PUBLISHER’S LETTER

PROGRESSING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC

Made stronger by a survival test, we adapt and move forward

As I write this, the extraordinarily challenging year that was 2020 is drawing to a close. Throughout long and difficult months, we have been battered by the equivalent of a sustained Category 5 event that severely disrupted the economy and dramatically increased anxiety levels.

Indeed, the COVID-19 experience has been so weighty that even hurricanes could not much displace it from the headlines. There was a time — call it the “old normal” — when any familiarity with a globally raging pandemic was gained only through history books, old newsreels and Hollywood dramatizations. Of late, we have traded reports about people we know who tested positive or fell ill.

Personal and business challenges have come in waves, the result of lockdowns, social distancing and an economy in free fall. Survival has required creativity, persistence and, of course, resilience.

When the pandemic became a pressing reality in March, my thoughts turned to the families who rely upon Rowland Publishing for livelihoods, and I resolved to preserve as many of those incomes as I could. Inescapably, however, adjustments and difficult decisions had to be made and made quickly.

In those regards, I had good counsel and a leadership team whose members asked good questions and offered thoughtful opinions, but at the end of the day, I had to own the responsibility for making some tough calls.

The team of publishing professionals I have the privilege to work with stepped up, took on additional responsibilities, supported one another and assumed leadership roles in ways that astounded me. Like so many other businesses, we assured ourselves that “we have not come this far to fail.” Our team pulled together, and today we are stronger, smarter and more cohesive than we have ever been.

Along the way, we engaged Guy Harvey Enterprises and the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation as clients and strategic growth partners.

Over the past six months, we have redesigned their magazine. McKenzie Burleigh, Dan Parker, Dan Parisi and I have developed an integrated marketing program for Guy Harvey and are working to involve companies with similar core values in the foundation’s mission. Central to it are marine research and the development of K-12 educational programs for use in Florida schools. We are thrilled to be part of this critically important conservation work and will be including some articles from Guy Harvey Magazine in our own titles in months to come.

We were fortunate, then, to enjoy a growth opportunity in the midst of 2020’s survival challenges, and we took care, too, to stay in close personal touch with our highly valued established customers.

In that connection, my executive editor, Steve Bornhoft, shared with me a conversation he had with Pensacola’s Quint Studer recently, and I am inclined to pass it along here.

Studer, a businessman, philanthropist and founder of the Studer Community Institute, said the pandemic has made it especially necessary for businesses to invest in their “emotional bank accounts” by strengthening bonds between themselves and their customers.

As an example, he pointed to a holiday basket he received from Hancock Whitney Bank. The basket, Studer said, contained about 10 items, each of them purchased from a locally owned downtown Pensacola business. By taking a custom rather than an expedient approach to the gift-giving exercise, the bank made Studer feel good about being one of its customers.

I hope that as you read this, the worst of the pandemic is over, and we can all start rebuilding our lives and our companies. I hope our new administration can build bridges across the political divide, and we all will find common ground. We have much work to do in changing the world’s perception of the American brand.

Wishing you the best, always,

BRIAN ROWLAND PUBLISHER

browland@rowlandpublishing.com