Chapter 17: And Now For My Next Number

Dad got back from his trip and almost immediately called a family meeting for that evening. The fact that there were just three of us was not lost on me. I remembered the only time we had a family meeting involved moving from Iowa to Oregon. Oh brother! Don’t tell me we’re moving again! Well, with my plans at Eastern Oregon, I wouldn’t be with them.

I had a hard time digesting my dinner that night. I had no idea what Dad wanted to talk about. I noticed Mom didn’t seem particularly worried, so I guessed that she already knew the topic.

“I was at a general management meeting at head office, Joel. Our parent company, MidConAg, has decided to consolidate its divisions. The company is making money, but we are very spread out, quite diverse from one branch to another and it’s hindering our growth. I was pleased to learn that East Cascades was the most profitable operation in return on investment ... or ROI as it’s known. That was largely due to most of our equipment having been written down over time. I’d like to take all the credit for it, but Walter Voight had a lot to do with it and I just got the benefit as a latecomer.

“I was sure they were going to ask me to move to a less successful division to help revive it, but that wasn’t the case. MidConAg have decided to take a very handsome offer from a venture capital company to purchase the East Cascades plant. It’s a bit of an orphan from the other divisions and it makes financial sense to accept the offer. It will free up some cash for modernization of the other plants.

“There are some conditions by the new owners attached to the offer. One of which is they want Walter Voight to stay on. They were impressed with his financial management of the operation and didn’t want to lose him. In addition, they want me to remain as General Manager, with the same responsibilities as I have now. The good news is that we don’t have to move. Your mother and I are very happy here in Oregon and I’m quite pleased to be able to remain here. I hope you feel the same,” he smiled.

“I do, Dad,” I answered immediately.

“Good. The new owners are a company based in San Francisco called Shelter Ridge Capital. They own several diverse businesses and are looking to become involved in agribusiness. This is their first significant opportunity. Shelter is a ‘hands off’ owner, allowing the current management to continue our steady profit improvement. They would like us to examine ways we can grow the business and that is something Walter, myself, and our sales manager will review. In my opinion, all this is good. They see us as a well run business and they want us to continue to expand on our success.”

“That’s great, Dad,” I said with relief. “I guess you’re okay with this too, huh Mom?”

“Yes, Joel, I’m happy here and I really pleased that your dad is going to get an opportunity to show these new people just what he can accomplish,” she said with genuine enthusiasm.

“So ... when does this Shelter outfit take over?” I asked.

“It won’t be until the end of the year. In the meantime, I have a possible opportunity for you. We’re going to have to unhook ourselves from the MidConAg systems and set up the system our new owners use.

“They have had a number of different companies that operate with their own independent systems and they intend to bring them all into one general system. I expect there will be the usual problems of overcoming the learning curve and trying to keep everyone happy. They are our bank, and their interest in the business is purely financial. Walter was concerned when he heard that,” Dad said.

“So, what’s this opportunity you have for me?” I wondered.

“You did such a good job with the two systems you put in place that you might find it interesting and instructive to work with the company who will be installing the new system. Recognizing that you’ll be off to college in September, you could help this company understand the operation and smooth over some of the ruffled feathers that are bound to appear in the staff. I know it’s a big task, but you won’t be on this by yourself. I’m not asking you to work on the installation, but to be a liaison person between the installation people and our people. How do you feel about that?”

“Okay, I guess. This is way above my experience, so I’m not sure how much help I can be, but I’ll try,” I said.

“The first objective is to get on the accounting network with Shelter Ridge,” he said. “The rest we can keep track of manually or with your programs until all the new systems are up.”

I glanced over at Mom and saw her sitting quietly with a smile. If Mom was happy, then I guess we’d all be happy with this new company. Then a thought hit me.

“Dad, with venture capital guys, isn’t it usual for the acquired asset to invest in the company as well?”

Dad laughed. “Joel, you’ve been spending time with Walter. Yes, I have invested in the new version of East Cascades. Walter has as well. However, that is not a secret. I want the employees to know that some ownership will be on the premises, and no longer in Davenport. We will be an independent profit center and I think our employees will find that will bring positive changes to their jobs.”

“That’s great, Dad. Congratulations. This sounds like a really good deal,” I enthused.

“I think so, too,” he agreed. “I’ll be announcing it to the staff and employees on Monday, so keep it under your hat until then.”

By Monday afternoon, all the talk at East Cascades was about the new ownership. Naturally, there were a few people who thought the plant might be closed or moved, but I hope they believed Dad that that was not the case. In fact, the management was tasked with growth and making it even more successful. It would take a few weeks or more before everyone could buy into the new situation but with very few changes other than in the office, things should settle down fairly soon.

I reminded Dad that it was almost July and that only left me two months to get familiar with the new information systems. The good news was that the plant was a relatively simple operation. They bought bulk chemicals and additives, blended them into specific formulas in the plant, packaged them in specific quantities for each customer and arranged for trucking to haul the product to the customer destination. Some was bagged, and some was bulk containerized.