Steve's Answers to Legislators' Questions

1. Please tell us who you are.

Name: - Steve Arms

Company: - MicroStrain, Inc.

Title: - President

2. What year was your company established?

1987

3. How many employees do you have?

44 - 37 Full Time, 2 Part Time and 5 University of Vermont (UVM) student interns

4. Is your company growing?

Yes

Our revenues have been growing at 35-40% each year for the last five years. We have zero debt, and have been profitable in every year of operation.

5. Why did you establish your company in Vermont?

Our company is a spin-off from UVM's engineering science and orthopaedic research programs.

6. What keeps you in Vermont?

Our founder and key employees have family in Vermont. Many of our employees are graduates from UVM (16), Norwich (2), VT Tech (2), Champlain College (2), St. Michaels (1) and other colleges and universities in the Northeast.

7. What is your company’s number-one impediment to success? (Please tell us, even if it’s not something the state of Vermont can fix.)

We need talented, well educated engineers and computer scientists to help us design and develop our next generation advanced sensing products. It's critical that UVM (and other Vermont schools) produce a good supply of (undergraduate and graduate) students that are ready to adapt and embrace the rapid and worldwide changes that are occuring in microelectronics, embedded processors, advanced materials, and information technology.

8. What is the state of Vermont doing right?

Protection of our State's environment and our overall quality of life should remain a top priority, since it's critical for long-term employee retention and for attracting new talent. The training programs offered through VMEC are excellent and should be strongly supported.

9. What else is vexing you?

The State of Vermont should provide more funding in support of higher education at UVM. The State should break down the barriers for students to get their engineering and CS degrees at UVM, particularly for young Vermonters and for those already employed by high-tech Vermont firms. This can be accomplished though no-interest loans, and by providing tax breaks to those companies that 1) provide full health care to their staff, 2) invest in their employee's tuition costs, 3) hire and train student interns, and 4) demonstrate a track record of job creation. The State should also consider providing matching funds to support innovative, high-tech small business that are successfully competing for Federal Phase II SBIR funds to develop and test the next generation of products and services. The matching funds would be used to enable Vermont companies to procure follow-on funds from the Federal government (these funds require an investment match) to transition their ideas into the marketplace.