Shanghai, China--In September I was invited to attend a biodiesel fuel conference at Middlebury College. I was particularly intrigued with what the participants called the "triple bottom line”. In order for an idea to succeed, they said, it should pass three tests.

First, does it make good business sense? Second, is it good for our environment? And third, is it good for society?

As I prepared objectives for our current trade mission to Asia, I realized that the triple bottom line could be an excellent guide for the mission. The idea of promoting trade, and jobs for Vermonters was enhanced by the idea that in our own way, we could also share Vermont’s environmental know-how, and promote world peace. On October 13, we left Burlington for Shanghai, China, then to Hong Kong, and finally Taipei, Taiwan. As I write to you about our work in Shanghai, it is Monday morning, October 20, and I’m sitting in a Taipei hotel.

Our delegation includes representatives from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Concepts NREC, Goodrich Aerospace, General Dynamics, Lyndon Institute, and Vermont Tubbs. Our central objective in Shanghai was to open the Vermont Chamber of Commerce office there. For success in Asia, Americans must recognize the value of long-term relationships. This office is tangible proof that Vermont does that.

The triple bottom line for a foreign trade mission like this first asks: is it good for Vermonters’ jobs and Vermont businesses? Specifically, will high wage jobs be added in Vermont? Look at the numbers: in excess of 25,000 Vermonters depend on exports for their jobs. Foreign trade represents roughly 46 percent of our gross state product.

China represents a huge and growing market for Vermont exporters. U.S. exports to China are up 30% from last year. Even so, our country buys more from China than we export. I learned in high school chemistry that equations must balance. As a nation, our trade with China is not balanced. China’s total exports roughly equal its imports; its only large surplus is with the U.S.

There are reasons for this trade imbalance. Chinese manufacturers enjoy a currency advantage; Americans have an appetite for inexpensive Chinese products; Chinese companies do not respect the Intellectual Property rights of U.S. designs and licenses. On this trip I have strongly communicated to our Chinese hosts, and U.S. Trade and State Department officials, that stealing Vermont Intellectual property is unacceptable.

I also told our Chinese hosts a story the Essex, Vermont IBM Plant Manager told me before our trip. IBM won a large contract recently because the client knew that IBM could be trusted with its proprietary design, while the lower-bidding Chinese competitor could not. The Chinese people need to abide by Intellectual Property Law. As your Lieutenant Governor, I will speak out.

China’s airline industry is growing. I met with a top executive at China’s second largest airline. Both Boeing and Airbus sell aircraft to China. In turn, Boeing buys $30 million per year of products from approximately twenty-five Vermont companies, including Goodrich Aerospace and General Electric Aircraft Engine. Vermont jobs depend on China’s aircraft industry.

Another highlight of the trip was the signing of an agreement between a Vermont company, Concepts NREC, and Shanghai Aeromeasurement Research Institute. It spells out a plan for the Chinese state-owned company to purchase aviation testing equipment from Concepts NREC, which is also a world leader in turbo machinery design.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has also worked on expanding Vermont jobs. Claudia Lovell, their international sales director, met a husband and wife from Taiwan who own more than eighty coffee shops in Taiwan and seventy in China. After reading Vermont Congressman Sanders’ comments in Asia’s largest business newspaper, Claudia said to me:
“You know, we provide jobs for coffee growers in Mexico who would otherwise be forced to grow drugs to survive. We also pay a sustainable wage to these farmers. We are expanding our factory in Waterbury, Vermont to perform the value-added roasting and blending that produces great coffee that we are selling to a growing Chinese middle class.”

That’s hot stuff!

Our trip’s second bottom-line objective was to help make our earth a cleaner place. Vermont has a reputation for world-class environmental knowledge, stewardship and leadership. Our future will depend in part on our ability to leverage our brand, knowledge, and capital to provide solutions to environmental challenges around the world.

As a city of 16 million people, Shanghai is faced with serious environmental problems. One of the companies on our trip is Clean Earth Technology, a North Ferrisburg manufacturer of equipment to detect and clean up hazardous materials from ground and ground water. They already do business in Taiwan. I attended the monthly meeting with officials from the Ministry of Environmental Affairs in Shanghai. Clean Earth is in a position to help China. Their innovations will create a cleaner environment for Chinese children, as well as good jobs for Vermonters.

The final point of the triple bottom line checklist asks whether our delegation, in a small but genuine way, could help build a more peaceful world. This objective has a particularly personal significance for me. As Lieutenant Governor I have attended the funerals of four Vermont soldiers killed in Iraq in 2003. At the South Burlington funeral of Corporal Mark Evnin, his grandfather and my friend Rabbi Max Wall challenged all in attendance to travel to distant lands and to be peacemakers. We were fortunate to a have a representative of Vermont’s Peace Academy on our trip. Their vision is to build a curriculum that teaches the art and science of peace. Ms. Hong Yue Guo lived in Beijing and was present at the Tiananmen Square riots, where student protesters were killed. She is now a professor at Goddard College in Plainfield and works with the Peace Academy. On this trip, she was able to meet with the principal of a Shanghai High School who is interested in an exchange program with Vermont schools, like Lyndon Institute and St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Michael’s College and UVM. Everyone we met in Shanghai remarked on how important it is for Chinese people to meet Americans. Humble as it has been, our trip has contributed to a better understanding and world peace.

Next, I’ll report to you on the Hong Kong part of our trip.