Upon occasion over the past few years, I have been asked if I had any plans to retire. Having gone through almost 8 weeks of forced retirement, I can easily state that I have very little interest where that is concerned. I was never more bored in my life!
Last week we re-started operations but progress was slow. Much of the week was spent doing maintenance and re-acquainting ourselves with all the projects that were left hanging. This week, we are starting to get our mojo back and will resume shipping some products tomorrow.
Obviously re-starting required us to take a close look at all of our operations in order to maintain safety.
For a number of weeks early on, Michigan was number 3 in cases behind New York and New Jersey. And Oakland County, where we live and work, was the second hardest hit in the state. Just this week, we passed 900 deaths in the county. Most people live in counties with only a small fraction of that number. So some of you may find it hard to relate, but we've learned to take the virus very seriously here.
Our guys are not necessarily afraid of COVID-19, but they very much respect it. So masks, constant hand-washing, disinfecting tools after use, temperature-taking and a number of other behaviors have become routine at this point.
We are thankful that we were able to secure a PPP loan to help with expenses during the shut-down and to pay employees now that we have returned. And today, we were informed that the county has also rewarded us with a grant. It would have been very trying and stressful without this financial support.
So I think we are in good shape and excited to be back in the business we love.
I also want to thank all the people who emailed or called during the shut-down just to check up on us. Since these are trying times for everyone, the fact that many of our audio friends thought of us was certainly unexpected and greatly appreciated.
When we were forced to shut down and the stock market basically tanked, we were concerned about how the downturn in the economy might affect our business long-term. Of course, that question won't be resolved until some time down the road. But I'm happy to report that we received almost as many calls and emails as we had before the coronavirus upended our lives. Apparently, since people are generally staying home as much as possible, they are spending more time listening to good music. For that reason, we're fairly optimistic that we can come out of this situation in fine shape.
Since AXPONA, RMAF and other shows were cancelled, we won't likely have a chance to visit with most of you in person anytime soon. But you are in our thoughts and we'll pull out all the stops to help you achieve your dreams of fabulous sound.
Take care and be safe...
- Jim