Vermont Soapworks Larry Plesent Business Profile in July's Vermont Business Magazine

Larry Plesent feels "entrepreneurs are born not raised." As a teenager on Long Island beside a paper route he dismantled junked bikes using the parts to build ride-able machines. To support his college studies, he started a window washing business, specializing in the more profitable "high work." On tall buildings he often descended from the roof by rope to clean glass on upper floors.

After seven years, his skin irritated by harsh industrial cleaners, Larry started a search for a commodity to market, one that sold for under five dollars and was consumed in use.

In 1992 he developed his own gentle cleaning product and founded Vermont Soapworks. Today the company is known as the largest manufacturer of handmade, organic bar soap in North America. Their products use only natural ingredients. Even the fragrances and colors come from essential oils extracted from plants.

The company store/museum is a catalog of company products. Dozens of bar and liquid soaps are handsomely displayed. These include: Oats and Aloe for sensitive skin, Butter Bar (with shea butter from Ghana) for dry skin, olive oil based castile soap, non-toxic Liquid Sunshine for laundry, Product Magic, an organic cleaner for organic vegetables, horse shampoo and non-irritating soap for home pets.

Scattered through the showroom are antique washers, mangles and other early laundry equipment and glass display cases containing samples of old soap with long forgotten names.

In the main production space three large, stainless steel tanks tower overhead. Known by the crew as Bert, Bertha and Elvis (soon to be joined by Gunter and Gertrude) each holds ingredients for 1,500 gallons of liquid soap. Color and scent is added in the nearby flavoring room before the finished product flows to the automatic bottling, labeling line.

In the corner, raw material for bar soap is blended in an open kettle then poured into wooden molds. In a few days the large blocks are cut and like fine wine moved to storage rooms for aging.

With sales increasing 35 percent a year, the company has a constant need for new space and new equipment. Larry anticipates the company will soon move to a 30,000-square-foot building, doubling their current production capacity. The work force, now at 25 employees, will probably have a similar growth.

More than 15 years of vigorous marketing have placed the company in an enviable position to sell all the organic soap they can produce. Seventy to 80 percent of the company's output is sold under private labels, with the balance going to more than 2000 retail outlets carrying the company brands.

Sales of soap for the pet market are growing rapidly, accounting for 30 percent of the company production.

A unique line of organically certified soaps has been developed for the industrial market and will soon join the company catalog of products.

Ever the restless entrepreneur, Larry and his wife Sandy Lincoln recently opened a bakery and "seasoned book store" in Rochester.

Information on Larry's many products and interests may be found on the two company Web sites: http://www.vermontsoap.com and http://www.seasonedbooks.com.

Joe Schmidt is a freelance writer and photographer from Weybridge.