From the taste and aroma of our favourite morning coffee to the safety and reliability of the cars we drive, there is an inherent expectation that the product we purchase is consistent and produced to meet specific quality benchmarks. In manufacturing, these standards are especially important.

Although many of us may think of quality control as relatively new, its origins go back hundreds of years to the Middle Ages. Apprentice craftsmen or merchants were under guilds associated with a certain town or city. Vital to strengthening local economies, guild members varied considerably, including everything from butchers and bakers to architects, soap-makers and leather-workers. Regardless of their discipline, these men and women had several goals in common, including setting and maintaining quality standards for the goods they produced.

For centuries, emphasis among tradespeople was on quality over quantity. Goods such as shoes were painstakingly made by hand, which changed dramatically with the Industrial Revolution and the shift to machine manufacturing in the 1760s.

Industries as disparate as meatpacking and munition-making soon adopted and improved assembly line production, which required fewer skilled workers, less training, and reduced physical effort. When engineer and automotive visionary Henry Ford brought in the world’s first moving assembly line, cars which previously took 12 hours to assemble could be built in about an hour and a half.

Successful companies are founded on quality, and one of the legendary examples is Toyota. Founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in Japan in 1933 and later becoming the Toyota Motor Corporation, the company‘s future growth and global success were hardly the result of good luck. Following the Second World War, Toyota executives toured big American automobile manufacturers including the Ford Motor Company, noting their production methods and improving them in their own facilities.

Coupled with sound business sense, these careful observations of U.S. production led to initiatives including lean manufacturing systems, and Total Quality Management, better known simply as TQM, and Quality Control (QC).

Lean is founded on tried-and-tested principles including one-piece flow, and zero defects. TQM is based on putting customers first and kaizen, Japanese for “continuous improvement” or “change for the better.” Streamlining operations results not only in improved processes flow, but eliminating waste, just-in-time delivery, and maximizing equipment efficiencies, which ensures customer satisfaction, and greater profits.

Known internationally for its highly efficient manufacturing, the company’s Toyota Production System (TPS) was officially described almost 30 years ago. Along with incorporating what company officials saw when touring auto plants, they were inspired by the way American supermarkets were set up, in particular by the constant restocking of items on shelves.

This principle was transposed to Toyota factories, with workers being minimally – but reliably – supplied with only enough parts they needed at any one time, reducing waste and unnecessary expenditure.

Investopedia defines QC as “a process through which a business seeks to ensure that product quality is maintained or improved.” This is achieved through staff training, establishing quality benchmarks, testing products, and creating “an environment in which both management and employees strive for perfection.”

Products coming from nature, such as meat, must pass inspections and quality control tests to prevent food-borne illnesses that become more and more rigorous yearly. These include evolving checks for chemical residues.

These and other food products are scrutinized by the likes of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Other agencies, like the Canadian Beef Grading Agency (CBGA), grade beef, veal and bison.

While most consumers will ask their butcher for “their best steaks,” many are unaware there are 13 grades of beef and five yield classes in Canada. Many factors, including age of the animal, muscling, marbling, and fat color and texture are taken into consideration.

Quality control exists in virtually every service, and every sector, of today’s economy. From the tap water we drink to the highways we drive on to the life-saving medicines we use and the beverages we consume, all are governed by quality control guidelines. More importantly than ever before, we place a great deal of trust in manufacturers that the products they make are held to exacting quality and safety standards.

And as advanced manufacturing techniques evolve and manufacturing processes are streamlined thanks to automation, more of this work is being taken out of the hands of humans, and our faith is actually being placed in machines.

Today, nearly every industry has its own sets of quality standards. In the pharmaceutical industry for example, many procedures are in place to assure quality and consistency, including strict laboratory procedures, staff training, testing, calibrating and maintaining laboratory equipment, cleaning, storage, and labeling.

Then there are standards set to comply with requirements established by the European Union (EU), United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), British Pharmacopoeia (BP), and others. Without updated quality standards manuals (QSMs) and laboratory procedures, the entire system would fall apart.

For businesses of all sorts, QC represents care and integrity. Consider its absence: If a manufacturer promotes and sells a stepladder with a stated maximum weight capacity of 300 pounds (136 kg) and the ladder snaps at just 200 pounds (90 kg), word will quickly get out that the company is deceitful, and sells products that are likely to be dangerous.

The term for this concept is ‘cost of poor quality’ (COPQ), and it can put a company out of business quicker than almost anything.

Establishing and following quality standards benefits everyone. It encourages consumer confidence and profitability for the manufacturer. International standards set under the International Organization for Standardization – better known simply as ISO – provide manufacturers with yet another badge of pride in craftsmanship, and reassure the public they are following well-developed standards.

As of 2019, ISO has published over 21,584 standards under ISO 9000 – Quality Management; ISO/IEC 27000 – Information Security Management Systems; ISO 14000 – Environmental management; and many others covering risk management, social responsibility, and other areas.

Quality control is not static. As more and better technology is developed, it keeps evolving to ensure the items we buy are safe, well-made, and free from defects. From raw materials to finished products, testing must be performed at different stages of manufacturing to make sure, for instance, that the medicines we buy help to heal rather than harm, and that the vehicles we own are reliable.

With proper QC measures in place, brand loyalty is encouraged, and customer satisfaction is far improved. If purchasers know with some certainty what they are getting every time, they are more likely to keep coming back.

For manufacturers, properly applied QC can lower manufacturing costs and ensure consistency, making items less expensive to make. Internally, quality control often buoys morale, since every employee likes to know that he or she is part of a team dedicated to making the best products on the market.

And with each satisfied purchaser referring others to a great product through word-of-mouth, guaranteeing quality is the ultimate in free advertising.

The post Changing for the Better<p class="company">The Importance of Quality Control</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

With multiple partners working for the benefit of the town, residents, job seekers, and existing and new businesses, one of the most appropriate ways to describe Chelmsford is as a partnership.

More than a place where interested businesses are just handed a ‘welcome package’ and sent on their way, the Town of Chelmsford works nonstop with local bodies and institutions – including MassHire, UMass Lowell and Middlesex Community College – on job creation and retention, and on education and other initiatives.

Many of these initiatives focus on those industries that will create sought-after jobs, such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and information technology positions.

The role of business development
For almost four years, Chelmsford’s Director of Business Development, Lisa L. Marrone, has played a pivotal role in the town’s success.

That said, she is quick to recognize others for their hard work and initiatives, including Tom Clark, Corporate Education Business Coordinator at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell); Judith Burke, Executive Director of Institutional Advancement at Middlesex Community College; and Peter Farkas, Executive Director at the MassHire Greater Lowell Workforce Board.

“Partnership is what really drives the success of the business for what I do at the local level, and they are regional entities,” she says of Clark, Burke, and Farkas, and their respective institutions. “I can’t do it without them.”

Attractive to young, college-educated graduates, Chelmsford has a population of about 35,000. Owing to a higher level of educational attainment, the town works in coordination with UMass Lowell on a broad offering of platforms, including continuing education and persons seeking to refresh their education.

It’s all part of Chelmsford’s noted friendliness to business, Clark says. “We do specifically speak to workforce development. The work we do is about working with all the businesses in the area, and identifying workforce needs.”

Since workforce development means different things to different partners, Clark welcomes approaches by businesses outlining their needs, or he talks to companies asking what they require. In all cases, it comes down to communication.

Instead of fitting business needs into predetermined boxes, a conversation could result in the delivering of a tailor-made educational program. This could include everything from non-credit courses to three to six courses comprising specific agreed subject matter for employees to become proficient in, all the way to degree-granting programs.

Not all business development needs are the same, and they vary considerably depending on structure, and factors such as the type of business and workforce demographics.

“When it comes to customized training, it is about having those in-depth conversations, and identifying industries,” says Clark. “And sometimes it’s not ‘industry’, but what a segment of an organization needs.”

MassHire
Launched in August of 2018, MassHire – formerly known as the Greater Lowell Workforce Development Board – represents a unified workforce-system branch of the Massachusetts Workforce Development System, and a place where job seekers and companies looking for employees can connect.

There are 16 local workforce development regions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and each region has a workforce board. With the strength of 29 one-stop career centers transforming into MassHire Career Centers, the state’s commitment to job seekers and businesses is strong, effective, and unremitting.

“In each region, there’s at least one career center that works with both businesses and job seekers,” says Peter Farkas of MassHire, which cooperates widely with employers, industry, and job-hunters. “We like to think we’re demand-driven. Everything we’re doing is reacting to the demands of businesses, whether to its current needs, or to pipeline developments.” This includes assisting with résumé development, working on training grants to meet needs, and retraining/credentials for entry-level and middle-skill jobs to get people back into the labor force.

“There are a lot of community partners seeing what the needs of businesses are, and how we – through the public workforce development system – can meet the needs of business. And by doing that, we’re helping people get jobs.”

Like the rest of America, the State of Massachusetts has had to deal with the legacy of COVID-19. At the height of the pandemic, the local unemployment rate was approximately 18 percent. Most affected were lower-wage earners, the less educated, and those in fields such as retail and hospitality, where working from home was not feasible.

Thankfully, unemployment has now dropped to between four and five percent. Yet the need for retraining remains strong, with some of the workforce investigating other career choices. MassHire is there to get people back into the workforce.

Middlesex Community College
With workforce training, there is some overlap between MassHire, and Judith Burke’s role at Middlesex Community College. Marrone, in her role as Director of Business Development, often sees Burke as the first introduction to a business at the local level.

“I’m bringing forward the message and resources that are available to a business that they may not know otherwise,” she says, of her role in sharing information about MassHire, and using it as part of a welcome kit to new businesses. In Chelmsford, many resources are free or low cost, with the Middlesex Community writing grants for workforce training funds. Says Marrone, “I think the work we are doing is really valued by the business community.”

The upshot is that, for over 30 years, Middlesex has enthusiastically worked with local employers to educate and train thousands of employees in hundreds of businesses, industries, and municipalities throughout the 21 cities and towns of Middlesex County.

“Our goal is to provide the educational and training tools they need to make the best use of their most important assets – their employees – while improving their competitiveness in a global economy,” says Burke.

Representing a diverse student population, Middlesex Community College offers many academic programs, community education and training, corporate education, and more.

“Degree programs, certificates, career development and more are just a few of the offerings to support a talented and strong workforce,” says Burke. “We are committed to civic engagement through the power of partnerships, including the ‘Cross Roads at Route 129’ employers and their workforce development and training needs.”

Welcome to “The Cross Roads at Route 129”
One of the growing areas for businesses in Chelmsford is the Cross Roads at Route 129. A 660-acre business center with remarkable potential, the Cross Roads is an ideal place to locate, develop, and build a business.

With over 70 existing properties already in place, the Cross Roads is home to world-class businesses such as Zoll Medical, Comcast Cable, Brooks Automation, Axis Communications, The Element of Boston/Chelmsford and many others. From its ideal location with direct access to Route 3, Route 495 and the town center, it is located just 30 miles from Boston’s Logan International Airport.

Farkas says that Route 129 – being in Greater Lowell and readily accessible by transportation – is ideal for workers getting to and from their places of employment. “[Our location] is very beneficial when it comes to workforce development – when people are looking for jobs,” he says. “It’s huge.”

In just the past two-and-a-half years, the Cross Roads has seen its vacancy rate cut in half. Owing to its multi-story office structure, one of the key business sectors the area is attracting is life-sciences.

And just recently, the Cross Roads received a commitment from Pressed Café, a popular restaurant chain offering healthy all-day breakfasts, smoothies, raw juices and tonics, coffees and more. The Pressed Café — which will feature a drive-thru — will open later this year or early next.

Among the new businesses arriving in Chelmsford along Route 129 are dataCon, which names ballistic missile defense as its key business segment; Music Elements (offering musical education); plant-based Four Seasons Greenery; and Incompass Human Services. Others choosing to call Chelmsford home include global business venture company Triton Systems and ThermoFisher Scientific, a part of the town’s growing life sciences business segment.

Know your nanotechnology
Designated BioReady by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Middlesex County remains one of the top five regions for nanotechnology-related businesses, education and research. While acknowledging that UMass Lowell may not have all the answers in nanoscience, Corporate Education Business Coordinator Clark says they know people who do.

“UMass Lowell is not necessarily going to be everything to everybody,” he says, “but we do know that Peter has resources, we know that Lisa has resources, and I think when you look at the combined synergy of the region, we are a very educated region, and a region that values education. And I think that’s part of our mission here at UMass Lowell. We want the Commonwealth to realize we’re here.”

In July of last year amid the pandemic, when most educational delivery went virtual, UMass Lowell was honored for its inclusive educational culture by a Blackboard Catalyst Award.

Presented by global educational technology leader Blackboard Inc., the award recognized the University’s efforts to ensure that “students of all abilities have equal and ready access to the tools and instruction they need to succeed, both in their professional lives and as individuals engaged in their communities.”

For Clark, the award was a validation of UMass Lowell’s commitment to education, and its offering of online programs since 1996. “That goes to show that while nobody wanted this pandemic to happen, were we prepared for it? Absolutely,” says Clark.

While the transition to online learning hasn’t always been easy, UMass Lowell was recognized as being on the front end of leveraging technology, and being fully inclusive of many learners, especially the differently abled and those with disabilities.

“The amount of innovation that is happening in this region is unbelievable,” says Clark. “I think some people tend to look at it as, ‘Oh, that was just a response to the pandemic.’ We’ve been doing this work for literally decades. That motivation to be on the front end, to be at the cutting edge, is why you see industries like nanotech and manufacturing coming to this area. It’s because they value what we have to offer – people who are hungry to learn and forward-thinking.”

The post Partners in Development<p class="company">Town of Chelmsford, MA</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Sewer Equipment designs and manufactures high-pressure truck and trailer-mounted sewer jetters, water recycling sewer cleaners, industrial vacuum trucks, catch basin cleaners, hydro excavator trucks, and air excavators. The company offers equipment rentals and sales.

Its longevity is not based on flashy marketing or a complicated business strategy. “It may seem a bit cliché, but the ‘secret sauce’ is taking care of the customers. Everybody says that but doing it is miles apart from talking about it. I think, by staying in business eighty years, the proof is there,” states President John Wichmann.

The company demonstrates this customer-first ethos by providing unceasing technical support and user-friendly equipment designs. While it offers several brand lines, everything is created with three themes in mind: safe, simple, and reliable.

“The main focus with all of our products is keeping the operator equipment interface simple and easy to understand, which keeps the user safe. Our competitors tend more towards computer interfaces with a lot of intricacies between the chassis and equipment,” Wichmann notes.

By contrast, Sewer Equipment makes straightforward operator interfaces and extends the simple-is-best design philosophy “into the mechanical side of things. Trouble-shooting and maintaining the equipment is also simple,” he continues.

Consistency is another key design element for the company’s equipment. An operator should be able to “jump from one piece of our equipment to another,” and experience “the same basic feel and touch,” with the interface and controls, adding to the safety factor, he says.

The platforms for the operator and mechanical reliable interfaces were developed in-house.

While Sewer Equipment continues to design safe, simple, and reliable equipment, there have been new developments at the company since it was profiled in August 2018 in Business in Focus. The biggest change was the decision to split the rental side of the company. Rock Rental—a Sewer Equipment brand based in Clinton, Iowa—is now a standalone operation with its own management team and strategic focus.

“Strategically, we want to focus on the rental market more vigorously. It’s a growth opportunity and needs its own team,” he says.

Sewer Equipment wants to increase rental revenue and new equipment sales, and separating these business units seemed the best way to achieve this. Rent-to-own options are also available for some equipment.

Its other clients are in the industrial, plumbing, municipal and other government sectors. The municipal market brings in the most revenue, followed by the industrial sector then plumbing.

The company self-performs design and manufacturing and emphasizes safe, simple, and reliable product development and innovation. It has recently launched several new products including Genesis, a unique water recycling sewer cleaner. Sewer cleaners made by North American manufacturers typically use an active filtration process to clean reclaimed water. This process involves the use of filters and membranes which sometimes clog with debris.

Genesis, by contrast, utilizes European water recycling technology. Built around a work vehicle, the Genesis system “uses passive filtration, which is simple and more consistent with the way sewage treatment plants work,” says Wichmann. The Genesis works rapidly, efficiently, and economically, recovering the used water for reuse on a continuous cycle. This improves productivity and protects the environment.

Genesis separates water from sludge via a gravity-based sedimentation process. The system does not rely on filters or membranes, making it more efficient and less prone to clogging. Genesis has a sixty-five-foot boom hose with a forty-foot working length, a 1,500-gallon water tank and a stainless steel debris tank with a thirteen-yard capacity.

Another new product called the RAMVAC Tempest Industrial Air Machine is aimed at clients in the industrial sector. Using leading vacuum technology, this system removes liquids and dry or dusty materials from industrial environments simply and safely. This vehicle features an articulating ‘knuckle boom’ with a sixteen-foot working length and 270-degree range of motion, and a carbon steel, eighteen-cubic-yard debris box with a rear door for easy access.

Yet another new product involves “the Model 400 compact sewer cleaner, which has a smaller footprint, for more urban applications.” This small but mighty ‘jet vac’ truck features a stainless steel, 600-gallon capacity water tank, four-yard capacity debris tank, and excellent maneuverability, making it able to safely enter parking structures with an eight-foot clearance.

The firm sets very high standards for itself. “In terms of internal quality, we have a system of checks and balances that are built into the production process that have served us well. We are known for our quality as well as our engineering,” states Wichmann.

Sewer Equipment also belongs to several trade and industry associations, including the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM), the Waterjet Technology Association and Industrial & Municipal Cleaning Association (WJTA-IMCA), and the National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM). Membership in such groups keeps the company up-to-date on trends, technology, and new developments in the field.

Work is so plentiful that the company is expanding its production capabilities. “We’ve got a couple different building initiatives that are going on in terms of increasing our manufacturing footprint here,” he says.

The first phase of this growth plan is scheduled to begin in 2022, with phase two kicking off the following year.

It is an impressive achievement for a company founded in 1941 as a one-man business based out of a garage. Founder H.T. O’Brien (followed by his son Jim O’Brien) developed a line of equipment for cleaning sewers. These products proved popular, and the firm expanded, adding new equipment and markets. The company is currently run by Dan O’Brien, grandson of the founder and a third-generation owner.

Over the decades, social responsibility has also been central to Sewer Equipment’s mission. “I think it’s the right thing to do. Running a business and being profitable is [important] but so is giving back and being a good corporate citizen. That’s part of the deal.”

The company has also embraced environmental solutions, when possible. This involves the use of low VOC (volatile organic compound) paint, as well as recycling or reusing wooden skids instead of throwing them out.

“We just spent north of a million dollars on a solar array to augment our electrical consumption. We have electric forklifts inside the plant as well as electric vehicles external to the plant,” says Wichmann.

The company has roughly two hundred employees and moved quickly to protect this workforce when the pandemic struck last year. Social distancing, masking, and temperature reading policies were introduced, and as an essential industry, the company was able to get its workers vaccinated early. “In spite of COVID, we have kept the people we have here employed,” Wichmann states proudly.

He is pleased that Sewer Equipment successfully adapted to the health crisis, not only in terms of keeping its personnel safe but in developing new marketing and communication strategies. “Zoom is no longer a four-letter word. It’s very much a tool in our arsenal for how we interact with customers and dealers. From meetings to online training videos, we adapted to the circumstances. [COVID] forced us to adapt and learn a few new things,” he says.

Now that the threat of COVID is hopefully receding and life is beginning to return to normal, the firm faces other issues. “At this point, our biggest challenge is ramping back up. The economy is opening up,” states Wichmann.

Along with a reinvigorated economy, companies have had to deal with significant supply chain problems including shortages of materials, parts, and products. Sewer Equipment views the current economic situation as an opportunity and has growth and new product launches in mind.

“There are a number of products, as well as service activities that we’re working on in the coming short-term,” he says. “Our five-year plan is aggressive. That was really the driver behind the initiative we talked about—separating our rental business from our manufacturing business.”

The post Family Firm Marks 80th Anniversary with New Products, Big Goals<p class="company">Sewer Equipment</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Enter Royal Truck & Equipment, a company dedicated to improving work zone safety, protecting both workers and drivers from injury. Founded in 1982 by Rob Roy, the company has developed a reputation for best practices in the workplace, predominantly in relation to work zone safety by incorporating superior fleet designs, particularly for TMA trucks.

A TMA (truck mounted attenuator) truck is a safety vehicle strategically positioned in a highway work zone to act as a protective barrier, shielding employees from oncoming motorists. Using an impact attenuator, also known as a crash cushion, the truck absorbs the collision’s kinetic energy to protect the impacting driver—and its need is on the rise.

“To say that work zone crashes are almost inevitable is practically an understatement at this point,” says Director of Marketing Theresa Delgado, who adds that the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) conducted a highway work zone study in 2019 and found that 67 percent of highway contractors reported having a crash in one of their work zones that year. “The study also concluded that 73 percent of contractors reported the risk of highway work zone crashes was higher than 10 years ago.”

Looking at the crash data reported by the FHWA, 842 people died in highway work zone crashes that year compared to 757 the year prior, says Delgado, an 11 percent increase and the largest percentage increase of highway work zone fatalities since 2006. These sobering statistics mean Royal’s expertise is more needed than ever.

“When we look at why this is happening, it really comes down to a few key changes in driver behavior,” says Delgado. “We’ve got distracted driving, which is typically texting these days, and driving while being tired or under the influence. What’s interesting is that speeding has become more prevalent in work zone intrusions. This is a result of more people working from home or being out of work, so there are fewer vehicles on the road and unfortunately drivers take advantage of having more open, less congested roadways.”

The company continues to address real-life liability challenges that highway contractors face, along with potential risk-mitigating solutions in light of escalating dangerous driving across the country.

“When we look at what’s happening with the changes in how people are driving and the increases in incidents and level of severity, it’s impossible to deny that things are getting worse,” Delgado says. “What’s interesting, though, is how contractors are not only battling to keep their workers safe, but also battling in the courtroom in dealing with liability issues.”

Delgado cites an example of what could and has happened in the past: An intoxicated driver speeds into a work zone and crashes. The driver loses their life, and their surviving spouse then sues the contractor, stating there was either no warning or inadequate warning that the lane was closed. The plaintiff might also say there wasn’t enough warning of a work zone ahead.

“If that were true—that there wasn’t enough warning given and that the work zone wasn’t set up properly—the contractor would be liable,” she says. “In consulting with Greg Stefan, Vice President of Risk Control at Arch Insurance Group, we’re learning that not only has this become a more common scenario, but there’s also been a rise in nuclear verdicts: Verdicts where the jury awards an exceptional amount often surpassing $10 million.”

Historically, when it comes to liability and prevention in relation to work zone incidents, Royal’s role in safety management has focused on protection, rather than prevention.

“We’ve always focused on the integrity and design of the vehicle to ensure workers are protected as well as the impacting driver,” says Delgado. “We’re proud of how we’ve been able to accomplish this in how we build our trucks.”

This also helps with liability, she adds: If the driver of the impacting vehicle is walking away with minimal or no injuries and if the workers are protected and uninjured, there is less chance of or reason for a lawsuit. Additionally, Royal is a final stage manufacturer, meaning if an incident were to occur, the company would be liable in the event of a lawsuit. But not every TMA manufacturer has this designation.

Over the past few years, however, Royal has found that just having the TMA truck there for protection isn’t enough for contractors to minimize risk and reduce liability.

“We realized that preventing the incident is just as important as protecting the workers when an accident occurs, and we wanted to be a part of helping resolve or at least alleviate some of that pressure on our customers,” says Delgado.

With Royal’s expanding product offering, there are four key areas where the company can help minimize risk and liability: Virtual Reality Training, Connected Technology, DVR Systems, and as a part of that offering, AI Recording Systems.

When considering what it takes to prevent an accident, one clear and obvious factor is ensuring workers are properly trained, says Delgado, which is where Royal plays a significant role in safety management, facilitating multi-faceted training for contractors setting up a work zone and performing highway repairs or maintenance.

“We don’t aim to cover all aspects of training,” she adds. “Workers need to know how to properly set up the job site according to the traffic control plan, how to read the plan, how to operate the equipment, and so on. The courses and training provided by ATSSA (the American Traffic Safety Services Association) and other safety services and organizations are extremely beneficial, so our goal is not to replace traditional training, but to provide enhanced supplemental training using more technologically advanced methods.”

Royal’s Virtual Reality training provides that and beyond. These programs require a laptop and VR headset that are easily transported and distributed, and also provide on-demand training. Programs also cover a range of core skills training, from reading and setting up a traffic control plan, to tri-axle dump truck pre-trip inspection, cone retrieving, and flagging operations.

“The programs all include a testing element, so you’re able to see how well you did and what you need to work on before you even step into a live work zone,” says Delgado. “Not only does this method of training reduce the risk associated with training workers in a live, dangerous environment, but also allows you to test and evaluate job candidates or even existing employees to ensure they’re comfortable doing the job. We always say if they’re afraid to lean into traffic to retrieve cones on a moving virtual truck, they’re probably not ready to be out in real traffic yet.”

Royal has also recognized the critical issue of contractors’ liability with regards to advanced warning, and so provides connected technology solutions, specifically a line of products called ConnectedTech by iCone. These products connect to clients’ existing equipment and when activated, transmit a signal that alerts drivers of activity in their upcoming route via GPS app.

“We found this to be so important that we started adding the arrow board kit to all of our trucks last year,” says Delgado. “Now, when our customer turns on the arrow board on one of our trucks, the connected device immediately begins transmitting that vehicle’s location and traffic pattern changes like lane closures to approaching motorists.”

Earlier this year, Royal Truck also began offering a ConnectedTech kit for hazard lights which several tow and fire companies have started using, an iPin device that drops into a traffic cone, and a baton kit that attaches to any standard flagging baton. The company has also expanded its recording options after many years of offering a DVR recording system that captures footage moments before, during, and after an incident occurs.

“In recent years, we were able to integrate that system with our advanced radar board so when an incident does occur, the DVR captures not only what happened but also the speed at time of impact which can be seen overlaid on the captured footage,” explains Delgado. “As we’ve expanded our product offering and our focus to go beyond post-incident support to incident prevention, we’ve added an AI system offering that’s designed to detect events and harsh driving and provide real-time in-cab feedback to the driver while also recording to the DVR system.”

Essentially, this system includes an AI camera in the vehicle’s cab that responds to texting, smoking, using a cell phone, fatigue, tailgating, lane departure, and many other unsafe scenarios via an audible alert. The system then provides feedback to help the driver correct whatever unsafe event is occurring and decrease the likelihood of an accident, also reducing the contractor’s liability if an incident occurs.

“Our biggest challenge in helping our customers reduce liability and prevent incidents isn’t just keeping up with the ever-changing environment, but getting ahead of it,” Delgado says. “We wouldn’t have anticipated increased speeding incidents due to less traffic congestion as a result of a pandemic. I don’t think many people could’ve predicted—or even imagined—we’d be dealing with what we are dealing with at this point. But it’s real, and it’s happening, and we’re working hard day in and day out to stay on top of what these contractors are facing and working to come up with viable solutions to help.”

Delgado posits that, a few years ago, Royal would say its biggest accomplishment has been saving lives, with the quality and engineering of builds being the backbone of its success. Now, however, she says the company’s biggest accomplishment is the ability to evolve from a company that focuses on building the safest trucks possible for the greatest protection for workers, to a company that has been able to bring technology-based products to the industry to help prevent incidents and reduce liability.

Looking ahead, Royal has some “pretty lofty aspirations,” according to Delgado.

“We’ve looked at how can we make it safer for those in our industry, how can we help with accident and incident prevention, how can we help with reducing liability, and we’ve spent a lot of time focused in our own industry and highway work zones and construction,” she says. “Over the coming years we’re really starting to branch out and set some goals of working in other industries.”

For instance, Royal has sold numerous trucks and equipment in the utility industry, has been working with first responders and fire companies, and is continuously looking at products such as vehicles, virtual reality training or connected technology in order to figure where those products could be utilized, not only with preventing accidents but also protecting workers.

“Our trajectory is taking us down the path of seeing how we can bring all of these life-saving, liability-reducing products into other industries to help those folks as well,” says Delgado, adding that Royal’s vision, passion and drive means maintaining safety and continuing to develop products in the future.

“We’re very visionary here, very forward-thinking and we go beyond just a safe build,” she says. “We look at what other products we can bring to market across all different Industries where any worker is out on the highway and needs protection.”

The post Where Safety is the Driving Factor<p class="company">Royal Truck & Equipment</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Founder and President Brad Moline reflects on ALLO’s approaching twentieth anniversary, recalling how ALLO rose from humble beginnings. “When we started, I was focused on voice lines,” he says. But in those early days, ALLO’s sales pitch was an uphill battle. “We needed to offer internet, but convincing people that fiber and Layer 2 services were better than TDM circuits and T1 lines back in 2004 and 2005… it’s obviously changed pretty dramatically,” Moline remarks.

Despite initial challenges, expansion proved steady thanks to ALLO’s products and exemplary customer service, and the company expanded from business networks to residential offerings in 2011. A further turning point came in 2015, when the company was acquired by Lincoln-based financial services provider, Nelnet, ensuring a steady stream of both business and financial support. Since then, ALLO has expanded across the Cornhusker State to new horizons in Colorado and Arizona.

As ALLO has grown steadily, its employee numbers have also grown to accommodate the expansion. “When we started, I never thought we would have more than fifty associates,” Moline recalls. “We’re quickly approaching eight hundred right now.” Extensive training and robust benefits packages ensure new hires see the company as a long-term, stable career. He says ALLO views its employees less as a resource and more as an achievement. “We’ve had a philosophy, for a few years, that we need to compete just as hard for teammates as we do for our customers,” he says. “We’ve moved a long way toward that end.”

Moline notes that employees are attracted by the company’s benefits and steady salaries, and the prospect of building and creating something tangible. “It’s really rewarding to look at a community and say, ‘Yeah, we did this,’” he says. “People want to work for a company that does that and believes in their communities and teammates.”

ALLO works closely with local two- and four-year colleges, providing work placement and internship programs that ensure a steady stream of qualified graduates. This opportunity contributes further to the company’s goal of long-term staff. “When somebody joins ALLO, we really want them here for the ten and fifteen-year anniversaries,” Moline says.

These staff members continue to serve their communities as part of ALLO’s business model. The company has implemented a highly localized customer service system, ensuring that employees are customers’ friends and neighbors. This ensures familiarity with client regions and creates a decentralized corporate structure that gives client communities high degrees of autonomy. A large community like Lincoln naturally differs from a smaller town like neighboring Seward, but ALLO successfully serves both.

In its most recent expansion, ALLO announced new 10-gigabit bandwidth projects in five Nebraska communities, bringing the total projects in its home state to twenty-one upon their completion in 2022. These will provide 10 gigabits of speed in both uploading and downloading content, as well as data transport, video, voice, phone systems, and redundant connectivity to leading cloud storage providers.

These communities reflect ALLO’s commitment to building Gigabit Societies rather than mere networks. As their name implies, these Societies connect homes and businesses to create new digital communities. Moline says that faster internet increases connection speeds and changes how societies operate. As so many activities moved online with the onset of the pandemic, providing fast, stable service without traditional industry impediments such as data caps is proving essential.

As our lives continue to be online-focused, ALLO is working to turn internet connection from a luxury to a utility for all. “You don’t think about getting enough connectivity, you just try to figure out how you can use it,” Moline observes. “You almost take it for granted, much like you do with water or electricity—any other utility.”

Although traditional ISPs have usually given consumers slightly less than they need, ALLO is looking to create a new connectivity standard for the modern world. “To me, a Gigabit Society means you have all you need. You have all the connectivity with the Cloud, and you get to figure out how to use it,” he says.

To Moline and ALLO, fiber-based Gigabit Societies represent the future of modern telecommunications, and the pandemic has been the proof that cable and DSL internet services are not enough anymore. “It’s not future-proof,” he explains simply. He believes the market has spoken, as fiber networks step up to relieve overburdened infrastructure. “COVID moved the fiber business model up, probably three or four years, and I think we’re seeing that with the enormous investments in infrastructure funds, other private investments, as well as the governmental investment in fiber.”

While ALLO can provide Gigabit Societies in smaller and mid-size towns, larger cities present a greater challenge. However, more public-private partnerships are springing up throughout the United States, representing the next major change in American technological development. Moline compares it to the building of the first electrical grids in the late nineteenth century—a project of equal scope, requiring equally sizable investments.

In his view, ALLO will handle the mid-size projects, with larger metropolitan areas requiring more investment. “The last two pieces will be the metro areas and the very rural areas, and they’ll come along,” he says. “I personally feel, by 2025, there aren’t going to be many markets that aren’t either fully constructed or under construction, from rural to metro.”

Moline has high hopes for these projects despite current shortages across the international supply chain. Due to his decades of business experience, he takes the long view despite comments about the ‘unprecedented times’ in which we live. “This is the meaningful fourth business cycle I’ve been through,” he says, and he has used this experience to plan ahead.

“More than a year ago, we began ordering equipment and materials for 2022,” he says, further estimating all orders are filled for 2023 as well. This preparation, like ALLO’s customer service, comes down to building good relationships with clients. “That’s part of being a good partner with our vendors. They should know our expectations and demands in order to fulfill them quickly and efficiently.”

With short-term challenges solved, Moline and his colleagues are looking for long-term solutions. ALLO represents an evolution in the ISP field, yet it too must look to future trends to remain competitive. “The industry has evolved, so the challenges have evolved, and our leadership has evolved,” Moline remarks. “We’re always saying, ‘Is that a thirty-year solution?’” He notes that the company’s innovations are increasing the ‘thirty-year solution’ to fifty years, as it is building infrastructure networks built to stand the test of time.

Despite its strong, local-focused networks and highly personalized customer service, leadership resists the lure of expanding beyond the company’s capabilities. “We’re not trying to dominate the world,” Moline says, but instead be meaningful to smaller communities in a small number of states. “I think that helps keep you grounded and keep you focused on not just the thirty-year strategy but the tasks that are necessary for the next several years.”

As ALLO continues to look ahead, it is applying its experience in building large and small fiber networks into Gigabit Societies. Moline points out that successful business practices outweigh technological advances. “There will be different technologies, but we don’t need to bet on the future,” he remarks. “We connect people, and we enable them to live, work, and play. If you look at it from that simplistic situation, you make the right decisions three, four, five years ahead.”

No one can truly know the next big leap in telecom innovation, but ALLO aims to be a part of it through its practices and networks. “If you provide a service that meets the needs and values of the customer, charge a fair price, and create a hassle-free experience, everything kind of works out,” Moline says. “If you focus on that, the future will take care of itself.”

The post Building the Connected Community<p class="company">ALLO Communications</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

The pandemic also allowed formerly place-tethered employees to experience life without the ritual daily commutes, the stress of delivering children to daycare, and other long-practiced daily routines.

The result has been a significant increase in U.S. workers, for example, leaving their jobs. Numbers are up 2.7 percent in April 2021, which is a jump from 1.6 percent a year earlier and the highest level in more than two decades, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. A record 4.4 million people quit their jobs in September of this year.

People are leaving jobs and leaving big city life, and this is having an unprecedented effect on the economies and cultures of small towns. It’s a game-changer in many ways.

“We’re expecting to see a rise in attrition, really across all organizations,” says Steve Knox, Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition for human resources firm Ceridian.

Employers are finding that many employees enjoy working from home and don’t want to return to office life, while others are burned out after a stressful year, Knox says. And rising numbers of employees appear to have used the past 18 months to re-evaluate their life choices and are ready to quit traditional full-time employment. This trend also reflects how the office became less relevant during the pandemic, with teams working remotely and connecting via technology, which allowed workers to be untethered and fundamentally disrupted the necessity of living in a city to work.

Any wave of outmigration from cities affects everything from housing prices and tax revenue to job opportunities, culture and ideology. Population growth is a key driver of GDP growth for any community and an influx of people can increase demand for new goods and services, food and housing, as well as recreational and cultural activities. And better quality of life factors found in smaller towns – less traffic, cleaner air and wide open spaces – are huge drawing cards.

What about the changing workforce? Larger urban centers typically boast more highly educated workers, so a migration of workers from these cities to less urbanized communities can positively impact the intellectual capital of smaller towns. Similarly, larger cities tend to be more cosmopolitan in their thinking. Movement from these centers to small markets contributes to ideological and cultural diversity. This outcome might help smaller markets fend off youth-outmigration, retaining young people who could otherwise be lured to the big city in search of broader cultural experiences.

So how can businesses best adapt to these changing realities?

Things are still very much in the experimental stage, with businesses trying new models and augmenting these working models with input from employees to get it right to retain talent. Some companies have opted to go completely remote and completely decentralized, while others are deploying hybrid work environments.

A key objective of these new working models is to remain competitive in terms of attracting human resources and offering better working environments that are more flexible and balanced and less prone to career burnout. An “asynchronous hour” model is being considered by some companies, where staff work core hours so that meetings and other collaborations can more readily occur. Core meeting times are prescribed in such a way that all staff can participate but allow for maximum flexibility in working hours. This way, you can still fit in exercise breaks, meal prep and other chores during your workday.

Not surprisingly, Zoom fatigue is a common theme of the pandemic and is often considered when developing such models. Some organizations have set aside days of the week where meeting requests are kept to a minimum, allowing staff to focus on key projects and prioritize tasks. Companies are also improving their intranet capabilities to document meeting notes and conversation details so that decisions and meeting outcomes can be instantly reviewed. Along these same lines, apps are being deployed where employees can log and store customer calls and other client-related data to communicate more efficiently.

Other hybrid workplace models are also taking shape, established on the basis that the actual activity of work is more important than where it occurs. As such, employees are given the option of where and when they choose to work. Many of these models have an overriding philosophy that assumes the employee knows best and thereby permits maximum schedule flexibility.

Physical offices are reimagined as hosting centers. If work requires collaboration, the hosting center can be used. However, if a project faces a critical deadline, employees can choose to concentrate their efforts from a quieter, less obtrusive remote working space of their choice.

Hybrid models create even more flexibility for companies with a global reach, and employees can work anywhere in the world hosting centres are located.

Harvard Business Review reports these hybrid work models are expected to proliferate in 2022. And while some employees plan to keep working remotely exclusively, fewer are prepared to give up the office entirely. Care.com surveyed 500 human resources leaders and C-suite decision-makers to find out how they plan to attract and retain talent: “66 percent said they plan to offer greater work flexibility, a family-friendly benefit with no direct costs to the business.”

Of course, having the right software in place is critical for business, now more than ever. Wingman Contact Management software, for example, is a popular tool for cataloguing every client interaction. Slack is an app that helps people to efficiently connect and communicate in real time, promising to improve and speed decision-making.

Another virtual tool gaining users is Miro, which a collaborative whiteboard. This solution enables teams to remain engaged and playful during brainstorming and to effectively capture ideas and feedback. Miro helps keep people, whether they’re in a business center part-time or fully remote, to stay connected and collaborative anywhere and anytime.

Many of these software advances, combined with flexible hours and less structured work arrangements, have delivered improved productivity. The problem is, work and home boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred. When do people actually turn off for downtime? And what are the health and family implications?

Mercer, an HR and workplace benefits consulting firm, found that ninety-four percent of 800 employers the company surveyed in 2020 said that productivity was the same as or higher than it was before the pandemic, even with their employees working remotely. “Historically, there has been a perception in many organizations that if employees were not seen, they weren’t working – or at least not as effectively as they would in the office,” says Lauren Mason, Senior Consultant at Mercer.

“And in most cases, this forced experiment around remote working as a result of COVID-19 has shattered those perceptions to prove that most employees can actually be trusted to get their work done from home,” she added. “As organizations are thinking toward the longer term, they are looking at how they can execute flexibility at scale to deliver on the value of flexible working, like enhanced performance and productivity, a better employee experience, an expanded talent pool and, in some cases, potentially reduced costs.”

Despite these improved outcomes, more changes may be needed to protect employees from overcommitting to work at the expense of family life or recreation.

What is clear is that work needs to be organized more effectively around tasks that need to be completed versus where this is done and the hours in which it occurs. This means that the conventional eight-hour day also needs to be reconsidered. The outdated notion that hours worked and productivity have a direct correlation needs to be rethought.

“A new partnership is required,” says Sir Cary Cooper, professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at Alliance Manchester Business School in England, “one that recognizes the immense challenges to employee wellbeing, as well as the need for a more personalized approach. As an academic, author and adviser, I’ve been promoting the importance of mental health and wellbeing at work for over 50 years and have noted the impact that ambiguity and uncertainty have on health, wellbeing and performance.”

Bottom line, the pandemic has shocked the working world into finding a more finely tuned work and life balance that experts say will witness enduring productivity, greater employee well-being, and less stress and burnout – and these changes will be a far better fit for the future.

The post Pandemic Reset<p class="company">The Shifting Workplace</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Reedley traces its founding to the mid-19th century, when Civil War veteran Thomas Law Reed and his family established a small farming community there. Fueled by recently constructed railroad lines and its own agricultural land value, the town prospered and was formally named in Reed’s memory in 1913. Today, Reedley honors its heritage with its Downtown Historic District, home to vintage restored buildings including a theatre from 1903.

We last spoke with Reedley’s Community Development Director Rob Terry in a very different world back in 2019. Two busy years later, he relates how Reedley has continued its strong, steady expansion throughout the San Joaquin Valley, maintaining an 80 percent rate of developed to annexed land ratio.

The key, he says, is communication. “Not only communication between us, as the local agency,” he says, referring to local government, but communication with all agencies to provide local business support. “That ranges everywhere from the excellent partnership we have with our Chamber [of Commerce], all the way to additional non-profits and community organizations.” By connecting both aspiring and current local businesses to area resources like the local Economic Development Corporation and Employment Opportunity Commission, Terry and his colleagues have created a rich public-private coalition to drive area growth through business development.

A large part of this communication strategy, and its resulting coalition, is the local government’s close collaboration with the Greater Reedley Chamber of Commerce. Terry relates how the Chamber has grown so much it has outgrown its old office, moving into a larger building at the time of this writing. A shining example of this close collaboration is the ongoing “Development Series,” regular meet-and-greets with virtual tours around the community. Upwards of 75 to 125 area business and community leaders are regular attendees, putting faces to names and keeping the community abreast of new developments in land and business.

“To me, it’s so critical to make sure you are getting good information out there to people, and that they know who to ask if they have questions,” Terry says. “That’s been a huge, huge focus for us here, and I think that we’re continuing to see why that’s a positive for this community.”

In his view, the communication offers transparency to Reedley’s citizens, and the resulting support from the population results in a win-win. “I feel that they have a high level of confidence in the various management levels, whether that’s in the Chamber [of Commerce] or here at City Hall,” he says. “They feel like things are headed in the right direction, and they’re proud to be a citizen of Reedley.”

Terry credits Reedley’s close public-private partnership with helping the town overcome the challenges of our time and continue its steady growth. “It used to be that the challenge was finding enough space for your business,” he recalls, but now spacing challenges are compounded with staffing and supply shortages. To adapt, the coalition has been working to either directly provide businesses with the communications and resources they need, or line them up with a third party that can.

At City Hall, Terry and others in local government are making sure development is still affordable for all. “We’re doing everything we can to ensure that our fees are realistic,” he says. An upcoming municipal code update will provide a complete overhaul of business development incentives and practices, particularly in land use and housing, and will link as many items as possible to business development. “This will allow flexibility in the ever-evolving and changing world that we’re seeing,” Terry says, “where activities that may not have been accessible or readily utilized over the last few years are going to be possible, in particular for a lot of small and start-up businesses.”

Part of this strategy of flexibility has come with the expansion of Reedley’s Development Fee Incentive Reduction Program, which has now been expanded to include not just the historic downtown area but the entire town. Reducing development fees by 25 percent across town and 50 percent downtown has spurred growth dramatically. “It’s been extremely well-received by the development community, as can be seen by the amount of permits that we’re putting out all across the board,” Terry says. “Residential, commercial, industrial—we’re seeing all of it really cooking along.”

True to Reedley’s strategy of communication, the fees are updated every five years to make sure they remain reasonable and competitive, taking into account macroeconomic shifts as well as changes in neighboring communities. Part of the review process is also to analyze the program’s effectiveness. “The answers that are coming in thus far are ‘absolutely yes,’” Terry shares, elaborating that the plan now is to roll such incentives into impact fees moving forward. “Instead of just having it as a standalone program, we’re taking that into account and rolling it into our actual fee structure in perpetuity.”

The results of this partnership continue to bear fruit, as Reedley enjoys a steady and sustainable growth rate as laid out in its 2030 plan, first enacted back in 2014. New housing developments, for both workers and students, will provide the infrastructure to support the town’s expanding population. Over 100 residential units have recently been completed, with 200+ currently under construction, and another 800+ in various stages of review or approval, with larger mixed-use buildings dominating the trend. Terry remarks how this reflects Reedley’s continuing efforts to keep abreast of national building trends: “The market has clearly shown that higher-density types of products, in addition to your traditional 6-7,000 foot lot, are desired, and there’s certainly a market for that.”

Commercial development is also building up steam, thanks to this larger residential base. Over 100,000 square feet are in the development pipeline, with hospitality and retail leading the charge. But in addition to small businesses, Terry says regionally and nationally recognized companies are coming to town. “We’re finally at that population point now where we are meeting the metrics for a lot of these national brands,” he says. “They’re having conversations with us, and we’re moving forward actively with multiple applicants right now.”

Reedley is also investing heavily in both its regional airport and the space surrounding it, looking to create a new commercial space to bring both residents and businesses to the area. One of the objectives of Reedley’s development strategy is to bring in-fill land closer to the airport, which is currently over a mile outside of the town proper. “I think we will see that in the next couple of years, and I think that’s going to have a huge impact on our economy and on the look and feel of our community here.”

The end result intends to be a source not only of growth but workforce development. After numerous COVID-related delays, a partnership between the airport, Reedley College, Reedley Middle College High School and the local Kings Canyon Unified School District aims to create one of the largest aeronautics programs in the state. “[It] will allow students right here in Reedley to get the full certification for [Aeronautical Mechanical Engineering] needed for them to work anywhere,” Terry says. Certificates could propel graduates to jobs at NASA and beyond, as the private space industry continues to grow. “There are some great items that are getting ready to take off there,” he remarks, pun fully intended!

Yet as Reedley continues to expand, Terry and his colleagues must work to balance growth versus identity—keeping the city growing while not losing its unique charm. Once again, he returns to the strategy of inclusive communication; with such a wide spectrum of businesses and stakeholder groups in Reedley, a seat for everyone at the table is vital.

“It’s making sure we are including and communicating with those key businesses and those key residents that play such a big part in establishing and maintaining those characteristics that made and keep the community so great,” he says.

This inclusion ensures stakeholders not only stay active in their community, but feel more valued. “Then, they’re part of any change that is happening, and it ends up being embraced to a degree that you don’t see if they are excluded.” It’s never 100 percent successful, he concedes, but has strong benefits. “If you’re making those decisions together and you’re acknowledging the good, the bad and the ugly together, openly and honestly, and showing people the proper respect, you end up getting to a place that is better.”

With such leadership in both its private and public sectors, Reedley is poised to continue strong growth trends in residential, commercial and industrial development. Terry says all decisions come from the heart. “Anything that we’re doing right now is working to be mindful of the quality of life that is present here, and that is the reason people are here.” With a diverse leadership team providing solid planning, Reedley’s consistent growth is sure to continue.

The post A Seat at the Table<p class="company">City of Reedley, CA</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

One of the first places to start may be this: Why become an entrepreneur at all? That answer can be long and complex from a Black perspective, so to keep things more simple, let’s borrow from an article published in the Journal of Development Entrepreneurship, written by Micheal W. Ogbolu, Robert P. Singh and Anthony Wilson.

“Historically, entrepreneurship and self-employment have been the paths of economic advancement for disadvantaged people,” the article begins. “Given the high rates of unemployment and the low labor participation rates, the formation and expansion of Black-owned ventures is a viable strategy to address Black unemployment rates.”

And if you look at 2018 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is likely that 32 percent of Black males do not participate in the labor market, which is the lowest among identified races. For Black women, the numbers are better, relatively. Black women actually have the highest rate of participation among groups of women, with 62.4 percent likely to participate.

Although, with this rate of participation, there’s some subtext for black women; approximately two-thirds are the primary or sole income providers for their households. So for many, there may not be much choice about having to work.

A big factor in all of the analysis I’ve read of those pursuing entrepreneurship is the rate of pay for Black workers. Simply and starkly put, Blacks and Hispanics earn considerably less. Median weekly earnings for White men is $1,002. For Black men, it is $735. For women, it’s slightly closer, with Black women earning $654 compared to $817 for White women. For the record, both Asian women and men earn the most.

So it’s a good question here – why participate in something where you are going to make less? Why not try to be your own boss?

Many Black people are saying yes to that question. In fact, 20 percent of Black people are entrepreneurs compared to 12 percent of White people. But for many potential Black entrepreneurs, there are a number of unique challenges on the path to success.

One of the biggest challenges for most entrepreneurs comes at the very beginning; start-up businesses usually need capital.

“One of the biggest barriers to Black and minority entrepreneurship stems from long-held beliefs by banks and other financial institutions that these entrepreneurs are higher-risk candidates for mortgages and other loans,” the Kellogg Insight at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management reports.

For William Towns, a lecturer of social impact at the Kellogg School of Business, it’s important to identify how the financial industry can be part of the reason why Black entrepreneurs struggle to get the capital their business needs. The structure of credit scores and credit that’s been in place for years needs to be reconsidered.

“It’s a simple change to say, ‘have they ever missed a payment? No? Then why are we penalizing them for using a larger portion of their credit limit,’” says Towns. “We now know through research and data that it’s not a good indicator of who’s a good person to lend to, and it has no impact on their ability to be a good borrower.”

And these issues are not just unique to the U.S. A survey of Black entrepreneurs in Canada revealed that three-quarters said their race made it harder to succeed in business. To help level the field to some degree, the country’s largest lenders are working with the government to invest $221 million to give young, Black entrepreneurs that important access to capital and other support to start a business.

These are some initial steps to help make capital more accessible, but beyond capital there is also a need for more opportunities for networking and mentoring. Often Black entrepreneurs starting out don’t have someone they can turn to with business experience to help provide solutions to start-up related challenges. It is important to not just have access to money, but also access to a network of experts who have been there, and connections to sponsors in the Black community and Black organizations.

This has never been more urgent then now as we continue to live with a global pandemic. Traditional opportunities to meet and make connections with other Black entrepreneurs, and connections in their local community, are evaporating. How important are these opportunities?

A study of New York based start-ups showed founders who are mentored by top-performing entrepreneurs are three times more likely to succeed compared to those who don’t receive the mentoring.

In a report titled, “Building supportive ecosystems for Black-owned U.S. businesses,” global business consulting group McKinsey notes that one of the ways to bridge this gap, not only in the current situation, but into the future is through digital means.

“Digital capabilities will increase Black entrepreneurs’ share of opportunities,” notes the report. “But private-sector and social-sector organizations can provide free technology services and managerial assistance.”

It is through this connection of experienced entrepreneurs with new, Black entrepreneurs that we can establish a new generation of experienced business people, who can in turn create an established network for the next generation of businesses.

And as the saying goes, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” Providing more opportunities for Black entrepreneurs is really also about providing more opportunities to grow the economy as whole.

According to recent census data, about 14 percent of the U.S. population identifies as Black. But Black entrepreneurs only account for 2.2 percent of the nation’s 5.7 million employer business.

Researchers at the Brookings Institute in Washington say that if Black entrepreneurs reached their full potential, there would be on the order of 800 thousand more Black businesses which could in turn bring in $600 billion to the economy’s bottom line and ultimately up to 1.6 million jobs! Those numbers are very hard to ignore.

As Black activists Tynesia Boyea-Robinson, president and CEO of CapEQ, and Andre M. Perry, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, write in CNN Business:

“We need public-private partnerships that will set or re-establish goals to increase the number of Black businesses that qualify for government and large corporate contracts. Governments and corporations can encourage growth and activity by adopting new procurement processes that facilitate inclusion. For example, New Orleans’ regional transit authority pledged that a minimum of 31 percent of its federally provisioned grants would go to contracts with minority-owned businesses in the area.”

A roadmap to change and growth for Black entrepreneurs is underway. But there’s much more to be done, from the political offices to grassroots community initiatives, Boyea-Robinson and Perry say.

“By establishing clear, measurable goals for strategic investment, the Biden administration can help foster a culture of development. Government agencies, corporations and civic groups must help the current administration do just that. By doing so, we can grow our economy, increase the resiliency of our communities and empower more individuals.”

Here’s the thing. After looking at some of the issues facing Black entrepreneurs, it is important to state the while I have written this article, my heritage is not Black. I have identified some of the challenges that Black entrepreneurs face based on the research for this article, but in no way do I assume to know these challenges from a perspective of a Black entrepreneur.

It’s my hope that this article can spur conversations that may not otherwise happen. That is just one important action that we can all take together if we want a healthy and diverse economy to build on.

The post Black Entrepreneurs<p class="company">Scaling for Success</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Tanya Wilson, Director of Community Planning and Development, tells us more about the city’s vision and its promise to create a thriving and abundant future for all who live here.

Known for its natural beauty and varied landscapes, Citizens of North Miami can enjoy natural beauty and varied landscapes in eleven nearby parks and combine that with all the perks of modern city living. These inner-city parks and gardens welcome thousands of visitors annually. Wilson underlines how the city’s parks were returned to their rightful role of necessary spaces of retreat and reflection.

One such park, The Enchanted Forest Elaine Gordon Park has paved trails that wind through more than twenty acres of land with tropical fauna and flora along Arch Creek. The park contains picnic areas and activities for all ages.

“There’s something unique about having a city that has an urban landscape with commercial settings and tall buildings and spaces and plazas where people can gather for cultural arts events. It’s the tenets of a city… where people gather and commerce can occur,” Wilson says. “But nestled between all that hardscape are wetlands and trails and creeks and exotic wildlife,” she adds, marveling at what she refers to as the balance between two ecosystems. While North Miami “is very urban, it is also very green and sensitive and fragile,” she says. Being on the coast, one can even see dolphins from shore.

The city’s recreation facilities are top-notch, with beautifully tended sports courts and fields dotted about the urban landscape. Seven community centers create welcoming spaces for locals, while well-respected schools include the Florida International University (FIU) and Johnson and Wales University.

From carefully curated exhibitions at its Museum of Contemporary Art to the latest in all types of music, the city’s cultural life has much to offer. “We are respected when it comes to the arts communities, fine arts, and even in terms of culinary arts,” says Wilson. FIU’s globally-appreciated culinary arts program facilities have played host to several Iron Chef America shows.

The city of North Miami is a business-positive investors’ dream, with over $199 million poured into its infrastructure through private investment alongside more than one billion dollars in planned and executed real estate developments in just half a decade. Today, it has far over three and a half million square feet of retail and mixed-use space, and there is still room to grow.

Another crown jewel, Solé Mia, spans more than 180 acres just east of Biscayne Boulevard and will be comprised of a mixed-use development with a luxury village feel. Solé Mia sits on top of a cleaned and rehabilitated landfill site, proving that one person’s trash is another’s treasure.

“This is a great example of the reuse of a site that had no hope or purpose. It is a great example of what you can do to transform many of these brownfield sites that you see around the country and the world,” Wilson says.

The current timeline indicates that the opening of mixed-use, luxury apartment complex The Shoreline at Solé Mia will be in two years. The fifteen-year development of the rest of the site will offer more than one million square feet of commercial space and around 4,000 residential units and huge park spaces.

The site will also boast the ten-acre, 350,000-square-foot University of Miami Medical Center, a state-of-the-art medical facility with every conceivable medical specialist, all under one roof. International patients will have access to a nearby hotel that is part of the development, where they can recover and relax in luxury and privacy, overlooking Biscayne Bay.

The development promises to be a prolific job creator for the region, not to mention the subsidiary businesses and trade that will spring up around it to serve the needs of visitors and residents.

As well as this spectacular development, the city has seen a healthy response to its clustered mixed-use developments situated along its main corridors. One of the reasons for the positivity could be favorable interest rates, but its great urban design that allows for easy access to green spaces will also have a lot to do with its popularity in times such as these.

“We’re thrilled that preparation has now met opportunity. We were prepared for today because we started this intentional land use planning,” Wilson says. Part of this planning includes revitalizing largely forgotten areas throughout the city that promise handsome tax revenues once they are revived and reimagined.

When it comes to the international COVID-19 ordeal and North Miami’s survival, Wilson remains pragmatic. “Like the rest of the world and the rest of the country, we have been tested and tried, but we found a way to make lemonade from the lemons that we received,” she says.

Federal aid allowed the city to further train its workforce in medical and health science certification courses through online programs at FIU in collaboration with John Hopkins University. “That would not have been possible before but we took advantage of the resources [provided] by the Federal Government. We wanted to tailor our dollars and used it to up-skill our residents so that they could be fit for the market. The market right now is health-focused,” says Wilson.

The city also offered much support to small-to-medium outfits in the restaurant industry, especially those that were not geared toward online ordering and take-away. “We discovered that, even with the challenges, some of the old mom-and -pops that only had brick and mortar operations and only served from the soup counter were challenged to come into the digital space,” Wilson says.

Through collaboration with the custom software development company Digital Pixel, the city could assist older operators in signing up to delivery companies like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and others. “Many started to crank out more food from the ‘ghost kitchens’ [because] the city helped by giving them funding and a smart grant for a website and additional money so that they could afford to sign up,” she adds.

Wilson points out that the rise of e-commerce translates to hard times for businesses that cannot adapt but that it is possible to rise through the adversity thanks to federal grants. She also highlights that, surprisingly, as little as fifty percent of American small businesses have joined the online retail space, leaving much room for improvement. The city did its part to enable a smooth transition between old and new operating methods, helping many of its local businesses to join the technological era.

To create further resilience and income security for its citizens, the city also identified the very fickle and fragile hospitality industry as a starting point for economic reform. It now aims to provide workers in hospitality with the means and skills to secure alternative employment when the tourist industry is down. To achieve this, the city is inviting businesses in light industry, research and technology, and manufacturing across several sustainable fields to settle in the region and create a more stable income base for its people.

The city provides financial assistance to new businesses looking to settle in North Miami while helping to sustain existing businesses. In addition, a federal-granted green energy supplement allows it to provide businesses with energy audits in collaboration with Florida Power & Light, to mitigate energy waste and improve operational design and energy preservation. The initiative helps to protect the environment and saves businesses a great deal of money in energy savings.

Another supplement ensures that established businesses get help too. As many such operations belong to older people who may need assistance in getting their hands on similar grants, the city has gone out of its way to ensure that everyone receives support.

“We set aside a grant pot just for [the older generation of business owners so that they] do not have to feel stressed. [They] can come in here and work with us,” says Wilson. “It was beautiful to hear the stories of many of them who have been here for forty or fifty years through recessions, through hurricanes, [and are still here through] COVID. [They are] committed to this city,” she adds.

“Look for the problems in your city. Do not retreat from them. Look at problems with new eyes and bring in different stakeholders that could help you bring about innovative solutions,” Wilson says. So, in a bid to refresh the central business district, the city approached FIU’s architecture faculty to explore new design guidelines for one of its main streets, Seventh Avenue. To the great delight of the city management teams, graduate students came up with brilliant facade and signage suggestions.

What becomes clear when talking with Tanya Wilson is that North Miami is about more than business. It is a city whose people have big hearts, especially when it comes to creating community.

As Wilson so wisely points out, a crisis is a terrible thing to waste. “A friend said this to me several years ago. I never truly got it until we were [amid] COVID-19, because even [during] a crisis, there is still opportunity for growth. A crisis is a time to plan and reposition yourself as a city, to get ahead,” she says. And this is true. The glittering City of North Miami is planning its way to a successful future, and there is most certainly much more grit to the diverse folks of North Miami than appears at first glance. If there is one example of what a city of the future should look like today, it is this one.

The post Urban Oasis<p class="company">City of North Miami, FL</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Cogent supplies specifically to businesses involved in electrical machinery that use electrical steel products, with almost 100 percent of Cogent’s products and services going toward the upkeep of motors, generators, and electrical transformers for power supplies or conversion.

The company will frequently supply transformers that go into specific electrical devices like MRI machines or various other types of transformers (pull-top, padded mount, large substation) in a countryside setting.

Company president and CEO Ron Harper is quick to point out further instances involving the unique applications that the company is a part of, such as acting as supplier for a small customer out of Quebec which had an emergency need to build power supplies for hospital beds, or for one of its American customers providing power to mobile hospitals in need.

Electrical power is Cogent’s game, and it can act as a supplier for it in myriad dynamic and versatile ways.

Harper details Cogent as being a make-to-order product business with a low level of standardization and high turnaround; as a result, Cogent places a premium value on being reliable as a supplier in terms of delivering its products and being available to clients as much as possible.

Speaking the client’s language
The company’s client focus comes through in aspects like its approach to problem solving, where Cogent employees will work together with clients on a design and product applications to get the best result. “We have more client product design engineers on our staff than most competitors combined,” Harper continues. “We can speak the language of our clients.”

The company’s clientele can always feel like they have the best materials, the most reliable delivery, and the flexibility to make changes at any time.

Harper describes the company as one that is very material-driven, an identity which exists at the other end of what he views as a directional choice within the industry.

On one hand, there are those businesses in the electrical space that lean toward a commodity-focused experience due to the industry’s very nature and the raw materials that go into supplying it.

Cogent finds itself on the other side, finding great success by integrating products and services in a more solution-oriented approach to product supply.

Harper explains that 100 percent of the company’s raw material stock is a thin-gauge electrical steel product which is finished into electrical components. However, while many people in the industry have a similar background in steel and so approach it in a similar way, the Cogent team engage differently with the product.

Engaging strategy
Their difference – and their strength – comes from working closely with clients in an advisory role, and from taking up a more strategic position than many competitors, who are used to a more transactional relationship, care to do.

Looking back on 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic presented its own challenges and opportunities for Cogent as an established name. Harper feels that the company managed the unusual situation generally quite well thanks to its large and diverse workforce, which worked hard to keep the virus out of the business and implement changes and new practices to maintain and protect the bottom line.

The company was designated an essential business from the beginning with orders and demands picking up in the pandemic’s early months as clients looked to get ahead of changes in their supply chains.

Harper admits that the first couple of months were the hardest, however, due to the uncertainty and discomfort many felt at the changes in the workplace and the world. Challenges cropped up as employees began to stay away from the office out of health concerns. The company filled the gaps with workers who had been displaced at other industries due to quarantine measures.

This, along with the constantly changing communication around the virus, its effects and its spread, fostered an industry-wide tumultuous climate. Fortunately, this company was able to gets it feet back under it in quick time and remains on steady ground to this day.

Flexible and adaptable
Harper admits that a lot of the challenges faced by Cogent, outside of the outstanding global circumstances, are not unique to the company and are handled deftly by a “flexible and adaptable team which can work in a client-focused way and is willing to put the effort in.”

Cogent’s raw materials are 100 percent steel products with steel markets going through surprising developments at the end of 2020. A shortage in materials and an increase in price means that the industry is seeing supply-and-demand constraints but with an added challenge for Cogent of significant growth occurring in the electric and hybrid vehicle markets.

Demand is constraining the supply of raw materials and it is a challenge for companies to source the materials to supply long-term and potential clients, leading to a skyrocketing in prices.

Seasonal challenges
The company also has its own share of typical seasonal challenges as well as those that are more recent and market focused.

Cogent rents two large heat-treating facilities that experience a major rise in heat during summer weather conditions, which can become a health and safety problem at times.

The company is also a large supplier to the US market of distribution transformers which typically become casualties of hurricanes and tornadoes, leading to peak demands during those seasons.

There has even been a pickup in demand recently thanks to the freezing temperatures seen in Texas in the early winter months of 2021.

Dealing with these unpredictable emergencies is nothing new to Cogent, which will typically rearrange its production around clients in need, and turn its services around in a couple of days with its usual customer-first attitude. Clients’ problems and emergencies are responsibilities the company takes on as they happen and it looks to rise to the challenge even better with the aid of its new backer.

Ownership change
Since a previous feature on Cogent Power in Business in Focus Magazine in 2019, the company has undergone an ownership change, being acquired by a large Japanese company called JFE Holdings (part of the JFE Shoji Corporation), making Cogent a part of the JVI Electrical Components Group.

Cogent is now affiliated with a group inside a large business where electrical machinery, along with the specialized nature of Cogent’s products and services, are uniquely aligned with a new strategy.

Harper explains that, from a component side, the company has primarily provided transformer components, but with new ownership comes a capability and capacity that can enable Cogent to grow into more motor and core components.

JFE is also a critical supplier with Japanese auto manufacturers where future opportunities lie in electric- and hybrid-vehicle motor manufacturing, especially as gasoline and diesel systems change to more sustainable options.

This means that corporations like JFE will require more of the products and materials that companies like Cogent process. Harper summarizes JFE’s role: “JFE is a regional leader in Japan and has a strong strategic vision to be a bigger player as the new market emerges.”

Cogent is more than ready to be a part of the long-term vision of JFE Shoji. Harper foresees that many short-term challenges may soon crop up on the supply side of the business, but the new parent company expects growth from Cogent in the next 10 years by taking advantage of its new markets and strengthening its transformer position.

Big part of the plan
Cogent looks to continue supporting local partners moving toward electrical and hybrid vehicle solutions in that time. As Harper says of the current state of play, “Cogent is just starting down the path but will be a big part of the plan moving forward.”

The company will also continue to be part of developments in the electrical grid and will be looking into opportunities to make the grid more efficient and intelligent in how it supplies power to businesses and residences.

Cogent Power has gone through a lot of growth and challenges, but Harper recognizes that it has been built on the support, strength, and flexibility of the entire team.

“We couldn’t have gotten to where we are without a team focused on growth – a team that was a helpful contributor in getting the business to where it is,” Harper summarizes. New developments and exciting plans lie ahead for this business in the coming years.

The post New Owner, New Horizons, Same Commitment<p class="company">Cogent Power</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.