BusyBeeNews - July 2020

JULY 2020

welcome to kenitha’s page!

The United States Congress didn’t actually vote for independence on July 4.

Twelve of thirteen states approved a resolution for independence on July 2, not July 4, when the declaration was actually adopted. New York didn’t vote until July 9. Many of the signers didn’t attach their names to the document until August 2.

answers on page 16 What year was the Fouth of July designated as federal holiday?

When did the Fourth of July become a paid holiday for federal employees?

Aubree Alessandra

Congratulations Efrain Garza and Luz Cristina!

It’s a girl! Born July 1, 2020 5 pounds, 10 ounces, 19 1/2 inches long

Weekend Entertainment

by Michael ‘Mickey Carmine’ Macchiaroli

Ghostbusters: This Review Was Inevitable

Growing up in a strict household, my siblings and I were only allowed to watch certain movies when we were in the low single digits. Disney was king. And if it wasn’t for Batman 1989 and Steel Magnolias balancing our options out, we likely would’ve revolted. We never had to go through with it; apparently there are some movies that are so well made, so enduring, and so perfectly cast, that you can’t help but feel as satisfied as a Colonist on September 03, 1783. Ghostbusters (the original made in 1984, not that ungodly abomination from 2016) is a perfect example of such a film and one of my all-time favorites! And I’ll admit I’m highly biased; three of my favorite actors star in this masterpiece.

The story follows Bill Murray as Peter Venkman, Dan Aykroyd as Ray Stantz, and the late Harold Ramis as Egon Spengler; three parapsychologists who, after encountering their first ghost, are fired from their lofty positions at Columbia University (apparently colleges don’t want to waste money on paranormal investigations). At Venkman’s urging, they decide to go into business for themselves as the Ghostbusters: paranormal investigators and eliminators. Acquiring an old firehouse, a 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor ambulance, and sarcastic receptionist Janine Melnitz (played flawlessly by Annie Potts), the Ghostbusters tear across New York city as they capture many ghosts (including the lovable, yet putrid, Slimer), trade wits with EPA scumbag Walter Peck (William Atherton, who is known for playing a great jerk), and try to prevent an ancient demon from bringing about the apocalypse.

I prefer to view this film around Halloween time, but Ghostbusters perfectly balances elements of action, horror, science fiction, and wraps it in comedy. It’s the perfect movie for family viewing anytime of the year; plenty of spectacle to wow the kids and plenty of innuendo that the adults can get a kick out of. Although its 36 years old, Ghostbusters still continues to hold up. Ray Parker Jr’s theme song, of the same name, sounds as fresh, lively, and energetic as it originally did. If you can’t get enough of this film, there’s a Ghostbusters 2. While not as highly regarded as the original, it’s just as entertaining. If that isn’t enough, Ghostbusters: Afterlife is due to release either later this year or in 2021. Have a great weekend!

Tales from the

Outdoors

by Pat Armstrong

Rather than bore you with war stories of work related travel experiences all the time, and since a lot of my stories involve customers that would rather I not share said stories, I figured I’d change it up a little and tell you a funny story from my childhood that stars 2 kids, 2 adults, and a dog named Molly. Oh and a boat, an ice chest, 4 tackle boxes, and about 15 fishing rods.

Many years ago, I guess I was about 10 and my younger brother was 7, our family went to Arkansas for vacation. My Mom’s Grandfather (we called him DaDa) built a cabin up on Lake Greeson back in the early 50’s and that was our vacation. Every summer, we’d go to the cabin for a week or two, or really however long we could afford to go. This particular trip, our Dad’s Dad (Grandpa) went with us and brought his new “custom” boat so we could get out on the water and fish. And by custom, I mean custom. It basically looked like a giant waterski. See below and forgive my lack of artistic ability. There were only 2 of these boats made, turns out, that’s probably a good thing...I digress. It was a cool June morning and we were going out to “tear ‘em up.”

My dad backed the boat down the ramp, my Grandpa launched the boat and pulled it over to the dock so we could load up. As mentioned earlier, items to load were: Dad, me, Ben, Molly (our Springer Spaniel), an ice chest, 4 tackle boxes and 15 fishing rods.

Grandpa was already on the boat. This boat was truly a wonder in engineering. It could carry some weight. Two brothers from Texas A&M built these boats and they were a blast to fish from, swim from, and ride on but they were not magic boats. In the infamous words of Doc Holiday, “The strain was more than he could bear” and the boat sank like a rock to the bottom.

Dad was yelling, the dog was barking, my brother was crying, and I was trying to hang on to my tackle box. Oh, and the water was nice and chilly. We spent the rest of the morning playing with dog in the park nearby while Dad and Grandpa got everything recovered, dried off, and got the boat re-floated and pulled out. Why we had the dog with us is still a mystery. But to this day, every time I see a Springer Spaniel, I think of Molly and think of the time we took her on a boat sinking.

Above is my artist rendering of the boat. There were no sides to the boat at all, as I said, it was a FUN Boat to be on. And FAST...

Below is a picture of all of us on the boat once we loaded it up...

Life gives us moments that we sometimes don’t appreciate at the time. That’s where the old saying comes from, “One day we’ll look back and laugh about this!” I hoped you laughed with me. —Pat Armstrong

joshua ewing

mike hall

Staying Connected While

Social Distancing in Our

New World Vice President Donald Moon, CPMR

The world has experienced a change in 2020 that has not happened in our country for 100 years. I don’t agree with the term “new normal” since there is nothing normal about this. The task of connecting with your customers has changed dramatically over the last few months. The impact of the pandemic will change the way we conduct our interactions with our customers going forward and made us evaluate what we are doing within each of our business units at Hugh Cunningham. The fact that our company is very active on social media and email blasts has put us ahead of a lot of companies that just implemented this due to the isolation from face-to-face interactions from the pandemic. We all need to thank our marketing team for all the effort and thought they put into making our social media efforts to be informative and fun. There are things that were necessary to conduct business in a social distancing environment that will remain in my playbook going forward and below are a few ideas that FWG team has used and implemented.

Online training has been very useful in communicating with customers while being separated physically. Let’s be honest, there are some really good trainings done online and then there are some that could have been an email. Everyone should have to learn what mute means before being allowed to join in the meeting. My key takeaways from this onslaught of online training’s was the content should be more technical and add value for the customer. We also need to be break up longer trainings into shorter presentations and record for relearning opportunities online at a later date. Watching a video online to learn how to do about anything has become natural to us all with all the content available on channels such as YouTube, Food Network, allrecipes.com and endless others. I have only found one person (my son) watching a video on YouTube that is over an hour long and it is someone playing a game that he could be playing?? Just Play It! Friends, I need some help understanding this! Remember to keep trainings short.

“DEAR DAN” RETURNS NEXT MONTH!!!

Communicating with customers that prefer email as the primary way of communicating can be done without the herd mentality. Group or bulk emails don’t show the individual customer how much they mean to your company. Try to personalize a mass email by using mail merge to individualize each email on your group list. This is a great way to use technology to make it a more individually personalized to them only. The only time it takes a little longer is the initial setup of your contacts on a excel sheet to use in the merge.

Phone calls have been the backbone of our efforts for booking orders, setting-up calls, scheduling dinners and all other aspects of typical business. The phone can also be used to make short personalized videos to send to customers which can be very effective in catching up virtually on family, sports, and business. They will appreciate that you took the time and effort to do this just for them and will remember you for it.

(left to right) Ryan Hurst (HMC FWG), Greg Brandon (Watts), & Donald Moon, CPMR at the annual Fire Sprinkler Contractors Association of Texas (FSCATX) Fins & Skins event

Video conferencing services such as ZOOM and WebEx have been a life saver for the team as we work from home, but still have projects to move forward while separated.

I plan on using Zoom to have a virtual birthday call with customers and singing happy birthday with our teams going forward on special occasions.

Stay out in front, keep you and your companies contact information out in front of the customer. Everything above will help you in accomplishing the task of being the first one that is thought of when it is time to order. Handle orders with urgency and problems with even more urgency. Customers appreciate and prefer account managers that handle problems with the same enthusiasms as a big order.

freight costs analysis project review with will dowd As I approach my eighth month working at Hugh Cunningham, I realize what a truly immersive experience I’ve been fortunate enough to undergo. Even with my previously held knowledge, and years of observing the manufacturing aspect of our business up close, there was still, and always will be, a lot of learning to do. Luckily, I’ve been surrounded by some of HMC’s finest to guide the way and provide experience/connections within the areas in which I’m operating in.

The first few months consisted of obtaining the necessary training needed to efficiently assess HMC’s freight costs while also preserving our high service levels as well. This process included negotiating freight rates with our current carriers, discussing potential price breaks in accordance with volume with our parcel reps, and exploring various logistics options to improve the efficiency in which we take care of our customers. Whether it’s determining if a San Antonio annex might save us large amounts in LTL costs, or calculating potential freight reimbursements, I’ve yet to have an unexciting day at Hugh Cunningham.

With freight costs being a main expenditure within our company, it remains imperative to find creative ways to attempt to lower that spending without sacrificing our long-standing reputation of taking care of our customers well. Our Distribution Group operates at a high level and works so well because they truly understand the intricacies of exactly what it takes to get the product out the door when faced with a multitude of difficulties. Sometimes your best choice, simply may not be an option, due to external factors outside of your control: customer’s timeline, reliability of carriers, etc. This makes analyzing our freight costs more interesting in the sense that it’s not as simple as saying “let’s just do this instead.”

Lowering one of our largest costs as a company provides a huge opportunity for us as a whole and the ability to manage our own freight, in a cost efficient manner, will provide nothing but benefits for Hugh Cunningham. One thing I truly admire about this company is that good, is simply just not good enough, and that mindset will ensure that there are great things ahead.

In conclusion, as I enter my eighth month here, I can confidently say we’re much closer to accomplishing that goal and I couldn’t be looking forward any more to building and continuing the significant progress we’ve already made.

HOW DID YOU GET HERE??? by: Elaine Self Have you ever wondered how our associates found their way to HMC?

shannon morykwas team6

I came to HMC from AO Smith, 18 years ago, on July 1. I was working in the AO Smith corporate office when they purchased State and decided to move the corporate office to Tennessee. Since I didn’t have enough tenure to be asked to move, I was going to be losing my job. Dave Warren, the regional manager at the time, and my boss, came to HMC and asked if they could make a place for me here. Thankfully for me, they did. The only position I have had since I started is the inside sales for the AO Smith team. I love working here at HMC. This feels like a family to me.

While working at Gleneagles Country Club, he met David Cunningham and Dan Banaszek. When they would come in, he would talk to them; getting to know them well through the years. In the mid 90’s, he owned (and worked at) his own deli, Jenny’s Deli, near HMC’s old building on Benchmark. He met several HMC associates and they also became well acquainted. He says Brian would come over and “hide” at the deli to have some peace and quiet!!!

By the time 2005 rolled around, many businesses in that area had david altoun closed, and there were few customers at the deli. David asked if distribution group HMC had any jobs for him and he began working here on June 20, 2005. He is still here and quite a force; an extremely hard worker, friendly, and with an exceptional memory.

I started working at Hugh M. Cunningham Companies back in 2008 when I was just 19 yrs. old. I started off as the receptionist and then went on to the Billing Department. I was in the Billing ‘Department for about five or six years and then went on to Customer Service on Team 2. It was a great chance to learn how to talk with people, learn how products work, and how everything comes together. I was on Team 2 for a couple years until HMC decided to create a new team that focused on sales. We had sabrina sankadota some products that needed a little help, so Team 12 was created. team12 I am currently still on Team 12, and so far, it is working out great. We have shown growth in our lines, and it has been a new experience for me, since I have never really been in sales before. As you can see, I love to move within the company, and learn new things. Also, if needed, I am able to help when things get busy.

I am very grateful for the company I am with and look forward to many more years.

WHAT THE HIVE CAN TEACH BUSINESSES ABOUT

LEADERSHIP, EFFICIENCY,

& GROWTH Lesson 6 - Make Good Enough Decisions THE WISDOM OF BEES by: Michael O’Malley, Ph.D.

In management, we frequently believe that only one correct answer exists. However, this is seldom true , even in the simplest of matters... A decision does not have to be perfect. The decision just has to be good.

Bees avoid decision-making pitfalls by considering many “opinions” that they disinterestedly evaluate...Effective leaders go with what they have, use what is available, and do the best they know how.

Few decisions can be made with certainty, but good decisions can be made. The most pressing problems seldom have ready answers, but that needn’t deter you from making decisions and moving forward. The bees are able to perform quite nicely with incomplete information because they reduce the risks of their decision by squeezing prejudices out of the decision processes. You can do the same.

Make sure you sample a range of possibilities and obtain an independent assessment of the alternatives. A well-run brainstorming session can generate a set of choices.

Group methods, such as prediction markets or the Delphi technique (a method of group decision-making and forecasting that involves successively collating the judgments of experts), offer objective ways to evaluate the options generated. In fact, the Delphi technique has many similarities to the consensus building of bees. Decision makers independently rate each alternative and briefly state the reasons for their assessments. The results are compiled and shared with members of the group who then individually recast their votes. This process continues until a consensus gradually builds around one of the choices.

Another technique, to free decisions from bias, is to call out instances where discussion is evasive or slanted. John Pepper, the former CEO of Procter & Gamble, and now chairman of the board at Disney, once said that at Procter & Gamble they would say “There is a moose on the table” to publicly convey that important issues were being ignored and discussion was becoming obtuse or evasive. Perhaps you can say “The bees are in the hive” to call out a group analysis where there is a poor sampling of opinions and choices are insufficiently explored.

JULY QUOTES

by: Elaine Self

by: mark kois

Hello Sunshine!

Did you know that Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine” vitamin?

Vitamin D is produced in the body in response to the skin being exposed to sunlight. So, sunlight is the largest single source of Vitamin D for most people (it is also found in many foods).

by: Lori Zimmer

Some of the health benefits of Vitamin D are: • cardiovascular health • bone & muscle health • prevention & treatment of diabetes & high blood-pressure Just ten minutes per day, of mid-day sun, is all most folks need to get the daily requirements of Vitamin D. So get outside under our big Texas sky, get in some healthy steps, and soak up nature’s benefits. But, don’t forget to use sunscreen or cover up after ten minutes! (Of course- see your health care profes­sional with questions or concerns.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

JULY

Kathy Vasquez Lori Poindexter Grant Tonick Joshua Ewing Jessica Bethke Jordan Brandon Bruce Case Jeff Valz Rick Dawson

7/1 7/3 7/5 7/12 7/15 7/18 7/21 7/21 7/22

lori kenitha

michael

pat jonathan elaine

CURRENT JOB OPENINGS: Plumbing Quotation Specialist InsideSales/CustomerService

michelle

cynthia

Accounts Payable Account Manager – Arkansas

JULY 2020 NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE

Welcome•Bienvenidos•Добро пожаловать!•Vælkomin•Salve

new busy bees Background: I grew up in West Memphis, Arkansas. I have degree in music and spent the last 10 years working in retail management.

Activities I enjoy: I enjoy anything competitive whether I am good at it or not.

Sports I like: I love baseball and my favorite team is the Tampa Bay Rays.

Family and pets: I have been married for 10 years and have a 6yr old daughter. I also have two dogs and a cat.

Chris White - InsideSales - Team5 Background: I grew up in Mobile, Alabama. I started in the plumbing wholesale business while in high school through March of 2020. I started with Noland Company full time in 1992 - 2004 and then joined Ferguson in 2004 - 2020.

Activities I enjoy: I enjoy fishing, beach vacations, dog walks and dog parks. I also enjoy watching Alabama football and the NFL. Sports I like: I like football (Roll Tide!) and LA. Rams.

Family and pets: I have two small toy poodle dogs, Maggie and Murphy.

Michael Ousley - InsideSales - Team7 Background: I grew up in Kaufman, TX. I have an Associates of Arts degree.

Activities I enjoy: I like hunting, fishing, football and motor sports.

Sports I like: Cowboys, Mavericks, Rangers, & Texas A&M Hidden Talents: I have a pet named Rocky.

Jeremy Stevens - DG Associate - 1st Shift Background: I was born in Bryan, TX but I grew up in Dallas. I have experience in a few different industries including retail and construction.

Activities I enjoy: I can’t remember what I enjoyed doing before I had my boys. I don’t have much time for myself these days.

I would like to share: I am very sarcastic and joke around a lot. It may not seem like it because I’ve been told I have a serious face and that I look mean. I’m really not. One last thing, yes lol, I am very short, 4’9”.

Almendra Perez - Receptionist

SPOTLIGHT ON:

PURCHASING AND CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPPORT Nikki Kirkpatrick & Ali Banaszek—Purchasing Dept.

Lisa Vallorani, Elaine Self, and Almendra Perez—Customer Service Support Each month we like to try to shine a spotlight on our team members. This month’s spotlight is on Purchasing and Customer Service. So, just what does the Purchasing Dept. and Customer Service Dept. do at HMC? There is an old saying in the sales business, “You can’t sell out of an empty wagon!” Nikki and Ali keep the wagon full! They walk the delicate line of having enough of the right inventory when it’s needed to meet customer demands. They do an awesome job! If purchasing were left up to the sales staff, we would need a much larger warehouse. They manage what we buy, when we buy it, and to a certain extent, what we pay for it!

Lisa and Elaine make sure the customers get billed for the products they buy from us, while Almendra greets visitors with a smile and directs calls. The two departments go hand-in-hand and that’s why they fall under the watchful eye of Nikki to oversee it all. Below are a few quirky and totally random questions and their answers.

(Comments are mine!) - Pat Armstrong

Nikki Kirkpatrick - Purchasing and CS Manager - Hire Date: 06/11/07 1. Pictured here with hubby Jason, daughter Alison, son Dylan.

2.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment? I started in the industry in 2000. I never thought it would be forever. My dad has taught me so much and working my way up since 2007 at Hugh Cunningham is a great accomplishment.

3. Chicken or Fish? Tough choice. Well prepared fish, I’d say.

4. If you could drive any car , what would you drive? Something

FAST and sporty, but safe too. (Lamborghini???)

5. What makes you happiest? Watching my kids enjoy life, being

happy and any day at the ocean!

Ali Banaszek - Purchasing Assistant - Hire Date: 06/15/10 1. Pictured here with wife Kerry.

2. What is your favorite pastime? Hanging out wife my wife and friends and playing video games – Call of Duty: MV 3. If you could be any animal, what would you be? A dog, cuz they

get treats and are cuddly. (Awwww) 4. How many corn dogs can you eat in one sitting? Four or five

depending on how hungry I am.

5. What are you most proud of? My sobriety!

(Congrats!! Cheers!… Oh wait…)

Tune in next month for our next Team Spotlight.

Will it be the team you’re on? What questions will I get asked?

Lisa Vallorani - Customer Service Support - Hire Date: 03/04/10 1. Pictured here w/hubby Nick, a.k.a. Clark Griswold, see question 5.

2. Favorite food—one that you could literally eat any time?

Tzatziki with warm pita bread. (I had to Google that.)

3. Are you a dog or cat person? Dog. Allergic to some cat breeds.

4. If we all went ‘Screen Names’ here at HMC, what would your

screenname be? “The Ninja” (That’s awesome!)

5. What is your dream vacation? Road trip across America visiting

national parks and landmarks.

Elaine Self - Customer Service Support & CRM - Hire Date: 01/07/19 1. Do you prefer to cook on gas or electric? GAS! I had an electric

range once and yelled at it the whole time! (I’m with you on that!!!)

2. Favorite movie? The Shawshank Redemption or The Book of Eli.

(You know ‘feel good stories’.)

3. Champagne, liquor, or beer? A good champagne any day.

4. Chunky or smooth peanut butter? Chunky and preferably home made!

5. Favorite family memory? Playing Run Sheep Run with Dad.

Almendra Perez - Receptionist - Start date: 03/01/20 1. Favorite team or sport to watch? Volleyball, not a Cowboys fan.

(It’s ok, it takes all kinds in this world.)

2. If you won $1,000 dollars, which store would you head straight to?

I would split it between supplies to help homeless people and stuff

for my dad.

3. What was your first job? Cashier at Jack in the Box. 4. What do you like on your pizza? Jalapeños, I know, boring right?

5. Would you ever go sky diving? Yaaasss!

Triva Answers First Question - 1870 Second Question- 1941

GOOD

OF THE

DAY

Donald Lewis

Jami - WinSupply

WillCall Krewe – Donald/Hayden/Gabe These guys have been working their tails off and have made our WillCall experience a POSITIVE advantage for HMC. WillCall orders have grown from 35 to 45 to 50+ per day and are actually reaching over 60 a few days! Our customers come to HMC FIRST for many reasons and the ease of doing business with our WillCall Krewe is definitely one of them. Thank you, gentleman, for everything you do for us each & every day! - Mark Kois

Almendra Perez Almendra has done a great job for Hugh Cunningham. She came in right as the COVID was starting and never looked back. She helps with billing, she helps with Marketing, and always does an outstanding job. Thank you for your hard work! - Nikki Kirkpatrick

Omar Martinez Good of the Day does not do justice for what Omar did this past Saturday. After hearing from a customer that needed a Watts backflow to keep a restaurant open, Omar made 2 trips to open the warehouse and accommodate the customer. Our customer commented to me that there is no other rep that would open on a weekend to help them out.

Thank you Omar for going above and beyond! - Aaron May

Ingredients

1 lb - ground beef 1/2 - onion diced 1 /2 - bell pepper diced 1 pk - packet chili seasoning 8 oz - tomato sauce 1 can 14 oz - diced tomatoes 1 can 2 tbsp - tablespoons sour cream 1 cup - cup grated cheddar 28 oz - frozen tater tots - 1 bag 2 tbsp - cilantro

chef ali

chili cheese tater tot casserole Instructions

Brown the beef, onions, and pepper in a large, deep skillet over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks.

When the meat is cooked through, drain and return to pan.

Stir in the seasoning packet, tomato sauce. and the can of diced tomatoes (do not drain). Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. stirring occasionally. While chili is cooking, preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Stir in the sour cream and remove from the heat.

Pour chili into a 13x9 baking dish and top with the cheddar cheese.

Place tater tots in an even layer over the chili and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Bake for 25 minutes or until tots are as crisp as you’d like. Remove from oven and serve immediately.