Chapter 4: The Big Adventure

I was more than a bit surprised that Phil decided to stay in Langley instead of moving to the U.S. after he graduated. Perhaps it was the fact that his mother would be living in our house once more. That seemed to be a big thing with him and I got a lot of positive feedback about what my family felt was a very generous move on my part. I even got a nice note from Carla's parents thanking me and wishing me good luck on my new job. That was a surprise in itself.

The week before Christmas, Dave, Ralph and I headed back to Tracy to make the announcement of our acquisition of Statewide Converting. We felt it would be a nice Christmas present for the remaining employees to know the business was going to be revitalized in a big way. We would also tell them that each employee would be evaluated to determine their potential and that we couldn't promise that every one of them would retain their jobs. On the other hand, we needed at least fifty good people and each of them would be given an opportunity to earn a place in the new operation.

I was slightly surprised that I wasn't nervous as the former owner, Lorne McDermitt, introduced me as the new general manager. I guessed there were at most, thirty people at the assembly, ten fewer than Statewide once employed. We would begin our interviews early in January and begin recruiting additional production employees. We would also need staff for the office. I would be responsible for the sales, customer service, and graphics department evaluations. Dave would look after accounting and Ralph would interview the production and maintenance people.

"Thanks for taking the time to meet with me, Fiona," I began. "We met briefly when I was here with the acquisition team, but I wanted to talk to you about your role here."

"Do you plan on keeping me?" she asked, showing concern.

"If you want to stay, I want you here. Your performance speaks for itself. With our new capabilities, I think you can be an even bigger success in the future."

It was a barely audible sigh of relief that told me she was slightly worried about her future.

"If what you said about the new equipment and products comes about, I'd be foolish not to stay."

I pulled out some brochures from my briefcase and passed them to her.

"There will be a second press with some special capabilities when we build the business up. In the meantime, this new press will put out almost twice the volume of the two old PCMC units. The laminator will be able to cope with that volume and we can order a second one if business warrants it. The pouch machine is the latest and greatest from Japan, so you'll have a full range of products to sell."

"It's hard to know where to start," she said, absorbed in the brochures. "We've passed up so many opportunities because we couldn't make the product or couldn't make it with the quality the customers demanded. This is like being let loose in a candy store," she grinned.

"I'm glad you see it that way. As I said earlier, we'll be supplying some of our product from the Langley plant until all the equipment is in place here. I'd like you to come up to see the plant and we'll show you what we are already doing."

"I'd like that. The sooner I can get started, the sooner I can be earning some income."

"You're on straight commission here, right?" I asked.

"Yes. My volume has been stagnant for the past year, so I haven't been able to earn more. With Lorne's permission, I have been sourcing some items elsewhere that didn't compete with Statewide, but that hasn't been my first choice."

"What have you been selling from other vendors?"

"Stand-up pouch, mostly. A bit of lidding film and some printed polyethylene. Most of that was to keep the customers I already had from wandering off. With Flex-Tek coming in and taking over, those days are gone," she smiled.

I nodded. "Yes, I think we can give you almost everything you want or need. Let me tell you a little about the company. Leo Cornell and his brother Paul inherited a folding carton business from their parents. Leo could see that it was a mature industry and they were looking for growth. They bought our present Langley plant from another company who decided they didn't want to be in the flexible packaging business. Leo took it over and made it what it is today with a clear vision of what it could be.

"His brother has revamped the folding carton business into a highly specialized one that includes machinery for carton erecting and filling. He is systems orientated and also doing very well. We often team up when the situation presents itself. In addition, Paul has a small, specialized multi-wall bag operation."

"So, you're in the carton and paper bag business too?" she asked.

"Not directly. It's something to keep in mind if there's an opportunity that presents itself. Their sales staff operates completely separately from ours. They are on salary, while our business is generally salary and commission or straight commission as in your case."

"You said you have business in California already. Where do you sell now?"

"We've been specializing in coffee, confectionery, dried fruit and nut, as well as some miscellaneous items."

"Who's selling for you now?"

"Ted Hollins is our representative here. He lives near Sacramento. He's on straight commission as well."

"I think I've met him somewhere. Tall, sandy hair, drives a pick-up truck?"

"That's him. He owns a medium-sized orchard, so he doesn't devote full time to us. We didn't have enough capacity to afford a full effort in the western U.S. until recently. I've been spending two weeks a month in the territory to get us going down here. As I said earlier, we're going to move some of our Langley business here to give the Tracy plant a jump start."

"I'm really excited about this, Mr. Andrews. It's going to open up so many possibilities. I was seriously considering finding another converter if things didn't pick up here. You came along in the nick of time."

"First of all, please call me Andy. Secondly, I'd have been very upset if we lost you. I couldn't promise you anything until Leo made the decision to go ahead with the acquisition and the re-equipping. That only happened ten days ago. Right now, I want to secure the key people and let them know they are wanted and needed. You are one of those people."

The woman blushed. "Thank you. That's good to hear. I've spent the last four years building my territory and my reputation. I've had a couple of job offers lately and that was good for my ego. It told me I was making progress. I had a hard time finding someone who would take a chance on me. I worked in customer service at Century City Films, but there was no way they were going to give me a sales territory. Women didn't do that kind of work, and besides, the customers wouldn't accept me. That was their story. I think I've proven them wrong. Lorne gave me the chance and I'll be forever grateful to him."

"What do you know about the other reps? Rick Mendez and the Ventriss guys."

When I mentioned the father and son team in Los Angeles, I saw her frown and show a look of disgust.

"Rick's okay. He's not terribly ambitious. He lives in Bakersfield and covers north of there. He's a nice guy and gets along well with the customers, but he doesn't try to do much prospecting. He inherited a territory from a previous rep and works that most of the time.

"As far as Rod and Rob Ventriss ... the less said the better," she snapped.

"I gather they aren't on your list of favourites," I grinned.

"They're both a pair of creeps as far as I'm concerned. Rod is on his third marriage I hear. His son is no better. Both of them have hit on me a number of times. I finally had to get in their face and give them the facts of life. No way, no how, not in my lifetime. That seems to have cooled them off.