“The working-from-home concept ... will provide people the opportunity to look at prospective employees who are not in an ideal geographic location ...“ —Greg Jones, executive vice president, SUN Automation Group
team meetings via phone and video to assure our customers of our ability to meet their expectations from a parts and service perspective.” Cummins writes that RPI Print’s supplier relationships have remained largely unchanged: “No visits, but mostly business as usual. We have restricted visitors to the plant as ‘essential’ to keep the business operating, and we have screening questions for anyone that enters the building.”
Financial Fallout The adaptation to new personnel and physical challenges brought about by the pandemic is but one facet of the crisis. As the economic collateral damage mounted due to government-imposed stay-at-home orders, AICC members’ concern for future business and the health of their customer base came prominently to the fore. In AICC’s member survey, 78% of members say their total sales had declined in the previous 30 days, with corresponding declines in production work (65%), quote activity (85%), and order backlog (67%). “The biggest lifeline for survival of a company is cash,” writes Tucker. “Accounts receivable is the most important need for a corporation to get their hands around right now.” The U.S. government’s multitrilliondollar economic safety net, made necessary by the mandatory shutdown of the U.S. economy, included the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
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Security Act, and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan. According to AICC’s April survey, 83% of members who were eligible took advantage of the PPP, which provided emergency loans to small businesses to meet up to 24 weeks’ worth of payroll and overhead expenses such as utilities and occupancy costs. Loans are forgivable if used for those purposes. As generous as these programs have been and as necessary as they have been to sustain the small business community, they do not sit well with most entrepreneurs. Nelson sums up the sentiment well: “As with all programs that give things away, ensuring the intended recipient receives the benefit, preventing fraud, and appeasing those excluded will become its legacy. In the end, similar to a welfare check, it’s not a badge of honor.” At press time, AICC members were typically optimistic about the economic future, with more than half seeing increasing sales within 90 days (or about the time of this publication). Tucker writes sound advice for any entrepreneur: “We have the biggest opportunity for success ever in these times.” Referring to his earlier comment about the importance of cash, he points out that in the environment brought about by COVID-19, there will be opportunities for acquisitions or to acquire good people. “The other opportunity will be great people out there displaced and looking for work,” he writes. “Keep your eyes open, as this is not going to be with us forever, and the decisions you
make today will further your business greatly tomorrow.”
The Road Ahead As the economy has gradually reopened in varying degrees through the summer months, the path forward is only now being charted. Business, industry, and life will be markedly different—or will it? What is the perspective of members of the corrugated and paperboard industries? Niedermeier says, “Business will come back, life will go on; some business will fail, and others will thrive,” adding that plant sanitation methods will continue. “I think we’re simply going to have to keep our sanitary protocols going until such time as a vaccine is discovered or we achieve our ‘herd immunity.’ ” Kochie says there will be “less travel, more technology,” and adds, “But at the end of the day, our business and any sales, really, are all about relationships, and those, too, will go back to normal eventually.” “The economic fallout from COVID will have a much greater effect on our industry,” says Nelson. “I think we will see some closures and consolidations of box plants, industry vendors, and paper producers.” He predicts this will be beneficial in the long run: “The actions taken and lessons learned by the survivors will create more efficient and better-managed organizations.” Putt thinks there will be more instances such as this in the future and that companies need to be prepared to