by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
This week three members of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville shared their insights on how the current national and global economies are affecting commerce here at home.
President of Tom Nehl GMC Trucks and club President-elect Steve Bacalis; Robert Hays, president of the Capitol Region of Florida Rock Industries-Vulcan Materials; and First Guaranty Bank Chairman and CEO Jay Fant all agreed the challenging times call for changes in how day-to-day business is done, but some of the basic rules must still be followed in order to survive and succeed in the current environment.
Fant compared the financial industry to a softball game in that “Even when you’re down by three runs, you have to keep swinging” and base runners have to be ready to take advantage of a long line drive.
Continuing the sports analogy he added, “The banking industry has won so many games for so many years some people forgot how the markets work.”
Bacalis said the downturn in the economy has had a profound effect on his business. Tom Nehl GMC Trucks has sold, serviced and provided parts for commercial vehicles for 51 years. The company operates dealerships in Jacksonville and Lake City that employ 150 people.
Bacalis said the effects of the economy are felt in trucking in several ways, including there being not enough freight to go around for every company to be profitable. Another aspect of his business is service. When companies have trucks that aren’t on the road every day making deliveries, when a vehicle needs service it’s easier to park it and replace it with another truck that wasn’t being driven every day rather than to have the malfunctioning unit serviced immediately.
“And we’ve seen some of our customers and suppliers laying off people and even closing factories,” he added.
A decline in commercial construction followed the reduction in the residential side of the business, said Hays.
Florida Rock Industries has been teaching its sales force how to market new products and there are some “bright spots” in the current situation.
“We’re seeing construction of multifamily dwelling units and wastewater treatment plants as well as military projects. I also think there will be some federal stimulus funds for road projects in North Florida but it will take some time before it arrives,” said Hays.
The panel discussion was moderated by Cathy Hagan from the Florida Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida. She said she’s advising business people to concentrate on their niche and strengths while seeking opportunities to diversify revenue sources. Hagan also cautioned against trying to save money on one particular line item and advised, “You can’t stop marketing your product or service just because times are tough.”
The club also welcomed two new members at its meeting this week, Tom Gibson, CEO of AmeriCare Home Health and his wife, Staci Spanos Gibson, Ch. 4 morning news anchor. Gibson said he was motivated to join Rotary because of the “Service Above Self” concept.
“I was raised by a single mom, but no matter how poor we were, there always were people who had it worse.”
At next week’s meeting, Florida Tax Watch will present its 2009 Prudential-Davis Productivity Awards for North Florida. Each year the organization recognizes state government programs and employees who save taxpayers money through innovative thinking and implementation.
At last year’s ceremony it was noted that since 1988, Davis Award recipients had been responsible for contributing more than $6 billion in economic benefits for Florida’s taxpayers.
In addition to the awards presentation, Downtown Rotarians will hear from keynote speaker and club member Buddy Folkner, who has more than 25 years experience as an instructor with the Dale Carnegie Organization. His topic of discussion will be “People, Performance and Productivity.”
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