Reflections

I recently came back from a long weekend of camping with two of my daughters in the U.P. The colors were at their peak and fantastic, or so I was told. (For those who aren’t colorblind, the way I know it is fall is not so much the changing of colors, but the rapid building of a fresh blanket of leaves in my yard calling me to take care of them!) Not everyone likes all four of our seasons, but in spite of the work raking those darn leaves up, fall is one of the most breathtaking transformations to experience in our state’s seasonal cycles.

Every fall brings about another daylight saving time adjustment to our clocks. To remember how the time is impacted, I was taught the saying “fall back and spring forward”. This means we set our clocks back an hour each October (and gain another hour of zzzz’s) and in the spring, we will set our clocks forward an hour and lose that precious hour of rest.

Our company has undergone a few of its own “breathtaking transformations” these past years. It is an industry that is rife with commodity contractors making their way through the myriad of seasons and cycles. We have made an effort to stand out like that lone, bright yellow-leafed tree on the edge of the fall woods with our competition. We continue to strive to be Unmistakable in all that we do.

In October, we gathered our Leadership Council together for our fall “adjustment“ retreat. At this retreat we looked back at the work we have done throughout the year and compare it to the plans we had set forth at the beginning of the year. In 2020, we just might have experienced a few challenges we hadn’t foreseen (ah…yeah) that interrupted our best laid plans. The good news is we have worked for years to have a high level of resiliency allowing us to pivot in ways others wouldn’t have thought possible! As a team we made it through some truly challenging situations. We should all be very proud.

This year’s journey gave me a whole new perspective on the strengths that we have as individuals and collectively as a company. We had to suddenly “fall back” and reevaluate most of our business and then “spring forward” into a plan of action that would take care of the many needs in front of us. Our ability to be nimble, and our decades of diligence in ensuring our financial strength well prepared us for this year’s challenges. Continue to stay the course and always put your best foot forward. We may be in a second wave, but together we will come through stronger than ever.

Mike Novakoski
CEO and President