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September 15, 2001
Welcome to the Back-To-School, Back-To-Work issue of the INDA Small Business e-Report, brought to you every month by INDA, Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry.
IN THIS ISSUE …
MESSAGE FROM THE INDA PRESIDENT
In the Fall 2001 issue of INDA News, the INDA newsletter sent to more than 6,000 members around the world, INDA president Ted Wirtz comments on the association's Five-Year Plan and how it will affect the nonwovens industry. Here are some excerpts from that message:
"Like many of our members, INDA is also feeling the effects of these disquieting times. Attendance at conferences and seminars is down from last year, as is income from publications. This is somewhat offset by a continued growth in membership, where new records have been established.
There are, however, encouraging signs visible in all corners of our industry. New capital investments are coming on-stream, lowering costs and making new and better quality materials. Many new products are being introduced, with the resulting improved market positions for key nonwovens companies. Plus, industry leaders I have recently spoken with give us the sense that their read of future indicators suggests the economy is turning around.
The recent downturn in the U.S. economy is not anticipated to last through the five-year planning cycle, although slower growth is expected over the next several years. The nonwovens business is expected to grow approximately 1.5 times the level of increase in the GNP during the planning period.
To get to a bottom line, here is what we have learned. First, while we are living through some anguish now, this is still a strategically strong business. And second, there is a general expectation that we will be on a more positive track come 2002."
LAST CHANCE FOR VISIONARY AWARDS NOMINATIONS
The deadline is quickly approaching for nominations for the inaugural INDA Visionary Awards recognizing the top consumer products that utilize nonwoven fabrics and/or technology. Submissions need to be received by the end of this week. Send them to Michael Jacobsen at mjacobsen@inda.org. For more information on the Visionary Awards or the INDA Vision 2002 Consumer Products Conference in January in New Orleans, log on to www.inda.org.
DIDN'T WE SEE YOU IN BALTIMORE?
Raise your hand if you weren't at the Second Annual INDA/TAPPI International Nonwovens Technical Conference in Baltimore earlier this month. There shouldn't be many of you with your hands in the air, because a sizable portion of the nonwovens industry showed up and took advantage of the three-day meeting, which attracted more than 400 industry professionals from virtually every leading nonwovens producer and many of the top converters. In addition to some excellent crabcakes, those in attendance enjoyed more than 70 papers and the best networking in the business.
MORE SOFT ECONOMY TIPS: SHARE, SHARE ALIKE
How's this for a creative way to weather the soft economy plaguing companies in all industries: Try sharing employees.
It's what a lot of companies across the board are doing as they get creative to get ahead (or stay afloat). USA Today last week wrote of one North Dakota company "loaning" its employees to a neighboring firm in a totally unrelated field. In nonwovens, those employees can be in logistics, office support or MIS. Heck, even a VP or two could probably be spared a few days a week.
Some other novel ideas being experimented with around the country:
- Consolidate offices. Bring HQ into the plant. Or share offices with the start-up company looking to expand (if you can find one).
- Pay workers to leave. You know you're going to need them again, but just not right now. So offer a bonus to key employees to take a leave of absence, always with the thought that they'll be back again when times get better. It's a less painful alternative to layoffs.
- Pay less often. Not less, just less often. Consider an every-other-week paycheck rather than weekly to save administrative costs.
BEWARE OF DISGRUNTLED EMPLOYEES BEARING COMPUTERS
If all else fails and even the creative ways of avoiding layoffs (above) don't work, employers need to take certain precautions when letting employees go becomes inevitable. A disgruntled employee with access to your computer network can cause a lot more damage than could an employee of the past who might walk out the door with his Rolodex.
Here are four ways to protect your company against computer-savvy ex-employees:
1. Restrict or eliminate a soon-to-be-terminated employee's computer access before or at the same time that they are notified.
2. Institute a company-wide notification program that computer theft or sabotage is a serious offense and will not be dealt with lightly. Act on it if the situation arises.
3. Show some respect to employees who are getting laid off. Handling a difficult situation with class can go a long way towards avoiding a nasty response.
4. Regularly change passwords so ex-employees have no way in.
THE SMALL BUSINESS GENDER GAP
Although the gap has presumably lessened in the past decade, female sales and marketing executives still make less than their male counterparts. And the smaller the company, the larger the gap.
At larger companies with revenues of between $1-10 billion, research by Sales & Marketing Management has shown that women make 13% less than men in comparable positions. Smaller companies in the $1-10 million range see that gap grow to 31% less, and companies with sales of less than $1 million pay female sales and marketing executives 35% less than their male colleagues.
GOING POSTAL
Leave it to the U.S. Post Office to raise prices when the economy is tough, their own business is down and competitors are barking at their door. But that's what everyone's favorite poster child for dysfunctional marketing did this summer, raising rates by 1.5% to 5%.
How can small businesses - many of which rely on large mailings to reach potential customers regularly - react. Try using more targeted lists to mail fewer but better. And talk to your local Postmaster (he's actually probably a very nice guy) to see how you can qualify for any bulk discounts. Or consider advertising in trade magazines, where rates have held steady, as a way to spread your gospel.
THE COSTS OF DOING BUSINESS
Workplace regulations that govern employee benefits, occupational safety and health, and other employment programs cost employers about $91 billion per year, according to a report released last month by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Of that, employers spend roughly $48.6 billion per year to comply with various OSHA rules. Among other costs:
* Employee benefits: $18.5 billion. A primary component of the cost estimate is health insurance portability, available to most employees who leave their jobs, an estimated expense of $12 billion per year.
* Civil rights: $6.6 billion. This includes litigation risks that civil rights laws impose on employers.
* Labor-management relations: $4 billion.
* Labor standards: $1.2 billion. This includes regulations that control wages for certain groups, such as the Davis-Bacon Act.
THAT'S ALL, FOLKS
Okay, that's it for this month, so head over to www.inda.org to nominate yourself or a customer for the Visionary 2002 Awards. In the meantime, we would love to hear from you, whether you have a thought you want to share with the hundreds of INDA members reading this newsletter, or if you want to tell others how you are a small company existing in a big world. Just email us at mjacobsen@inda.org and we'll pass it along.
See you next time. Enjoy.
Michael Jacobsen
Editor
INDA Small Business e-Report
If you would like to have your name removed from this e-mail list please respond to Ann Pleasants at apleasants@inda.org. Thanks.
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