Terminating the Recession

This is the title of a tongue in cheek report on the actions of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as reported in Computer World today. Now we don't know how accurate this report is, but the sentiments attributed to the Governor are certainly in the right vein. It is reported that at the Hanover CeBIT tech show in Hanover, Germany Arnold declared that we need to "Stop whining over the economy. We have to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And the only way we are going to do this is by being optimistic and finding ways to stimulate the economy," he reportedly said.

We agree Arnold and say thanks for using your public presence to make the point.

Around our little corner of the world yesterday was a great day with every member of our sales team adding a deal to the board...some small and some larger, but all contributing to the bottom line. We say thanks to our clients who keep on moving forward.

Lee K

Acquisition fuels growth potential for ISP

One of the purposes of this blog is to highlight activities which businesses take that can offset the impacts of recession. One local business just announced an acquisition of a complementary business which will permit them to grow by 100% over the next two years. On Thursday, Netaccess Systems Inc. announced their acquisition of Clear Advantage Solutions a provider of digital phones, IP cameras and wireless networking solutions. According to Netaccess President, Gary Bannister, the acquisition will help them implement their own infrastructure and expand their offering of internet based products and services.

Way to go Netaccess...growth in these times is well worth celebrating. For more information go to www.netaccces.ca

You rate as our Hero of the Week!

Lee K

A Whole Week with the Stock Markets Up

How interesting a week can be. Even the commentators are starting to talk about there being light at the end of the tunnel. Sherry Cooper of BMO who was pretty down on the potential for recovery a few weeks ago suggested that we might be seeing the first signs of the bottom of the cycle...Interesting that only 7 days, (actually only 5 stock market days) of positive numbers can change the tunes so much. And even the media is starting to find ways to tell some good news about the economy again.

Another self fulfilling prophesy. We hope so.

Lee K

The Chief Penguin Becomes Our Hero of the Week

One of the electronic newsletters I really enjoy each month is published by an author from the North East US, called Michael Katz. He calls his newsletter the Blue Penguin e-Newsletter. http://www.bluepenguindevelopment.com/penguinpress/index.html . Today this month's edition arrived and it is a super edition, partially because it focusses on Ice Cream (how can one ignor the value of that), but more importantly for his latest down to earth, practical idea for fighting the recession. I'll let Michael explain the idea, http://www.spendtwentydollars.com/ but we have decided to award him our first, weekly hero's award for spreading this idea and a way that we can all be part of the solution.
What does he win? The satisfaction to know he is making a difference for us all...sorry we don't have anything more concrete than that to give out yet, but we'll work on it.

Have a great Friday and an even better new week to come.

Lee K

Headlines Showing Some Positive News

Finally today's news has started to include some positive headlines: the local paper included these three...."Markets Soar as Citi shows Profit" and "Jobs Front Stabilizing, Manpower survey sees fair hiring climate in Q2" plus a super short on "Evertz tunes in higher Q3 sales, profits." the substance of that story is Evertz Technologies Ltd., an equipment provider to the television broadcast industry reported third-quarter net profits up from $21.4 million to #24.5 million a year earlier. Sales increased from $64.4 million to $79.6 million. (all figures in Canadian $'s).

The day before we saw an article titled, "Lancaster metal manufacturer booming". Check out the Hamilton Spectator article here: http://www.docucapture.ca/Newleek/advertising/Lancaster.pdf



It is this kind of media coverage which will help people change their attitudes and get everything moving forward.



We want to congratulate some others who have also jumped onto the Anti-Recession bandwagon. Take a look at some of these stories from the Community Marketing Blog

http://communitymarketing.typepad.com/my_weblog/anti-recession-storiestips/



Let's keep that positive attitude going!



Lee K

Some businesses have decided to challenge the assumptions.

A big part of the negative impacts which are fueling the recession talk is the constant media hype associated with every bad piece of news. We are encouraged when companies decide to counter this trend by promoting a different view of the current world. One of the biggest and most aggressive campaigns we have seen is the Workopolis Positive campaign which they have been running in major newspapers since early January. Their messages (full page in The Hamilton Spectator is one vehicle) include headlines like: "Quell your inner pessimist," or "A viable option to fear," (with a nice side reference to the predictions of Nostradamus), and "A solid alternative to panic" (with a side reference to Chicken Little). There have been many more positive but realistic headlines in their ads which put much of the current economic news in a different perspective.





We think organizations which attempt to bring more reason to this discussion as it impacts everyone do a service to the general temper of the issue. Way to go Workopolis!...hopefully more companies will bring this kind of creative approach to the current situation and encourage people to invest in the solution, not just lament the problem.

Lee K

Why An Anti-Recession Blog?

In our office we have decided we are just not going to participate in any recession. Pretty audacious right? How can we just decide not to be part....Here's how we decided to do it.

We all decided to go out and seek people who are ready and willing to keep on doing business. We'll work extra hard to make sure they get the support they need and the best prices we can find for them to ensure that their efforts to keep the economy growing are rewarded in our small way. Is this significant? We think so since it is all of the collective small things we can do that make up our economic prosperity. We can't do anything about the big issues but we can do something about our attitudes and how we look at the world...

6% unemployment means that 94% of those who wish to be employed still are working each day
In 1982, the last big recession, the Canadian unemployment rate started at 11% and went up from there...and oh by the way interest rates hovered around 18%.

We know the pain of what is going on right now is real for many people...we can only do what we can to make things better by helping those we deal with each day to get top value for their purchase, great service and encouragement to continue to do business.

Through this blog we hope to be able to provide a place where others who have our kind of mindset can tell how they are taking steps to be part of the Anti-Recession and to celebrate their efforts.

As Y108 radio in Hamilton ON said this morning in their Positive Economic message, "today is a great day to go out and buy a car: the deals are fantastic, interest rates are low and there is lot's of choice..."

Join our Anti-Recession campaign with your comments today!

Thanks for listening

Lee K