This was the theme at our most recent Strategic Planning update on March 9^th. You may remember that this time last year we talked about the strategic planning process this company undertakes to help keep operations on track with goals we have set for ourselves for the future. Persons directly involved in the process are: Dan Darland, Ron Lehne, Tony Manatt, Doug Martin, Karen Mooney, Terry Nichols, Dave Schau, Tom Sturms, John Tuthill, Marc Whitman, Wendell Wuestenberg, and Steve Yerington.

On March 9^th, we discussed the goals we set a year ago and the progress we are making toward reaching those goals. We are happy to report that things are moving right along. Categories we used to map out our objectives include: Leadership, Customer and Market Focus, Human Resources, Process Management, Information Analysis, and Business Results. As you can see, this is a wide range of directions to take the company. While the people we named are directing the process, many others are involved in the committees taking on these projects, and even more have been asked for their input on several of the topics.

We’ve sent out surveys and questionnaires, and had meeting upon meeting to digest all the information we have compiled. Some of the results produced by this process that you may have seen happening are: cross-training between people and jobs, leadership training for our managers, creation of an IT position within the company, discussion of new ways to market some of our products, employee surveys, computer and other technical training for many employees, and formation of an employee safety committee, to name a few.

More progress is coming soon, and we’ll do our best to keep you informed.  As always, we do like to hear any ideas you have, too. While we may not be able to implement all of them, your input into how we can do things better and safer is always appreciated.