompted Virginia Tech to cut programs, raise tuition and reduce staff. The spectacle of thousands of Tech students loudly protesting the budget cuts became a familiar sight on the school's Drill Field during Wilder's rule.
But ad-libbing a speech to the Electro-Tec crowd gathered on the company's North Main Street lawn, Wilder portrayed himself as a man of honesty and forthrightness.
"Thank you for the patience that you showed in the lean times," he said. Then, "I told you I wasn't going to raise taxes - and I didn't raise your taxes one penny."
Wilder briefly touched on the issue of health care and benefits, saying that businesses and localities need to have as much say in the debate as the federal government so that "we make sure we don't run businesses out of business."
He also questioned defense cutbacks, saying they are imperiling the country's defenses and the economies of states with a major stake in the defense business.
"Virginia, in my judgement, did not get its fair share" of defense conversion funds doled out by the federal government, Wilder said. "Oh, California got a ton of it." With Virginia's hundreds of contractors that do defense work, its Hampton shipyards and, close by, the arsenal in Fairlawn, the state "needs to have a special distinction when we talk about economic conversion."
The comment was appropriate at Electro-Tec, which employs about 160 workers, and already had many of the ISO-9001 standards in place because of quality standards necessary to do business with the Department of Defense, said General Manager Sam St. Amour. In the past, 90 percent of the company's work was related to defense projects, but in recent years that has dropped to 60 percent.
St. Amour said Electro-Tec took more than a year and spent about $35,000 to achieve International Standard Organization certification. The distinction requires that companies document their procedures and meet quality assurance guidelines that were developed so that different countries would have a single set of standards to judge each other with.
Before introducing Wilder to the employees, lunching on a meal catered by Taco Bell, St. Amour praised them for their help in the company's achievement, and joked, "think of it, if nothing else, you got free tacos today."
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB