From the CEO's "Mini Me"

The title of this Blog speaks for itself: “From the CEO’s…Mini Me.” For the first and only time, I will be stepping in to write Steve’s monthly stream of consciousness. Steve has been jet setting across the country for the past three weeks and has not had a minute of time to write down any of the experiences he has had since last month. Therefore, I will step in as his “Mini Me” and provide you with my own view from the CEO’s chair, although I do not think Steve will let that view last any longer than this Blog.

Earlier in the month I, along with Steve and members of Concorde’s sales team, had the opportunity to travel to Chicago for the annual Waste Expo. This was my first Waste Expo experience (even though I have heard enough stories over the years to feel like I’ve been to more) and I have to tell you that it was a bit overwhelming. Chicago’s convention center, McCormick Place, is an enormous complex with three convention buildings attached to one another. It probably took me about two hours just to go up and down 2 of the 20 aisles in the exhibit hall. Anytime you can go to a convention and see large bulldozers and back-end loaders you know you are doing business with the right industry.

But what made this experience even better were the people that attended. For any of you that either work or have met people in the Solid Waste Industry you know what I am talking about. The men and women that make-up this industry are great people and it is wonderful working with them. Their passion for the business is unlike anything I have ever seen and it is refreshing to meet people who love to go to work every day because they want to service their customers. The best example I can give you of this dedication came on the final day we were in Chicago. Concorde sponsored NSMWA’s Safety Committee meeting, which is basically a committee comprised of Safety Managers from some of the top Solid Waste Companies. This was the second committee meeting I had attended and it still amazes me to sit back, watch, and listen to these Safety Managers talk about safety issues that affect their employees. What is different about these meetings is that the discussions on safety have very little to do with corporate governance and risk-assessment. Instead, the discussions and topics are focused around the safety of the individual who goes out and performs his/her job duties in a very high-risk work environment. Case in point, NSWMA recently produced a commercial to promote their “Slow Down, To Get Around” campaign. Their mission with this project is to educate drivers to slow down as they pass garbage trucks because there are many instances where trash haulers are struck by passenger vehicles. So next time you are driving through your neighborhood and you happen to be stuck behind a garbage truck, remember to “Slow Down, To Get Around.”

Now that I am back from Chicago, I have been busy working on some innovative advancements to Concorde’s current web-based software. I had the opportunity to discuss some of our plans with Mike Lambert from Republic Services over dinner at Waste Expo. Although I have been around Concorde all of my life, there are still many clients that I have never had the opportunity to meet face-to-face and it was great to finally meet Mike and his wife, Joyce. Unfortunately, the nature of our business is one that does not facilitate a lot of face-to-face interaction with our clients on a consistent basis. However, in August we are planning a special event to celebrate Concorde’s 25th Anniversary. The goal of this event is to not only celebrate the past, present, and future of Concorde, but to also bring our clients together so you can start putting faces to the names of Concorde employees you have spoken to countless times of the years. We are planning to have a finalized date of the two-day event by next week and it appears that it will either be in the second or third week of August. If you would be interested in coming to Philadelphia to help us celebrate this momentous occasion please contact me and I will fill in all of the details.

As I finish my brief moment as the CEO stand-in, I would like to say that as we continue to develop new systems to assist you in your Employee Screening and Health Services needs, we would also value your input tremendously. If there are features or services that are on your “wish list” of things you wish Concorde could provide, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me so that we can make those wishes come true.

Josh Rosenzweig
Director of Marketing
Concorde Inc
1835 Market Street, Suite 1200 Philadelphia, PA 19103-2994
Office: (215) 587-6268 Fax: (215) 563-1269
josh@concorde2000.com
www.concorde2000.com