Life is enjoying what you lo

Never be average. Not only have these words been instilled within me throughout my personal life, but it has been of equal significance to me as I have traveled down my professional path. Being labeled as “average” may have adverse connotations; but to be fair, I believe no one is average. Everyone has an individuality that separates them from everyone else.

Being average is having the basic qualities expected of an individual or company in a specific environment or set of conditions. While there’s nothing negative about it, there’s also nothing that allows you to stand out. Average people are more comfortable living and doing business within their comfort zone. Perhaps they dismiss opportunities to take on challenges or expand their skills. Over time, this pattern becomes difficult to change.

In contrast, being beyond average means escaping these safe spaces, seizing opportunities to grow and shine, identifying ways to improve as a person and professional. Going beyond the standard is what we look for in our staff. It defines the way we operate our business and achieve our goals. We believe that it is this characteristic that allows us to stand out as an engineering firm.

Tom Shorma CEO/President

Brad Wermers President and CEO Banner Associates, Inc. Brookings, Sioux Falls & Rapid City, S.D.

My goal has always been to be an accessible leader and transparent business owner. I’ve hosted an all-company meeting every month since taking the role of CEO/President for WCCO Belting in 2001 (with the exception of a few months due to the pandemic).

What started as a simple tool to introduce myself to the workforce is now a vertebra in the backbone of our engagement strategy. We hold three one-hour meetings to reach our 200-plus employees across all production shifts. I kick it off by learning who’s new and offer them a personal welcome before moving on to WCCO’s performance, industry news, recognitions, rewards, a variety of educational topics, and more. WCCO Belting’s custom rubber products are unique. No one in the world makes them quite like we do, so we can’t train people overnight. WCCO needs the buy-in of its workforce to protect our product quality and profitability. Our employees need to believe in our goals and understand how they personally have “skin in the game” to find job satisfaction and build a long-term career. Last year, through visibility and transparency, 96% of WCCO Belting’s employees’ report they understand how their work directly contributes to our company’s success.

Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage point to 6.3% in January, while nonfarm payroll employment changed little (+49,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in February, the latest numbers available. The labor market continued to reflect the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it. In January, notable job gains in professional and business services and in both public and private education were offset by losses in leisure and hospitality, in retail trade, in health care, and in transportation and warehousing.

Job Openings

On the last business day of December, the number of job openings were little changed at 6.6 million, a decrease of 358,000 from February 2020, according to the latest information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There were 1,523,000 job openings in professional and business services, an increase of 296,000 from the prior month. Since February 2020, job openings in professional and business services increased by 166,000.

Professional

Nondurable Goods Manufacturing

Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilites

Durable Goods Manufacturing

Other Services

Mining & Logging

Wholesale trade

Federal Government Information

Real Estate, Rental, and Leasing

Educational Services

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation

Finance and Insurance Construction

Source:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Air Traffic Passenger Data Additional Passenger Data

U.S. airlines carried 27.1 million systemwide (domestic and international) scheduled service passengers in September 2020, seasonally-adjusted, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, up 14.1% from August. The numbers, released in December, were the latest released by the BTS. It also reported 25.5 million domestic passengers and 1.6 million international passengers on U.S. airlines’ flights in September.

The large airlines carried 30 million passengers in December 2020 (preliminary), compared to 79 million passengers in December 2019 and up from 3 million in April 2020.

Total: 30.4 million passengers, down 62% from December 2019 (79.0M)

Domestic: 27.2 million passengers, down 61% from December 2019 (69.5M)

International: 3.2 million passengers, down 66% from December 2019 (9.5M)

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Dust y Backer, Backer Bees

Environmen tisn’tjustabuzzword atBasinElectric.

BackerBeeshasbeesatGlenharoldMine,areclaimedcoal minethatusedtosupplycoaltoourfirstpowerplant.The reclaimedpasturehasavarietyofflowers−alfalfa,clover, sunflowers,wildflowers−makingitoneofthebestareas inthenationtoraisebees.

Environmentalstewardshiphasalwaysbeena guidingprincipleforus.That’swhywe’re committed toreclaimingandrestoringlandbacktoitsnatural state,likeGlenharoldMine.