Texas Gal
by C. Sprite

 

Chapter Twenty-Five         Diversification

Bill Marshall was waiting for me in the lobby of the Inn at 8 am, and Earl was waiting at the curb with the limo as we stepped out in the bright sunlight. The weather prediction was for warm temperatures today so I wore a normal business suit, with a skirt that came down to just above my knees.

The plane was also ready to go and within ten minutes of arriving at the airport, we were rolling down the runway on our takeoff run. The trip that would have taken us about an hour in the limo, took less than 10 minutes of flying time. The plane had only climbed up several thousand feet when it was time to start descending. If we hadn't been going to Connecticut also, it wouldn't even have paid to take the plane. The limo that Nancy had arranged was waiting for us at the Glens Falls Airport and the driver of the limo knew the address so we sat back and relaxed for the short ride.

We arrived at North Country Paper Box about 30 minutes early. The parking lot was mostly empty and the grounds were very unkempt. Of course, it could just be owing to the fact that it was spring, and they hadn't started any grounds maintenance yet, but I got the impression that they hadn't done any in quite a while from the matted, twisted clumps of dead grass all around the building. I reminded myself that I wasn't here to hire a gardener as we got out of the car.

We walked to the front door of the office and found it locked. Bill tried again and then knocked. We waited for a couple of minutes before Bill suggested that I wait there while he went around to the loading dock area to see if he could find someone. I stood there for perhaps ten minutes before I saw any signs of life inside. Bill and another man emerged from a rear door and came towards me. The man fished a key from his pocket and unlocked the front door, pushing it open to admit me.

As I stepped inside he said, "I'm sorry, Miss Drake. You arrived early and I was working in the back. We don't have any office staff so I never unlocked the front door this morning."

"It's quite all right. Are you Mr. Tivollo?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Edward Tivollo. Owner and manager of the North Country Paper Box Company."

"I'm pleased to meet you. I'm Darla Anne Drake."

"It's a real pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Kailinkill."

"Thank you."

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you the plant."

We followed Mr. Tivollo through the office area, down a narrow hallway, and through the doorway that divided the office section from the plant.

As Mr. Tivollo showed us around he explained about the equipment, and how it operated. It was a different brand than the ones that I had read about, but I recognized each piece before he spoke. As we walked around I only counted five employees, where I would have expected a plant this size to have a shift size of at least 40, including an office staff of five.

"Things seem a bit slow today, Mr. Tivollo," I said.

"Not just today. We've been like this for more than a year. Another company absorbed our main customer, an electrical equipment manufacturer, and we lost the contract at the end of its term since the new parent already had a supplier. Since then we've survived by picking up a few small contracts here and there. I started this company when I first got the contract from the electrical equipment manufacturer. I subcontracted most of the work during the first couple of years until I was able to borrow enough to build this place, but we had five good years before we lost the account. Since then, I've used up all of my money making the payments on the loans. I guess that it was my fault for placing all of my eggs in one basket."

As we walked around, we could see the signs of neglect in the factory. Garbage littered the floor in places, and several machines were obviously not functioning. At least they hadn't tried to cover up the mechanical failures as the three clowns had in Greenfield. We spent almost an hour touring the factory before going to Mr. Tivollo's office.  

"Well, Miss Drake. Are you interested in my factory?"

"I'll be honest with you, Mr. Tivollo. I would have trouble putting a value on your plant. You've admitted that you don't have many clients, or many prospects for more, so the goodwill component is almost non-existent. The condition of your equipment is poor, and you're in a remote location which makes for a limited labor pool."

"Well… the equipment can be restored, but it will take some money. As far as the location goes, we're fairly close to the city of Glens Falls. It's a small city, but still a city, and we're only an hour's drive away from the tri-city area of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy. They're all large cities and offer a good potential market for a company such as yours that has a good marketing operation."

"How much were you expecting to receive for your company. Mr. Tivollo?"

"I have about $270,000 left on my loans. Accounts payable are about $40,000 more. I wasn't able to pay my property taxes this year, and I owe payroll taxes as well. Call it $400,000 in liabilities, and I personally guarantee that it will not be over that. The plant sits on 5 acres here and there is more land available if the new owner wants it. I estimate the building and equipment to be worth about $1.85 million. I want to get out before my back is firmly against the wall, so I'll be willing to let it go for $500,000 and you assume the debt."

I thought for a minute. "I'd have to disagree about the value of the plant, but I'll think it over and get back to you. Thank you for showing us around today, Mr. Tivollo."

"Uh… does that mean that you're not interested?"

"No, it means that I'll think about."

"But I heard that you always make an offer on the spot if you're going to buy something."

"I've done that, but only when I'm convinced that the deal is a great one and that I risk losing it if I wait. In other words, a real bargain."

"How about if I trim 20 percent off the price. Make it $400,000 and it's yours."

"It sounds better, but I still have another company to look at today, and I'm only going to buy one."

"Okay, my lowest price. $300,000 and you've bought yourself a company."

"$300,000?"

"Yes."

I thought it over for a minute. I wondered why the price was dropping so quickly. "It's tempting, but I still have to look at the other plant before I make any decisions."

"Okay, my final offer. $250,000 and it's all yours."

The warning bells were all going off in my head now. The price had dropped too quickly. Either he had started much too high to give himself lots of room to maneuver, or he was desperate with a capital D. "I have to admit that you make it difficult, but I still want to look at the other plant before I decide. I promise to call you tomorrow though."

Mr. Tivollo had a dejected look on his face when he said, "Okay, I'll look forward to hearing from you."

It was only a little after 12 o'clock when Bill and I left and we had plenty of time before our next appointment. The flight to Danbury only took 30 minutes so after the limo arrived we went to a restaurant for lunch. We really lucked out, for having selected a restaurant at random, and the King Crab Legs that I ordered were delicious. I intended to remember this restaurant in case I was in the area again.

It was about 2:30 when we arrived at Eastern Business Forms. This plant was the opposite of what we had just seen with North Country Paper Box. The exterior was neat and clean, and the parking lot was crowded. We walked into the office and were greeted by a receptionist who asked us to have a seat while she paged Mr. Baird. We only had to wait for several minutes before an older man in an expensive suit came out to greet us.

"Miss Drake? I'm Ronald Baird. Welcome to Danbury."

"Thank you Mr. Baird. This is Mr. Marshall, Finance Director at Piermont."

"How do you do, Mr. Marshall. Won't you both join me in my office?"

We followed Mr. Baird into a well-appointed office and took seats in front of his desk.

"Coffee, or perhaps tea?"

"Tea for me, thank you," I said.

"Coffee, please," Bill said.

Mr. Baird made a call and placed the orders. While we waited I said, "I was surprised to receive a letter from you, Mr. Baird. Most of the letters that I receive are from people desperate to sell before the tax man, or the bankruptcy court, closes them down."

He chuckled and said, "No such worry here, but I do want to sell. I didn't know that until I saw your picture on that issue of The Paper Press." He stopped talking when there was a knock at the door and a woman came in carrying a tray containing the tea and coffee. After she left he continued. "As I was saying, I only decided to sell after I saw that picture. I wasn't very much older than you are when I first started my business. It was just after the start of World War I and I had picked up a printing press and several boxes of type at an auction. The press was old and no one else wanted it so I got it cheap. Until then I had been shining shoes and it took every cent that I had saved to buy the press, some paper and ink, and set up my business in the basement of the house where we lived. The landlord let me use it cheap because it was damp down there. The moisture played havoc with the printing process. The paper swelled, and the ink wouldn't dry. Anyway, I started off by printing handbills for merchants. After a year of working 16 hours every day, I was able to move to a real retail store location, and the rest is history.

When I saw that picture of you, with your youth and energy, I remembered my own early years, and I decided that it was time to retire and enjoy what years I have left. It seems like I haven't done anything else but work since I was a teenager. I wrote that letter the same day that I received the magazine."

For the next half hour, Mr. Baird told us the whole story of how he had built his business. It was after three when Mr. Baird said, "We had better get going if you want to see the factory in operation. We shut down at 4:30 and the machines are shut down before that so that they can be cleaned."

Mr. Baird led the way to the plant. We received a narrative of each operation as we came to it. It was obvious that Mr. Baird could perform any job in the plant. We watched as paper was printed, interleaved with carbon paper, page numbered, perforated or cut, and folded or stacked so that they could be placed into boxes. Some of the operations produced generic forms, but about half were customized with company logos. We were still in the plant when they began to shut down. We watched as machines were cleaned in preparation for the next day's operation. We stayed around until they began to sweep the floors and then returned to Mr. Baird's office.

"Well, what do you think of my operation, Miss Drake?"

"It seems to be very efficient, Mr. Baird. A lot of the equipment appears quite new."

"Yes. I've tried to keep up with the new innovations. It pays by being less labor intensive, and offering features that some others can't. We haven't begun yet, but we're about to move into printing custom computer forms. The new equipment was installed for that purpose."

"I see. Well, I guess that the only thing that we haven't discussed yet is money."

"Here's our financial statements," Mr. Baird said as he handed both Bill and me a folder.

After looking it over I said, "Very nice, Mr. Baird. Net profit of 1.86 million on sales of 4.62 million last year."

"Yes, I've done quite well. I'm a wealthy man in my own right."

"I don't see any mention of notes here."

"There aren't any. I've never liked paying interest to a bank so I've always paid them off as soon as possible."

"I guess that the only thing left to discover is the asking price," I said.

Without hesitating he said, "12 million."

"Only 12 million? That's just the value that's listed for the plant and equipment."

"Yes, that's the current value after depreciation," he said.

"But it doesn't even include inventory on hand or accounts receivables, much less goodwill?"

He just nodded slowly. "I have two conditions."

I waited for a few seconds before saying, "And they are?"

"Guaranteed employment of all of my employees for five years. If you must lay anyone off, they receive severance pay equivalent to 5 years of their salary as of the end of last year, less any salary that has been paid to them following the date of the transfer. That includes overtime, bonuses, and benefits. That's roughly equivalent to a $5 million guarantee."

I thought about it for a few seconds. "And the other condition?"

"That you won't sell the plant for five years."

"Those are rather unusual terms."

"Yes, and I wouldn't get them from ninety-nine percent of the companies that would like to acquire Eastern. But I think that you're different. I think that your company has concern for its employees and the economic health of the regions where it does business. I already know that Ameri-Moore has health and retirement benefits comparable to what I offer. I want to guarantee, to the greatest extent possible, that my own retirement doesn't throw a monkey wrench into the personal lives of my people. Many of them have been with me for more than ten years, and a few for almost thirty. As I said, I'm fairly wealthy, and I want to do this for my people. I'm offering you the business, at probably five million less than I could get from others, in order to get those conditions."

I thought about the conditions for a minute. "Why don't you just sell at the higher price and give the five million to your employees?"

He smiled and looked off at nothing before returning his gaze to me as he answered. "I thought about that, but I know that some of them would blow their new found wealth in a month, and then not even have a job. I want to provide a stable environment for everyone for at least five years, as well as for the area." 

"What about transferring employees to another location?"

"If they go voluntarily, no problem. If the transfer is used as a way to get them to quit, they get the severance."

"There must be a procedure established for dismissal of employees for justifiable causes such as drinking on the job or showing up for work while under the influence, fighting, consistent tardiness or absenteeism, etc. We can't allow employees to believe that we have to pay them a salary for five years if they sit in the lunchroom reading magazines all day."

"As long as the each case is documented and provable, I have no objection."

"How would you require payment of the 12 million?"

"I'm flexible. I already have a very healthy bank account and stock portfolio. I never married so I don't have any heirs to worry about. What would you offer?"

"How about two million at the transfer, and then one million on each anniversary for the next 10 years."

"Okay, plus interest computed at the prime rate."

I smiled. "Done, but no prepayment penalty. Of course we'd like a little time to verify all of the information in these reports. I hope that you don't mind?"

Mr. Baird smiled back. "I wouldn't expect anything less from a savvy business woman."

"Wonderful. Mr. Marshall will make arrangements for an audit while our attorneys get your conditions written to your satisfaction, and translated into legalese."

After some small talk, Bill and I took our leave. We had sealed our agreement with a handshake. The trip back to the airport only took 10 minutes. Once on the plane I asked Bill for his thoughts.

"It looks like a sound deal. From day one it will be producing profit if these reports are accurate. We don't have to staff it, fix the equipment, or try to arrange funding. After the initial payment, the profits will cover the payments and interest with money left over. It's absolutely a turn-key operation. I don't see any downside, except having to keep all of the employees. It means that we can't consolidate accounting and sales operations with our present operations for five years. About the only thing that we have to do is modify the accounting system to be compatible with our system and retrain the accounting people to use it. I'll work out a plan for that while performing the audit."

"Thank you, Bill. The operation looks so efficient that I don't expect that we'll find any unexpected bonuses."

"No. But I'm not expecting any bad surprises either. It appears to be a stable business at a five million dollar savings."

"You sound disappointed," I said.

"Maybe I am, a little. The Greenfield acquisition was fun. This one doesn't present much of a challenge."

"I could always buy North Country Paper Box if you want a real challenge."

"It would be that. Are you considering it?"

"I think that it would be too much of a challenge. No business. Only a few experienced employees. Equipment problems. No office personnel at all. Greenfield may have been all but under water, but I think that North Country Paper Box is settled into the ooze at the bottom."

"It sounds like something that you'd like to take on. The product would round out our company's product offerings," Bill said cagily.

"I thought about of that. We don't have any corrugated box capability right now. But that also means that we have no ready base of customers for the products."

"The price is low at $250,000. Mr. Tivollo seemed a bit desperate when he thought that we weren't interested."

"You're forgetting the $400,000 in debt," I said.

"No, I was only referring to the immediate payout to the owner. We'd have to find out how the debt is structured but according to Mr. Tivollo, there would only be another $130,000 needed to bring everything current. With the sale of the timberlands, we have more than enough cash on hand to get both companies."

"You sound like the idea of buying North Country Paper Box excites you?"

"I think that it does a little. It would be more of a challenge to straighten it out and get it producing than taking over Eastern Business Forms. And it's only an hour's drive from Brandon. That's closer than Greenfield."

"I take it that you would vote to buy it if it was put to a vote?"

He grinned. "I guess that I would, assuming that it was put to a vote. I must have caught this acquisition fever from you, DD."

We spent the rest of the short flight comparing notes about North Country Paper Box. The pilots radioed ahead so that Earl was waiting when we touched down. It was late when we got back to the hotel and I invited Bill to have dinner with me if he didn't have other plans. He went into the restaurant while I went to my room to freshen up. I joined him about five minutes later. The special of the night was Shimp and Steak and we both selected it for our entrée. As always the meal was delicious. I learned a lot about Bill as we both discussed our personal lives during the meal. We finished our meal at 9 o'clock and Bill headed for home while I went to my room. I was tired so all I did was get ready for bed and get a good night's sleep.

   

I did little else in the morning except think about the possible purchase of North Country Paper Box. I wondered why Mr. Tivollo came down with his asking price so quickly. I remembered Grandma's warning to be wary of traps. Could this be one?

At 10 o'clock I asked Nancy to get Mr. Tivollo on the phone. She rang me back after several minutes to say that he was on the line. I put the call on the speaker phone.

"Good morning, Mr. Tivollo. How are you today?"

"Fine, Miss Drake. I hope that you have good news for me. Have you decided to buy my plant?"

"I'm still thinking it over, Mr. Tivollo. I wanted to ask you a question."

"Go ahead. I'll answer if I can."

"You seemed rather anxious to close a deal yesterday. Why was that?"

"As I said, I want to close the deal before my back is against the wall."

"What else is there? I don't believe that that's all there is to it."

Mr. Tivollo was quiet for a few seconds. I let the silence work for me. The next words had to be his.

"Okay, you win. I don't have any more work for my people after this week. I have to let them go. Once I do that, the plant is essentially closed and becomes just a warehouse full of equipment."

"Are you at risk of being seized for taxes, or by a bankruptcy action?"

"No."

"Any government agencies involved?"

"Only for unpaid payroll taxes, but I told you about that already."

"Nothing else? Don't lie, we'll find out if you do and it will invalidate any agreement that we reach."

"No. Nothing else. Of course, once we're closed down I won't have any money coming in to use for making the payments on my note with the bank."

"How far in arrears are you?"

"I owe the payment for this month. It was due on the fifth, but we're still within the grace period."

"Are you sure that you've told me everything?"

"Absolutely."

"Very well. I'm going to make another trip over there today. I will bring a Letter of Intent with me that will spell out what you've said. It will stipulate that you will be liable for all debts in excess of $400,000. You said yesterday that you guarantee that amount. The excess will either be deducted from the $250,000 that you are to be paid, or the deal will be void. It will remain our option. Is that acceptable?"

"Absolutely, Miss Drake."

"Very well. You can expect me in the next couple of hours."

"Thank you, Miss Drake. I'll be watching for you."

As soon as I got off of the phone I called Nancy and asked her to find Bob Warren and John Fahey, and ask them to come to my office. Bob was the first to arrive.

"Good morning, DD. Did you want to see me?"

"Hi Bob. Have a seat. I've been spending money again and I wanted to fill you in."

"I thought it might be that when I heard that you and Bill took a trip yesterday."

"We visited two of the companies that sent letters to us offering their businesses for sale. The rest were sent letters explaining why we weren't interested. One of the businesses is a corrugated box maker in New York, and the other is a forms printer in Connecticut."

"And which did you decide to buy?"

I smiled. "Both."

"Both?"

I nodded.

"DD, I don't know if we can handle two acquisitions at the same time."

"Only one is in trouble. Here're the facts on the other."

I handed Bob the financial statements that Mr. Baird had given me. He spent a few minutes looking through them.

"This look like a solid company. Why are they selling?"

"The owner wants to retire. Bill agrees that it's a sound operation and the profits will more than cover our annual payments. It shouldn't be much of a problem to integrate it into our company. But that's not the reason that I wanted to speak to you right now. My concern is the other one. North Country Paper Box isn't sinking, it's sunk and is settling on the bottom. If we're going to re-float it, we have to move before it gets stuck in the mud at the bottom. They are currently completing their last contracts and have no work for next week. The buyout will require $250,000 cash, and we are guaranteed that ALL debts don't exceed $400,000. We have to move fast, but I want to make sure that we're protected. I told the owner that I would be over today to sign the initial paperwork. Are you free to make the trip with me?"

"Yes. My only appointments are with staff. I'll have Nancy notify them that I won't be available. When do you want to leave?"

"In an hour. I've sent for John to see if he can come to look over the equipment. I'm going to write a Letter of Intent outlining the things that I discussed with the owner. Can you have Bill contact the IRS and the State Tax people to verify that North County is not mired in tax problems? Also, find out if Jeff Goldblum's investigator can zip over there and go through the county's records for liens and judgements."

"Will do. I'll take care of it right now and be ready to go whenever you are."

As Bob was walking out the door, John was entering the outer office so he came right in. I explained what I wanted and he left to get cleaned up and arrange for his absence. I prepared a Letter of Intent using the one that Jeff Goldblum had prepared for the Greenfield acquisition and gave it to Nancy for typing. Lastly I called Earl and told him where we were going so that he could get out the road atlas and plan the route.

With the wheels set in motion, I sat back to think about the acquisition. If there were any holes in my preparation I couldn't see them. I had included the clause about misrepresentation being possible grounds for voiding the contract, and we would itemize the large pieces of equipment. We would be better off being safe since we hadn't had the time to have the county records searched yet.

Just after 11 o'clock, Bob, John, and I left for Glens Falls, and we arrived at North Country Paper Box, just after noon. This time the front door was unlocked and Mr. Tivollo was waiting. After introductions, we toured the factory. As John looked over, under, and into every machine, I made a note of its manufacturer, model, and serial number, where available. If an operator was working at the machine, I introduced myself and explained briefly that we were assessing the equipment as part of the negotiations to buy the factory. I also kept a separate list containing the name, title, and home telephone number of the employee. If everyone was furloughed before we completed our arrangements, I wanted an up-to-date list as a way to contact them.

We spent more than four hours examining the equipment. Bob and Mr. Tivollo left us early, to go work in the office reviewing the records regarding the bank note, and back taxes among other things. When we were done in the factory, we had pages of equipment listings. On the way back to the office I asked John for his overall appraisal.

"It's like Greenfield. They've let the equipment go without proper maintenance. It's filthy, and each piece must be checked over thoroughly. But, it can all be repaired, and with a little TLC will perform like new."

"What value would you put on it?"

"In its present condition, I'd say about $500,000. After overhauling, $800,000, but it's gonna take probably as much as $25,000 in parts and labor to get it that way."

"Okay, thanks John."

We found Bob and Mr. Tivollo going through a file cabinet. We moved to a table in another room.

"Well, Bob," I said. "what do you think?"

"Based on what Ed has shown me it appears that his assessment of a $400,000 cap on liabilities is accurate, but it's going to take Bill a month to get these records straightened out. No offense, Ed, but these records are a real mess."

"No offense taken, Bob," Mr. Tivollo said. "I let the office staff go a year ago after we lost our major contract. Since then I've just been stuffing things into the filing cabinet when they came in."

"Mr. Tivollo, we're prepared to sign a contract with you today, but you have to understand our caution," I said. "We'll take possession on Monday but we won't have the final contracts ready until sometime towards the end of next week, or even the beginning of the following week. In the interim the signed and notarized Letter of Intent is a legally binding contract between parties. At the time of the signing of the formal contract, we will pay you $10,000, with the balance of $240,000 to be paid at the end of 30 days, after we determine that all debts do not exceed $400,000 as per the guarantee that you have made. Should debts exceed $400,000, the balance will be deducted from your money. Should we find that the debts exceed $640,000, the contract may be voided and you will have to repay the $10,000. Is this acceptable?"

"Perfectly. And call me Ed, please. And may I call you DD?"

"Of course, Ed. Okay, here's the Letter of Intent. We'll move a transition team in on Monday. I trust that you'll be available all next week while we make the transition?"

"Of course. I'm at your disposal."

We signed the papers and Ed gave Bob a set of keys for the front and side doors, and showed him where the keys were kept for the every lock in the plant.

As we were leaving, Ed said to me, "I'm sure glad that you didn't buy that other plant that you went to look at. It's such a relief to be out from under debt that you can't pay. Maybe I'll get some sleep tonight for a change."

"I did buy the other plant. Eastern Business Forms will also become part of Piermont over the next month."

"Well… then I'm lucky that you changed your mind and decided to buy both."

"Bill Marshall convinced me to proceed. I was afraid that given the condition of the equipment, the fact that you had only a few customers left, and the condition of the paperwork, that it would cost too much to resurrect the company. Bill wanted the challenge. He'll be here to oversee some of the work. You might want to thank him."

"I thank both of you. All of you, in fact. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

We arrived back at HQ after six o'clock. We said goodnight and headed home.

  

We held our weekly meeting on Friday morning. I opened with, "Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming. I'm sure that by now the rumor mill has let you know that we purchased two new companies this week. The next few weeks should be very busy as you bring them into our operation. I'm sorry that I won't be here to here to help you but I have to return to school.

"The two companies that we bought, North Country Paper Box Company and Eastern Business Forms will round out our product offerings. As an added bonus, Eastern is all set up to produce custom computer forms when we are ready to move into that area. The one downside with Eastern is that we can't move the accounting and office functions up here unless the employees are willing to relocate. But all new hires in those areas will be placed here, and positions there will be shifted around if employees leave. It will be Ben's job to work out assignments between the two locations as staff changes, and of course we'll have to change the accounting procedures and teach them our system. Other than that, the transition should be easy. The plant is very profitable and appears to have a good management setup. Personnel, Equipment, Purchasing, Sales, and Operations will all have to be scrutinized, but intervention should be minimal as the company is absorbed into Piermont.

"North Country Paper Box is at the other end of the spectrum. The company is almost dead and will require emergency resuscitation. Bob, Bill, and John, have already examined the situation. We'll take possession on Monday. First up will be getting some work lined up. Matt, I realize that you haven't sold corrugated paper products but your department will have to get acclimated quickly and get us some orders. About half the equipment is functional so we can produce while the remainder is overhauled. The trip to the factory is only an hour from here, so it won't place too much of a burden on the people that we send over there. Please make your arrangements today so that we can begin on Monday morning.

"I guess that that's all I have to say by way of starting this meeting, so let's get our departmental status reports done so that we can talk about the new companies. Mr. Warren, would you begin please?"

We talked for hours, all through breaks and lunch. Although I had asked the pilots to be ready from two o'clock, I had Nancy call and tell them that I would be very late. We didn't wrap up until after four o'clock. As everyone filed out, I said my good-byes, and then headed for the airport. On the way home I wrote my report for Grandma.

I arrived home much too late for dinner but Mother warmed up some food for me and while I ate I told everyone about my week.

Susan said, "You bought TWO companies this time. You promised me that you wouldn't buy any companies this trip."

"Not exactly, Sus. I said that I wouldn't a company this trip. I didn't." I smiled. "I know that I'm just using words. I didn't have any intention of buying anything but they were too good to pass up."

"My gosh, Darla Anne, what are you trying to do, buy up the entire Northeast? I'm going with you next time and tie you in your chair whenever you feel like spending money."

Everyone laughed, including me. I was tired from the strain of worrying over whether or not I was making the right decisions with the division. With each new purchase, I accepted partial responsibility for the lives of the people working for the company. I knew how Mr. Baird felt. He was selling his business at a reduced price out of concern for the welfare of his employees and his hometown. Without the promises that we had made, there most likely would have been layoffs as functions were moved to HQ to consolidate work and eliminate redundancy, even though we would have done everything possible to keep layoffs to an absolute minimum.

On Saturday, Grandma came over for lunch and we talked about the acquisitions.

"I didn't expect you to move so quickly in acquiring more companies," she said.

"They were good investments, and we have the money in our accounts. The Eastern deal is especially good. It's a producing company that will pay its own costs from day one. North Country will be a bit of work to get it profitable, but the investment is low and the potential for decent returns is also there. I wouldn't have done it if I thought for a minute that we couldn't handle it. The truth is that everyone gets excited when we have the challenge of a new acquisition. You'll be able to sense that when you get the transcript of yesterday's meeting. Do you want me to stop?'

"Heavens no. It's your company to manage. I guess I'm just getting old. It's just that you always seem to be moving so fast."

"I guess that I have been. With the new acquisitions the value of the plants and properties are approaching 45 million dollars. But everyone seems happy and excited with the direction of the company."

"You've done wonders. And if they weren't happy I wouldn't have lost Bob Warren, and Bill Marshall to your division. Since you're growing so fast you'll have to start thinking about promotions for both senior and lower level managers and supervisors."

"I have been. We're going to need someone to take over the North Country plant near Glens Falls. In fact we'll need almost an entire staff there. We'll also need someone to manage the Eastern Business Forms plant in Danbury. How do you go about picking a good administrator?"

"In the case of the Danbury plant it should be fairly easy. You might already have good management there that Mr. Baird hired. Since you can't lay them off, use them. Assign a temporary administrator while you have Ben Phillips evaluate the personnel and get to know the managers and supervisors. Promoting from within, rather than bringing someone in from outside, will eliminate one position from your guarantee. Everyone moves up and the bottom position can be eliminated. For the Glens Falls plant, you'll have to find a transition team from among your current staff. Or maybe people from Danbury would like to transfer to gain a promotion and free more positions there that can be eliminated from your guarantee."

We continued to discuss the plants at length as Grandma advised me on how to proceed from this point. The wealth of knowledge gained from her years of experience, would help me to keep Piermont moving ahead.

On Sunday, Mother, Judy, and I, returned to Austin for the final weeks of school before the end of the second semester. I called Bob Warren on Tuesday, and we made some personnel assignments, and then, by necessity, I put the matter of Piermont out of my mind as much as I could and threw myself back into my studies.

About a week after we were back at school, Judy met another boy who excited her and seemed to be attracted to her. His name was Dex, short for Dexter, and he was a sophomore this year. Unlike the previous time, Judy didn't go overboard. She dated Dex but continued to study whenever they weren't together. It was made easier by the fact that Dex was the studious type also. Most of their dates were to the college coffeehouse or to college events like art shows, lectures, or plays. Dexter fit in better with our family than Barry ever would have.

In May we finished our course-work and began working on preparation for final exams. My fourteenth birthday came and went without too much fan fare. We had a small cake in Austin, and another when we went back to the ranch the following weekend. I received some nice jewelry and a bunch of new clothes.

Then it was back to Austin for the last weeks and final exams. Judy and I had finished reading our books long ago and were able to speed through them touching on key areas. When exams started, I felt that I was as ready as I would ever be. Despite being well prepared I was glad when exams were over and looked forward to having the summer off.

On our last day on campus, I said good bye to Peggy Sue, Shelly, and the other girls that I had become friendly with. I hadn't made a lot of friends but the ones that I had made were wonderful.

Arriving home at the ranch, and knowing that we had almost three months before the next semester, gave us a feeling of exhilaration. We looked forward to the next few days of rest and relaxation. Mary and Susan still had two more weeks of school before their summer vacation started, and then we were all going to the Rivera for two weeks.

The following day was Thursday, and Mother, Judy, and I, went for a long ride. We spoke at length about work. I was going to Vermont on Sunday and Judy was going to the mill office where she had worked last summer, but we would both be back after two weeks for our vacation. Mother was concerned that we were going directly from schoolwork to 'work-work' without taking enough time off. We tried to explain to her that what she was calling 'work-work' was actually like a vacation compared to what we had been doing at school. You can't just turn it off and do nothing. The time at work would help us slow down. I guess that she finally accepted it, or gave up trying to convince us.

Since the plane would be coming to get me on Sunday, we baked some cakes and cookies after our ride on Friday. Rosa helped with the cooking and Ricardo was always ready to help with the tasting.

On Saturday, we all went riding together in the morning, then spent the afternoon just talking and relaxing. We spent several hours rocking on the porch talking about school, clothes, and boys. Mary and Susan were still in school and about to have final exams, so they spent the evening studying. I used the time to work in the downstairs office going through my mail. Since I would be traveling to Vermont the next day, I made a lot of notes and wrote a number of replies that I would have Nancy type for me.

There were also several issues of Log Views and The Paper Press in with the mail. The latest issue of The Paper Press had a picture of me on the cover again. This time it was a recent picture of my head with the college campus in the background. I wondered who was taking pictures of me. They must be using a long lens because I didn't remember seeing anyone, but there were always people walking around with cameras. A lot of them were yearbook people. The article inside talked about my purchasing Eastern Business Forms and North Country Paper Box. Again, the articles read like something put out by a press agent. They made it sound like I was solely responsible for rescuing companies and restoring them to good health. Log Views carried a reprint of the articles that appeared in The Paper Press. The articles no longer upset me. I just filed them away and finished up with my mail.

   

On Sunday the company plane landed right on schedule. My luggage was waiting in front of the hanger and we had brought two of the cakes that we had baked to give to the pilots. I said good-bye to everybody and boarded the plane. I waved as we took off and then sat back to enjoy the trip. As we flew I read through the transcripts of the weekly meetings again. 

When we landed I was met by the limo but it wasn't being driven by Earl. The new driver was named James. I immediately thought about the old line 'Home, James' but I didn't voice it. He had probably heard it a million times already. The pilots would go to the hotel that they stayed in while in Rutland and then leave in the morning, returning for me in two weeks.

 

The following morning was a warm, sunny day and I opened the windows part way as we drove to the plant. As we approached the guard booth the guard saluted, so I guessed that Earl must have told James about flashing the lights when I was in the limo. James stopped at the front entrance and hurried around to open the door.

As I stepped out I said, "Thank you, James. Do you know where Earl always waited?"

"Yes, ma'am, Miss Darla. I've been here since Friday. A maintenance man hooked up a hose so that I can wash the car during the days."

"Okay. I don't expect to be leaving before 5 pm. I'll call when I need you."

"Very good, Miss Darla."

I climbed the steps to the office lobby and walked in. Doris smiled and said, "Good morning, Miss Darla."

"Good morning, Doris. Who are all these people," I said referring to the dozen or so people waiting in the lobby.

"Mr. Phillips is conducting interviews today. This is the overflow from Personnel's waiting area."

I nodded. "Thank you, Doris."

"You're welcome, Miss Darla."

I took the elevator to the second floor and entered the executive suite. Nancy was at her desk and greeted me. After returning her greeting, I opened my briefcase and gave her the correspondence that I had prepared. She gave me a folder containing my mail, along with a folder containing an enormous quantity of new employee photo pages. I guessed that most of the photos would be from the Danbury plant. When I reached my office I found that Nancy had made a pot of tea. I prepared a cup for myself, using a little honey from the cupboard and went out onto my balcony to enjoy the nice weather.

There was a lot of activity in the yard and I watched as workers wired steel reinforcing rods together in the place where concrete would be poured to form the roof of the new tunnel. The tunnel work was only being done in half of the yard, with the other half open to traffic. I could tell that that half of the tunnel was completed already because the asphalt covering over that section was brand new and I could see part of the already poured roof where the workmen were working on the new section.

After I finished my tea, I went inside and sat down at my desk to go through my mail. As had been the case last time I came, a lot of the mail was from companies looking for a buyer. I had no intention of buying anything for a while, but I went through the letters anyway. Most of them were from small printing shops again and they immediately went into a 'not interested' folder so that I could have Nancy make up polite refusal letters. Of the remaining companies, one made roofing paper, one made toilet and facial tissue, and a couple printed gift-wrapping paper. All of these were added to the refusal pile also, leaving just two others. Of the two remaining companies, one was a paper plant like us and the other was a company that manufactured printed rolls of tickets such as for amusement parks, raffles, and movie theaters. I added the latter to the pile of refusals.

The paper company that was for sale was in New Hampshire. I read through the letter, along with the financial statement that was enclosed, but in the end I still had to send a refusal letter. We just had too much going on to even consider new acquisitions. I had just completed going through the mail when Bob Warren called to ask if I was free. I answered yes and he said that he would be right in.

A few minutes later a knock at the door preceded Bob's entrance. "Hi, DD. Welcome back to Vermont," Bob said as he walked in wearing a big smile.

"Hi Bob. I don't have to ask how you are. Your face says it all."

"It's a great day. Beautiful weather and everything's going well."

"That's nice to hear. I'm glad that you stopped in so that you could give me an update on things."

"Be my pleasure. Let's see. We're running three shifts here now, and we just opened up Plant 2 for a first shift. Now that we have Plant 2 operating, we're going to shift most of the people from the third shift in Plant 1 to a second shift in Plant 2. Third shift will return to just being a maintenance shift until we need the capacity. The new tunnel to the plant is progressing and should be finished in two weeks as far as the yard work goes. It won't be open for use for at least six weeks. The contractor is working at both ends but there's a lot to do such as building the stairwell on the plant side and the ramp on the office side. Another contractor has begun work remodeling the area that will be used in the basement for the new cafeteria.

"We've just begun paper production in Greenfield and we're manufacturing the computer paper that appears in our newest catalog, the paper used for the boxing operation, and all of the different papers that we need for the Danbury plant. We're barely able to keep up with orders so we're getting ready to add a second shift starting next Monday. The boxing operation is going so great and we may have to add a third shift soon.

"Of course you know that the transfer of the Danbury plant went smoothly. Mr. Baird was disappointed that you didn't make it to the closing but he understood that you couldn't get away from college. We're supplying all of Danbury's paper requirements now. South-Core now has yet another reason to dislike us since they were the former supplier. Matt is already planning our next catalog which will incorporate all of Danbury's present products, plus newly designed, printed, computer forms, and also corrugated boxes from Glens Falls. We're adding a second shift in Danbury. Up until now, they've only been running an 8 hour, 5 day operation. The second shift will start in three weeks. We already have new people training down there. A few people on the first shift will receive promotions by moving to the second shift. As you instructed, Ron Collins has been acting as temporary administrator down there.

"We've finally got things moving in Glens Falls. That's what we're calling it by the way rather than Kailinkill. Bill packed up all of the paperwork that first week and brought it up here to work on it like we did for Greenfield. John took two of his guys down there and started overhauling the equipment. Mike Turbill also sent a small work crew down there and, with the help of the existing employees, they really cleaned the place up, inside and outside. Matt's folks have gotten a few contracts to supply corrugated cardboard boxes to manufacturers in the Albany and Schenectady areas, and things are picking up.  Danbury's contract with their former corrugated box supplier ended in May. Glenn's Falls is now producing all of Danbury's boxes, and the boxes that we need for the blank computer forms that we're producing in Greenfield. We're becoming our own best customer. As you know, the transfer went smoothly and Ed Tivollo has received his money. The total of the outstanding payables was about $368,000. We've paid all of the back taxes, brought the bank loan current, and we're going to be paying the vendors as soon as all of the records are organized. As we discussed, our first-shift lead supervisor from here, Otto Smith, was promoted to Plant Manager at Glens Falls. Turns out that he actually lives closer to there than here. He gets a double benefit and we've got a top man in place.

"I guess that's it. No, wait. There's the new graphics department that we've added under Matt to design our catalogs and the new data processing forms, plus they work with customers to create custom forms. The design department in Danbury will be phased out as people leave, but as long as there are people there, they'll continue to design the non-computer forms. We've received transfer applications from about 8 people in the Danbury plant. Seems that the lower cost of living up here, combined with better opportunities for promotion, have spurred some interest."

"Thank you, Bob. It sounds like you've done a wonderful job of integrating the new companies."

"Thanks, DD. Everyone's worked very hard. Especially Matt. Without the orders that he and his people continue to bring in, there wouldn't be much reason for the rest of us. And we've even picked up a free employee."

"Free employee?"

"Yeah. Ed Tivollo. He started out by being our transition man and hasn't left. He's trained Otto and the other new people on the operation of the equipment in Glens Falls. He's not much of a salesman, but knows the equipment cold." Bob smiled and said, "If he continues to hang around we'll have to put him on the payroll." 

"He probably doesn't know what to do with himself. He has enough money now that he doesn't have to go to work. He's probably just looking to keep himself occupied."

"You're probably right. I just wanted you to know how helpful he's been."

"Okay. Thanks for telling me."

"So, what are we acquiring this week?"

I laughed. "Haven't you had enough? Don't you want a rest?"

"Are you kidding? I've begun looking forward to your visits like a kid anticipating a trip to Disneyland. Every time you come, it's like an adrenaline rush."

"I don't anticipate any new acquisitions this trip, Bob. We already have more capacity than orders. There isn't much sense in buying more right now."

"That's true, DD. It's just that it's been so much fun spending millions of dollars, even it was the company's money."

"Speaking of money, have we had any luck selling the highway property that we acquired in the deal for the Greenfield plant?"

"We've subdivided the property into the three parcels like we discussed and we've been talking with a couple of prospective buyers. They've been back to us several times so we know that they're interested. So far, no offers. They keep hinting that they want us to lower the price. I told them to make an offer and we'll talk."

"How's our cash position?"

"Excellent. Even after the two million that we paid out for Danbury, we're in great shape. Our plant here in Brandon, and the operations in Greenfield and Danbury are bringing in solid revenues. We figure to have Glens Falls in the black this month. So if you find a deal, we can fund it. We still have a 20 million dollar line of credit with the bank in addition to our own cash reserves."

"It sounds like you have something in mind?"

"No. I just know that we got a bunch of letters from people looking to sell."

"We did," I said. "But there's only one that even justified a second look. It's a paper company over the border in New Hampshire, near Concord. I guess that it's about a two hour ride."

"Plymouth Paper?"

"Yes. You know it?"

"I've heard of it. There was an article in The Paper Press not too long ago. They said that South-Core hired away their Sales Department and took most of their accounts with them."

"Sounds like a modified version of what they tried to do to Matt. Cripple the business by taking away the sales team, and the customers, and then pick up the plant for peanuts when the owners can't pay the bills."

"Sounds like."

"I'm suddenly getting interested," I said. "I seem to have developed a definite dislike for South-Core."

"I know that I have. I don't like the sneaky way that they operate, even if it's legal."

"Let's see what we can find out about the current status of Plymouth Paper. I'll call and make an appointment. How's Wednesday for you?"

"I'll clear whatever day you arrange. I'll call Jeff Goldblum and see if his investigator can do a quick job for us at the county office where Plymouth is located."

"Okay. Thanks, Bob."

After Bob left I called Nancy and asked her to contact the person in charge at Plymouth Paper. It only took a few minutes before she called back to say that she had a Mr. Lemmon on the phone. I recognized the name as being that of the company president, who had sent the letter.

"Good morning, Mr. Lemmon. This is Darla Anne Drake."

"Hello, Miss Drake. It's a pleasure to hear from you."

"Thank you. I'm calling about the letter that you sent."

"I assumed as much. Shall I further assume that you might have an interest in acquiring Plymouth Paper?"

"I'm always on the lookout for a bargain, Mr. Lemmon. Is Plymouth a bargain?"

"I'm prepared to offer you the company at a good price. South-Core has told us that you wouldn't be interested because you just bought two other companies but I decided to send that letter anyway. They're offering to pay only a fraction of the company's value."

"They're correct that we did just acquire two other companies this quarter, but for the right price we'd acquire a third."

"I'd welcome the opportunity to show you our plant and discuss a price."

"How's Wednesday at 10:30 for you?"

"Fine, Miss Drake."

"Okay, Mr. Lemmon. I'll see you on Wednesday morning."

"I'll look forward to it, Miss Drake."

With that done, I decided to go for a walk. After dropping the letters off with Nancy so that she could prepare the refusal responses, I took the elevator to the basement and walked to the rear of the building. People were hard at work with the remodeling for the cafeteria and the tunnel connection. I looked around and left the building through a rear door, walking along the new tunnel route so that I could get a closer look at the steel reinforcing work being done. I also went into the plant and watched the work being done for the tunnel connection at that end. After my curiosity was satisfied with the construction, I walked through Plant 1 and then Plant 2. This was the first time that I had seen Plant 2 in operation. I recognized all of the faces in the plant but could only put names with about half. I would have to go through the photo file again.

The warehouse was where the real activity was. All of the bays contained trailers that were being loaded. I counted six forklifts in operation. Mike Turbill, as usual, was supervising the loading along with the warehouse foreman.

"Hello, Mike," I said. "Well, all eight bays are full."

"Yes, ma'am, they certainly are. It's a wonderful sight."

"I see that the extra forklifts are still here. I thought that Greenfield would need them back when they started paper production?"

"Tom Harris picked up replacements for Greenfield. They actually got five more of them to replace these three so we kept these."

"Great. Anything else you need?"

"No ma'am, but my people sure are anxious for the new cafeteria to open."

"That won't be for a couple of months, I'm afraid."

"Yes, ma'am. We'll wait."

I smiled. "Mike, would you happen to have copies of The Paper Press nearby."

"Yes, ma'am. I keep them down here in my plant office."

"There was an article not to long ago about a company named Plymouth Paper. Do you think that you could find it for me?"

He smiled and nodded. "Be right back."

I stood and watched as the forklift operators deftly maneuvered their machines in and out of the trailers. I realized that the forklifts always came out onto the dock from one doorway and went back in through the other. This must have been what Mike had meant by 'establishing rules of the road'. Mike returned after about 10 minutes.

"Here it is, DD. Thinking about buying them out?"

"We're going to have a look, but don't tell anybody, okay?"

"My lips are sealed."

"Thanks, Mike."

I took the magazine back to my office to read the article. There wasn't a lot of useful information in it but there was an aerial picture of the plant. The article reported that South-Core had hired away the entire sales team, and the customers, who had established friendly relationships with the sales people, moved with them. The article spoke about Plymouth's debt after a recent modernization and expansion project. I recognized the similarities to Piermont's situation. South-Core made a move to acquire Piermont after our own modernization. It's a time when companies can be most vulnerable. They may have maximized their debt and are counting on normal, or increased, revenues to carry them through while they reduce the debt. If that revenue is interfered with then the company is in trouble. After reading the article I placed the magazine into a manila inter-office envelope and addressed it to Mike.

I called John Fahey and Bill Marshall and invited each to accompany Bob and me during our visit Plymouth on Wednesday. Nancy called to say that she had completed my typing so I had her bring it in, then I spent the rest of the morning reviewing and signing the correspondence so that it could be sent out.

At lunchtime I put together a meal from what I found in my kitchen. Nancy had stocked the refrigerator with fresh vegetables and fruit. After I had eaten and had a cup of tea, I called James and gave him my itinerary for the next several days. I planned to visit Greenfield, and Danbury tomorrow, Plymouth Paper on Wednesday, and then Glens Falls on Thursday.

With my arrangements made, I had nothing else to do. It seemed that my time spent in Vermont was either at full speed, or dead slow. The trouble with being the chief executive is that you don't have anyone to talk to when you're not busy. The other executives all had regular jobs with ongoing duties so I couldn't disturb them, and I couldn't socialize with the employees during working hours because that would set all kinds of precedents for bad behavior. So I was stuck in my office wishing that Susan had been able to come.

I had a radio on my credenza so I turned it on and listened to music while going through the photo files for the new employees and those at Danbury and Glens Falls. I also went through the rest of the employee photo file again. I took my time, skipping over those that I already knew well, and studied faces and names so that I would recognize them even if we met outside of the work environment.

I worked until after the shift change and then phoned James to bring the car around. Nancy had already left but I had notified her of my plans for the next three days.

                

After breakfast the next morning, I left for Greenfield. James got a little confused when we reached Greenfield because this was his first trip here, and I couldn't help because I had never paid attention to the route. I had always been busy either reading or talking during my trips here, and had trusted Earl to get us to the plant. After a little backtracking, James found the turnoff that he had missed and we arrived at the plant shortly after that.

The first thing I noticed was the number of cars in the parking lot. It was almost half full. There was no doubt now that this was a working factory.

As I entered, Eric Grunen came hurrying from his office. The receptionist was one of the original employees and she must have recognized me when I got out of the limo in front of the building. On the way to Eric's office, he asked the receptionist to bring in some tea.

We sat and talked for a quite while as he filled me in on his impressions of how things were going. I had already seen the numbers so I didn't bother asking for reports. We had left him in charge as Plant Manager because he seemed to be a capable manager and he knew the operation. Of what I had observed of his performance I was satisfied and saw no need to bring in anyone else.

Around 10:30 we took a tour of the plant. The boxing operation was busy and every machine was either operating or being set up for its next job. The small warehouse and order preparation area was overflowing out into the production floor. When I mentioned it, Eric said that plans called for finished products to be moved to a section of the paper warehouse at the other end of the plant. Eventually, this storage area would be emptied completely as warehouse operations were consolidated.

Next we toured the paper production area of the plant. As in boxing, everything was in full operation here also. Large rolls of paper were being wound at an incredible rate on both of the enormous paper forming machines. Lastly, we toured the warehouse. It resembled Brandon's operation and six trailers were being loaded. One of the trucks said, 'Eastern Business Forms' on its side.

Eric saw me looking at it and said "That's one of the two tractor-trailers that haven't been changed yet. The other two now say 'Piermont' on them."

I nodded and we continued walking around. Eric showed me where box inventory was going to be stored. An entire section of the warehouse had been marked off with a painted yellow line on the concrete floor. The area, about 50 by 200 feet, was at least three times their present warehouse size but was lost in the enormous paper warehouse. Several workers were erecting industrial strength shelving that looked to be 20 feet high in the space reserved for box inventory.

Eric said, "As soon as the shelving is up we'll start moving the inventory down here. We should have everything moved within two weeks."

We wrapped up our plant tour and went back to the office area. I told Eric that I wanted to look around the offices so we went into every room. Virtually every office was empty except for office furniture. The office personnel had been consolidated into the office that formerly housed the sales department. The five employees were engaged mainly in the co-ordination of order and invoice processing between here and Brandon, plus timekeeping and minor payroll duties.

It was just before noon when I left. I had thanked Eric for the tea and his time. James was polishing the car as I emerged from the building. He rushed to open the door for me and quickly rubbed off the dollop of polish that he had just put on.

The trip to Danbury took about 90 minutes from Greenfield. When he dropped me off, I told James that it was okay for him to go have lunch. When I entered the building, a receptionist, who was busy sorting papers, gave me a cursory glance and greeted me with  "What can I do for you, Miss".

"I like to see Mr. Collins. Is he available?"

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No. Just tell him that I'm here, please."

"I'm sorry but Mr. Collins is far too busy to see anyone without an appointment."

"Just tell him I'm here, please."

"Perhaps someone else can help you? Are you looking for a job?"

"No. I already have a job."

"Do you, dear? And what do you do?"

"I'm the president of Piermont Paper."

The woman stopped what she was doing and looked up, then she stood up very quickly. "Oh my god, you're her. I mean… you're Miss Drake?"

"Yes, Amanda. Now would you find out if Mr. Collins is available?"

"How do you know my name? This is Jennifer's desk. I'm only covering for her while she's at lunch."

"I know most of my employees, Amanda. Mr. Collins?"

"Oh… yes. One minute." She picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Mr. Collins? Miss Drake is here to see you. Yes, sir." Hanging up the phone she said, "He said to go right in. He's in Mr. Baird's old office. Would you like me to show you the way?"

"No thank you, Amanda. I know the way."

"Yes, ma'am."

Before I reached the office, Ron Collins came out to greet me. "DD, it's a pleasure to see you. Won't you come in?"

"Thank you, Ron. It's nice to see you again."

"Would you care for some coffee? Or perhaps tea?"

"Yes. Tea sounds nice."

Ron picked up the phone and asked someone to bring in a coffee and a tea. "I wasn't expecting you or I would have come to the airport to pick you up."

"That's all right. I didn't come by plane. I came down in the limo after a stop at Greenfield."

"So what can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to stop in and see how you were doing. I haven't been here since before we purchased it. So… how are you doing?"

"Fantastic. Eastern already had a catalog of their own. We put a cover letter in with it explaining the purchase and sent it to all of Piermont's customers. The orders have been pouring in. Bob may have told you that we're going to a second shift soon to keep up with the demand?"

"Yes, he mentioned it. How is the plan progressing?"

"Fine. We're training new employees already. We've promoted a number of the people on the first shift to positions on the second shift. They'll make up the core of the new second shift workforce. A couple aren't exactly delighted about going to the second shift but it was totally voluntary, and they know that this is one of the only ways to move up. Mr. Baird had an extremely stable workforce so there weren't a lot of opportunities for promotions."

A woman that I identified as the receptionist Jennifer, brought in the coffee and tea and then left. Ron and I talked for about another 40 minutes, then took a long tour of the plant. At the loading dock I saw one of the trucks bearing the Piermont name being loaded. Afterwards, Ron called each of the senior managers into his office, one at a time, so that I could meet them and talk to them for about ten minutes.

It was almost 5 o'clock when I left the Danbury plant. I was pleased that things were going so well there. We still had a balance of 10 million dollars owed on the note that we had signed with Mr. Baird so the continued health of the plant was vital.

We arrived back at the hotel just after 8 o'clock. I went to my room and freshened up before going to the almost deserted restaurant. Other than a couple of cups of tea I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast and I was hungry with a capital H. The special of the day was fresh brook trout and I finished it off and then ordered a piece of pie for desert. Afterwards I felt much better and went to my room to read until it was time to go to sleep.

 

(continued in part 26)

 

 

 

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© 1999 by C. Sprite. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.