by Phil Ramsey, Command Alkon Chief Operating Officer
The purpose of this column is to keep you informed of events at Command Alkon, to thank you for your business with us and, as the title of this article indicates, to shed some light on “The Way Forward” at Command Alkon.
I find it difficult to begin without commenting on the general economic conditions and our progress (yes, progress) through the cycle. The Lehman Brothers’ failure occurred just over one year ago and of course this sparked the near collapse of the US banking system, popped the housing bubbles in several countries, all but stopped credit availability, and made the recession and unemployment arrive with a vengeance in the U.S. But all that is history.
Where are we today? I believe we have moved forward into the ‘recovery’ phase. Whether you are a believer in Ben Bernanke, Warren Buffet, or the Leading Economic Index – all signs are that the U.S. economy has stabilized and is beginning a recovery.
What kind of a recovery? Who knows? I do believe that the worst of the storm has passed. And, yes, we have more economic challenges to work through in the form of lagging unemployment, a reformed and thrifty U.S. consumer, and problems in the commercial real estate market. Nonetheless, we are in the recovery phase and dealing with more of the aftermath of the storm than the storm itself.
In a nutshell, we are back to believing that the future will be better than today. That is important to us as individuals as well as employees and business partners. Although some geographic areas will continue to see lower business volumes, the industry as a whole will be a healthier place in 2010. The major international, vertically integrated players have solved their immediate credit issues. The long-awaited U.S. Infrastructure Stimulus will impact the industry in 2010. Many other countries’ economic stimulus plans are also having a positive effect.
As I mentioned in April’s The Way Forward, we at Command Alkon have appropriately reduced our costs during 2009. Likewise, we have seen the industry’s renewed and energetic focus on appropriately reducing costs AND delivering quality products and customer service. Indeed, I cannot recall a period in which our customers are so focused on improving their business as we are seeing right now.
Helping our customers save money, deliver better products and provide better customer service is what we do at Command Alkon. We are fortunate that our geographical diversification and product diversification have allowed us to continue to invest during the last year in new products that help our customers save money, deliver better products, and provide better customer service.
This is our “Way Forward” at Command Alkon. It is the “Way Forward” to a better future that we share with our industry.
Thank you for your business.
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