Meghan Hickey
Business Editor
[email protected]
Another year come, another year gone. It’s amazing how quickly January turns to December and companies have to assess the goals they accomplished (or didn’t) from the annual plans they put together what seems like just yesterday.
No matter the preparation, what annual plans can’t account for are the various external factors that are going to be thrown their way. What if a primarily Japanese tourism market suddenly swings to be prominently Korean? What if thousands of H-2B or CW workers are suddenly no longer accepted for your projects? What if a typhoon (or two) damages your property or wipes out all your crop or stock?
Financial planners and executives can make projections and create contingency plans but when the going gets tough, the bottom line is a company must take what has come its way and adapt — adapt to what has happened, what’s happening now and what the company’s future has changed to look like. Because what was is no more, and the present is the company’s new reality.
When in 2008 the military buildup was first announced, companies ramped up their work forces and adapted. And then they adapted again the next year when it didn’t happen… and the next when they thought it was going to again … and the next when it didn’t. Now we look to 2019 and the businesses of Guam are promised that this time it’s the real deal.
This is just one of the external factors mentioned by almost all of the 35 companies in the Top Companies list that have had them on edge. When the going gets rough, it’s a company’s natural reaction to tighten the hatches and bear down. And what has come of that hunkering down may be just exactly what the business community on Guam needed.
You’ll see within the list the names of executives, revenues and staff numbers from last year to this. For most you’ll notice subtle changes — a new CEO, a change in revenue that was less than 1% or a change in staffing by 10 or so people. These seem insignificant until you hear the reasons that the executives gave on what they attribute those small changes to — a shift in the company’s core mission, a new branch or location or a new service the company plans to add to its portfolio. These are all significant internal changes that will make the company stronger, more resilient as it faces the unknowns of the coming year. The companies are preparing themselves for success from the inside out.
In the Top Companies list our team proudly looks at a community of leaders who have taken the reins and have begun rebuilding or building upon their own accomplishments in order to put their best foot forward in and for the community — setting an example as warriors ready to conquer the unknown to come. May others stand with them as we finish out the year with a confident step forward into Guam’s newest reality in 2019.
Happy Holidays!
Meghan Hickey
Business Editor
[email protected]
