Article contributed by Mike Berman, COO, Day & Nite/All Service
While the majority of Richard Thornburgh‘s public service career was spent at the Department of Justice— where he served five different administrations— I will always most remember Dick Thornburgh for his calm, pragmatic, evidence-based, determined leadership during the chaotic Three Mile Island nuclear accident.
I was a college student in Pennsylvania at the time, a movie about a catastrophic nuclear accident “The China Syndrome” had just been released, and in the face of unprecedented terror rumors were flying that life as we knew it, perhaps even survival of the planet itself was in doubt. Recently elected Governor Thornburgh’s confident decisive action simultaneously prevented panic and averted disaster. 88 year old Richard Thornburgh passed away New Year’s Eve; if 2021 is to be a much different year than 2020 we are all wise to not only remember but apply his model for successfully managing crisis from over 40 years ago.
As governor of a large and complex state at a time of great uncertainty— beyond Three Mile Island, among other things the nation was dealing with serious economic upheaval during his 1979-1987 tenure— Dick Thornburgh also balanced the budget eight consecutive years, reduced unemployment and invested in leading technologies to make Pennsylvania’s government run more efficiently. In every sense and by every measure, he didn’t wait for things to happen; he happened to things and created a far better future by decisions made every day. Governor Thornburgh did this by pulling together every available resource, focusing coordinated efforts on initiatives where he could get the most favorable immediate impact with at least equal emphasis on longer-term results. Surely a different setting, but a most similar set of circumstances and challenges hospitality faces today. Now that CARES Act-Part 2 has been signed into law, the hospitality industry actually has much more to work with than anything at Dick Thornburgh’s disposal as Pennsylvania’s governor.
Among the many excellent stimulus package analysis, from a business perspective Fox Rothschild’s is as clear, concise and actionable as it gets. Where, for rather obvious reasons, the media has been fixated on the debate over $600 vs $2,000 individual relief checks, CARES-2 has profound implications for our industry notably but hardly limited to forgivable loans covering:
- (a) operational expenses
- (b) worker protection expenditures
- (c) honoring and maintaining contracts, and
- (d) damage not covered by insurance.
There’s even a provision for perishable goods in the now more explicit and simplified program where businesses can use unspent PPP monies from the first round and/or apply for new grant money! Just as Governor Thornburgh didn’t wait for fast-moving events to unfold, every entrepreneur and manager must not only seize the PPP moment at hand, but as this series of weekly columns stresses all must do so with purposeful strategy.
Preventative Maintenance agreements are foundational for ensuring maximum workplace hygiene and food safety, essential contracts for operating integrity. Foodservice always had a culture of safety, Covid-19 isn’t a singular event that will fade with a vaccine it is a catalyst for permanently greater emphasis on indoor environmental quality as a primary feature. Through its long-established commercial cooking, refrigeration, HVAC and plumbing preventative maintenance industry leadership the Day & Nite family of companies is uniquely qualified to create and sustain necessary workplace hygiene and food safety conditions.
When it comes to comprehensive, highest impact indoor environmental quality, Day & Nite Performance Solutions offers the highest standards for layered, ubiquitous precaution, prevention, sanitization and sterilization of the air we breathe, the air propelling deadly pathogens like Covid-19. Bi-polar air ionization technology is Day & Nite Performance Solutions core indoor environmental quality component, the ideal use of PPP money for attacking the most pressing problem of our times as numerous forward-looking problem-solving organizations are discovering. These factors and facts reinforce why it is so important to act with smart urgency.
The existence of answers is worse than empty without superb execution for those answers as the initial phase of vaccinations, unfortunately, once again proves out. Approximately 3 million of the projected 20 million vaccines were administered in December 2020, making it more Operation Warped rather than Operation Warp Speed. Complex logistics and supply chain management coordination typically do not get very much attention unless they falter, yet without considering these major forces in your critical strategic planning you are at needless greater risk.
Certainly, industries beyond hospitality will rapidly take and deploy forgivable PPP loans. All will allocate substantial portions of stimulus monies for technologies and equipment that will create healthier, more hygienic, safer environments where demand will outstrip available supply or the ability to fulfill. Recognizing how these things usually unfold, the strong probability that supply chains and logistics coordination and capacity will prove no match, 2021 will be as successful for the hospitality industry as the actions taken in January’s earliest days and weeks.
To learn more about doing well for your business and good for our industry, email us at jbf@wearetheone.com.
