First, Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. As you may know, I took some time away and it was good to have some time to get refreshed. I am now rested and even more fired up to make 2021 the best year we have ever had! It is amazing to know I have your support in that effort.
With the new year and a lot of new associates, I will be starting up some Breaking Breads again. For those who are new, Breaking Bread is what we call a meal with an associate and me. They are one-on-one, you choose the meal and location, and it is a confidential discussion just between us. Kara will be in touch with a few questions to guide our meal. If you have been here longer than the last year but did not share a Breaking Bread with me in 2019, please let Kara know.
The new flexo has made a lot of progress, especially with the external equipment, since I went on vacation. The team is here now and will be here until everything is working optimally. The next big step will be in March or April when the new high speed (up to 330 per minute) Servo-driven feed section is installed.
I want to wish a special congratulations to some sales reps who set records in 2020. In his first year, Josh Samuelson was able to increase his territory by almost $70,000, setting his personal best of $885,070. Congratulations to Steve Kearney who crushed his previous one-year sales record. He sold $2,664,248, which is almost $500,000 ahead of his previous record. Michael Forbes finished 2020 just $61,000 shy of Russell Schmelzer’s all-time best year ever! With the new flexo bringing in a lot of egg boxes and Concept 2 continuing to grow, I expect to see a battle ahead with both Russ and Mike Forbes breaking the single year record in 2021. It will be like Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire both breaking Roger Maris record the same year (*except Russ and Forbes will do it without steroids!).
