Newsletter - Archive  Jul 29, 2009

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Rotary Club Business and Member News

July 29,2009

Opening:

Pledge               Brian

Prayer               Amos

Song                 Joe M

Visiting Rotarians and Guests:

Andy Wood       Former DGB Rotarian and spouse of our guest speaker

Sarah Pace       Spouse of Joe

Will Drapeau     Grandson of Bill

Carl Wathne      RC of Salem, MA

Announcements:

Bill D                 Camp Sunshine is celebrating its 25th anniversary and printed materials about how it got to where it is today are on the signin table.

Jud                   We will meet at the Three Chimneys Inn for the next 4 weeks.

Happy Bucks:

Joe                   Glad to have Sarah here and the Woods'.

Brian                Happy to be back from W. VA.  Off to Ireland next.

John B              Welcome to our guests.  Thanks to the New England Center  for the many years of hospitality.

Andy                 Many thanks for your warm welcome.

Ric                    In remembrance of Chris, a former DGB Rotarian, who managed the New England Center and built the Acorns Room (for us).

Jan                   To the New England Center

Amos                Mother-in-law celebrated her 98th birthday in Sanbornton and was given the Boston Cane by the town in recognition.

John R             Announced his pregnancy.

Jud                  No pin

Dave L             Not looking forward to the longer commute to meetings.

Scott                Sun was out on the Cape.

Deb                 Sun is out again.

Henry              (Source of his happiness must remain a mystery.)

Deb (SOC)        Our short order cook stopped in just to say that she would miss us very much.

Program:

Leslie Woods, Global Director for Capital Projects, Lonza Biologics.

Lonza Biologics is a $3 billion Swiss company with 30+ plants worldwide.  The Portsmouth plant came to the US 16 years ago when Federal bonding for new Pease Tradeport companies made it attractive.  The plant is the second largest facility in the system.  The new Singapore plant is a clone of this one.

Lonza has many phamaceutical company customers worldwide for its products.  In Portsmouth, Lonza manufactures products used in the treatment of cancer and arthritis.  It is also the corporate center for quality control, development, and engineering.  The plant is over 330,000 square feet and is located on 15 acres.

Cleanliness is extremely important in the manufacture of their products.  Personnel wear clean suits, the air is HEPA-filtered, and most of the equipment is stainless steel.  All of this is expensive - the Portsmouth plant cost $300 million.

Lonza has a significant impact on the community.  650 people work at the Portsmouth plant, starting at $45,000 and averaging $70,000.  They use local companies to perform support services to the extent those companies exist here.  They are also very active in supporting local charities, including United Way of the Seacoast.

New Hampshire is straightforward in its permitting and regulations, and the area provides a good work environment and is a good source of local staff (work closely with UNH).

Megabucks:

John A had the ticket but couldn't find the card.  The pot rolls over.

Upcoming Programs:

Aug 5              Mary Stampone, NH State Climatologist

Aug 12            Peter Wellenberger, Great Bay National Estuarine Research

Aug 19            Official Visit, DG Jeffrey Pelkey, RC of Kittery

Aug 26            Chip Noon, Classification

Sep 2              Sean McDonnell, UNH Football coach 

Your Scribe:Dave VA