Big Business Plans for the New Year

Business resolutions bode well for 2004.

 By Vanessa Orr 

Lose weight. Make more money. Quit smoking. Spend more time with the family. Get organized.

Just about everyone makes New Year’s resolutions, and some of us even manage to keep them. But what about businesses or corporations? Do leaders of industry make their own goals for the new year, in order to keep their companies on track?

The fact is, to be successful, a company has to have goals–whether it’s cutting fat from the budget, increasing the bottom line, or hiring and keeping quality employees. Following are some New Year’s resolutions from a number of Alaska’s corporate leaders–and their plans for making those 2004 goals come true.

Richard L. Lowell, President and CEO, Ribelin Lowell & Company Insurance Brokers Inc.

Since 1977, Ribelin Lowell & Company has been providing insurance services to Alaska. Formerly the Ribelin Insurance Agency, the company has grown steadily over the past 26 years–growth that it hopes continues in 2004.

According to Richard L. Lowell, president and CEO, the company has four major goals for the coming year. They are to recruit qualified professional staff, increase and support greater insurance educational opportunities for present staff, increase company revenue growth in accordance with professional staff capabilities for performance and deliverability, and increase gross revenue by 5 percent.

When recruiting new staff, Lowell will be looking both inside and outside of Alaska. “Producers and support staff will most likely come from outside Alaska because of unavailability in the local market,” he explained. “We also plan to increase and support greater insurance educational opportunities for our present staff, thereby elevating the quality and professionalism of our producers and account managers.”

It is these producers and account managers who will add to the bottom line, according to James Dooley, chief operating officer and sales manager for Ribelin Lowell. “We hope to project a 5 percent increase, but our ability to control costs is heavily dependent on our personnel (producers and account managers) helping keep margins satisfactory,” he explained.

Liane Pelletier, President and CEO, Alaska Communications Systems

In October of 2003, Liane Pelletier became the CEO and president of Alaska Communications Systems Group Inc., after Charles E. Robinson retired. Now head of the leading integrated communications provider in Alaska, Pelletier has big plans for the company and its more than 400,000 subscribers.

According to Pelletier, her 2004 goals include:

·         Retaining and growing the number of loyal customers–those who stay with ACS, those who buy more from ACS, and those who refer ACS to neighbors, friends and business colleagues;

·         Providing distinctive services not available elsewhere; for example, services built on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology;

·         Putting the customer first;

·         Making ACS a company that is easy to do business with, where customers’ lives are made easier with one-stop shopping and service; and

·         Maintaining and attracting a talented work force.  

“In order to increase the bottom line, we plan to sell more products to existing customers, since we already have the asset mix in place to fully serve their needs,” added Pelletier. “We also plan to grow with the fastest-expanding segments of the telecom market– wireless and broadband, and to provide integrated solutions for our customers, especially wireline and wireless services, that keep our customers connected whether at home, work or elsewhere.”

Like many other companies, ACS also is looking at recruiting and keeping good employees. “Given the portfolio ACS has in place, it offers the best place in Alaska to learn and work with the latest technologies,” said Pelletier. “It is here where employees can integrate wireline and wireless technologies and develop seamless service for customers.”

To encourage them to hire on at ACS, the company will continue to offer incentive compensation based on individual team and company performance, and a robust benefits package. “ACS employees are also very excited about the cultural changes that are under way,” added Pelletier of the company’s more than 1,100 employees.

Having spent more than 17 years at Sprint Corp. before joining ACS, Pelletier also has some goals for the industry as a whole. “I’d like to have all competitors operate on a level playing field, and to see businesses enjoy economic expansion, which in turn will stimulate technology adoption,” she said. “And I’d like to see certain trends continue to unfold, perhaps at a faster pace: more untethered services, more broadband services, more integrated voice and data services, more integrated wireline and wireless services, and finally, more services over the Web.” 

Ken Privratsky, Vice President and General Manager of Alaska, Horizon Lines

In the past few years, Horizon Lines has undergone a number of changes. Prior to 1999, they were known as the domestic service of Sea-Land Service. In December of 1999, they changed their name to CSX Lines of Alaska after their international division (and their trademark name) was sold off. In late February of 2003, CSX Corp. sold CSX Lines to the Carlyle Group of Washington, D.C., which resulted in another name change. Now known as Horizon Lines, the containership company is looking forward to 2004. 

“We are approaching 2004 very deliberately,” said vice president and general manager of Alaska, Ken Privratsky, of the company’s New Year’s resolutions. “The Carlyle Group, our owners since last February, have provided us with new perspectives and horizons, and we are particularly excited about that. We have just completed a strategic plan that looks at every aspect of our business: our customers, assets, financial performance, operations, people, etc. Creation of that plan provided needed focus and direction, and it has helped communication, teamwork and spirit throughout our company.”

According to Privratsky, one of the main goals of the company’s 2004 plan is to hire and maintain quality employees. “Our people have always been our strength. As Sea-Land, then as CSX Lines, and now as Horizon Lines, we pride ourselves on the men and women who make our company stand out and who deliver consistently for our customers,” he explained. “So, naturally, our plan includes a significant amount of detail about hiring, training, rewarding and retaining good employees. Our associates form the foundation for our strategic plan and our business overall.”

Privratsky added that the company also plans to remain active in the communities that it serves. “Businesses entice and retain talent by being good citizens,” he said. “And we plan to remain deeply involved in and supportive of our communities.”

Privratsky also believes that 2004 will be a good year for growing and expanding the company. “The key to growth and expansion is focusing on customers–knowing what they want preferably before they even realize it, and crafting win-win solutions,” he explained. “We are employing cutting-edge technology to enable customer growth as well. Customer service takes on several levels of meaning for us at Horizon Lines, and therein are the keys to the future–not just for 2004.”

In addition to his focus on Horizon Lines, Privratsky is hoping to see the transportation industry as a whole set its own goals for 2004. “Everyone must know that transportation is a critical element in Alaska, and that maintaining a vibrant transportation sector is crucial to our state’s future,” he said. “We at Horizon Lines understand that, and will be investing in new capabilities in order to meet the needs of Alaskans.

“But doing that, and at the same time keeping transportation costs down, takes a team effort,” he continued. “Toward that end, we are in dire need of a new regional port. The Port of Anchorage is the economic engine for Alaska, with more than 80 percent of what we consume flowing over the city’s docks. Former Gov. Bill Sheffield, the Anchorage port director, has a good plan in the works that will benefit Alaskans from Prudhoe Bay to Homer, and it deserves our complete support.”

Tim Woolston, Co-Owner, Northwest Strategies

Northwest Strategies is a full-service advertising and public relations firm based in Anchorage, which provides a variety of communications needs for corporate and retail clients across the state. Despite the fact that most marketing companies have faced a pretty tough year, co-owner Tim Woolston has a positive outlook for the future.

 “I would say that our top resolution for 2004 is continued measured growth and diversification to meet the challenges of a changing market in Alaska,” he said. “We will strive to continue working with our clients to come up with creative ways to deliver effective advertising and public relations on ever-tightening budgets.”

According to Woolston, the company has structured some “unusual arrangements” with clients in order to help them meet their objectives. “This has allowed Northwest Strategies opportunities we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” he explained. “We will continue to be very aggressive in looking for new opportunities, and the best way to get them is to perform excellent work for our existing clients. We are continually looking to develop new and different services.”

Woolston says that it is also essential for the company’s continued growth to retain the talent they have, while attracting new talent to help them continue to expand their capabilities. “This business is all about the people, and we have a great team,” he said. “Northwest Strategies is a team in the truest sense of the word. We work together, support each other, contribute our various and varied skills to deliver the best product to our clients, and we have fun doing it. Continuing to foster a fun, open, work environment is the key.”

As for the advertising and public relations industry as a whole, Woolston believes that while it might be changing, it is also providing new opportunities for those companies who choose to meet the challenge. “This market is tighter than it’s been–there are fewer players with big advertising budgets, as an example,” he said. “To me, this is an opportunity to do things differently and prove that we can be effective. To look at the challenges facing our clients and think outside the box on how to meet them.”

 

Carol Fraser, Vice President and Co-Owner, Aspen Hotels

According to Carol Fraser, vice president and co-owner of Aspen Hotels, the company’s resolutions fall into three categories: facilities, guests and personnel. “First, we want to finish construction on our new Aspen, which is opening in June, and while doing that, we want to upgrade our existing hotels,” she explained. “A huge goal for 2004 is bringing high-speed Internet to all six properties.”

“Second, we want to start a frequent-stay program for our guests,” she continued. “Right now, we offer Alaska Airlines miles, which is a huge and very strong loyalty program, but we’d like to go the next level in 2004 and offer something more for our guests.”

Hotel employees will be receiving more training as well. “I want 100 percent of my employees CPR-certified (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation),” Fraser said. “We also started a hospitality-certification program in September, and want all our managers and directors to be certified in their specialized areas in 2004.”

And Fraser resolves to reward her employees for all of their hard work.  “I’d like to take ALL of my two-year employees on an exciting Alaska adventure trip as a reward for their loyalty,” she said.

As for the bottom line, Fraser chose to stay mum. “Of course, there’s always the goal of increasing the bottom line,” she said of her resolutions, “but those ideas are secret!”

[ Home ] [ Up ]

Send mail to webmaster@akbizmag.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004 Alaska Business Monthly.