FROM THE CORNER OFFICE 

The term “Corner Office” might imply a quiet, peaceful place where one can ponder the meaning of life and marvel at the wonders of nature. In a thriving family-owned business, nothing could be further from the truth. In actuality, I have no corner office. My office is located in the center of our building, surrounded by very busy hubs of our business including the purchasing office, the accounting office, our VP of Sales, and our Manager of Operations. There is little opportunity to reflect on the universe when there is so much happening all around me. Our universe is trying to satisfy our customers in the challenging world of custom metal fabrication.

However, when the day is done, there are other things I enjoy. My wonderful wife Jackie, who works in our company’s marketing department, and I enjoy going out to a nice restaurant and seeing a good movie. We recently saw the movie “Babel” which seems to chronicle the ways in which we touch each other for better or for worse. It also depicts the fragility and vulnerability of the human spirit. Sometimes by our actions or insensitivity, the effect we have on other people is profound. I believe sensitivity needs to start at home. We interact with our spouses and our children more than any other people. Sometimes we lose sight of how our actions affect them. An unkind word or a thoughtless criticism can cause pain in those we love and trust the most. It is one thing to know we love someone, but it is quite another to make certain that they feel loved. Sometimes, in the heat of battle, with what we all face in business and in life, we lose sight of this. Then it is time to step back, to look at ourselves and how we treat those we love, and to make sure that we don’t let our own problems impact the way we interact with our families.

Ron Kaplan
President of Operations
2/1/2007

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