ANNA — “I went back to review last year’s article to see what our thoughts were a year ago. Keep in mind, the article would have been written in January of 2021, about a year into COVID-19 and a few months after the election. My initial comment from a year ago was simply, ‘What a year we have all had,’” said Andy Haag, Wells Brothers Inc. director of sales.
His report continues:
Moving into 2022, all I can think of is the same. For everyone 2021 had its challenges with some of those continuing into 2022. COVID was and is still causing issues. However, with that said, in Shelby and the surrounding counties, we keep moving forward and getting things done.
Our biggest competitive advantage remains our talented group of employees. Without them, we have no business. As with other employers across the nation, retaining and recruiting talent remains a top priority. We are fortunate that our turn-over rate remains relatively low which is a testament to our dedicated employees and our work environment. We had a few cuts and bruises during the year but with our continued focus on safety, all of our employees made it home at the end of each day to be with their families in the same condition as when they arrived at work.
At Wells Brothers, we are extremely fortunate to have an impressive list of customers that continue to come to us for help and support at their plants. This support can simply be a few days to repair some equipment, piping or electrical. Or, it could be as complicated as putting in eight new extrusion lines under a newly designed, fabricated and installed three-level mezzanine, adding compressed air, and silos along with pneumatic convey, and an improved dust collection system. In 2021, we had over 1500 projects and a record sales year. Every target set was exceeded with the most important target being our safety record.
Now this leads us into 2022……what is in store looking forward? Right now, we do not see any reason that things will change. Our existing customers are still calling us with projects. We are finding some new customers along the way. The new targets for 2022 seem reasonable. With that said, everything can change quick. Inflation is starting to get out of control. Money may tighten. If money tightens, industrial spending could go down. It would be nice, but we do not have a crystal ball into the economy.
Although we serve a variety of industries, we do a lot of work for the food and plastics segment. There is a connection in these two industries as a good portion of our plastics customers are food-related since their products are used for packaging of not only consumer products, but food and beverages. One thing is for sure – we will all continue to eat, drink and buy consumer products so these two market segments remain an important part of our success.
By following our mission statement, “Treat the customer and my co-worker as I would like to be treated” and our new company mantra, “Walk in TRUTH -Trust/Respect/Understanding/Teach/Honesty.” We look forward to seeing a great 2022 and beyond……
God bless to all, and we wish everyone a safe and prosperous 2022.
For more information, please check us out at www.wellsbrothers.com.
