P. C. Hoop Roche ... don't call me Paul

Merry Christmas Small Manufacturing

Through good relationships (and good fortune, too) I have the opportunity to be on several small manufacturing company boards. Just as in the case of Erie Plastics, although the industries (telecommunications, automotive supply and injection molded packaging) are considered to be “commoditized”, all of these companies have special niches which they have successfully defended for many years. Nonetheless, the pressure from customers and competitors, which seems like it could never get any tougher, notched up dramatically again in 2007.

As the year comes to a close, I would like to offer a toast to those of us still surviving in this small North American manufacturing category; “Cheers and kudos to the global manufacturing survivors”!

You might think that with three very unrelated businesses in totally disparate categories, we would all have unique challenges. But in the end, the similarities are unnerving:
• Challenging pricing driven by substantial industry over-capacity.
• Fiercely demanding customers ever confident that there is “another 20%” to be wrung out through negotiations, electronic auctions and allowing the competitive enterprise system to do its job.
• The never-ending quest to improve quality, output and productivity.
• Unremitting pressure on profit margins.

But probably on balance the most vital positive factor is indomitable impulse to survive and grow. One would assume that the extraordinary negative pressures of these industries would have numerous competitors simply giving up, turning off the lights and going home. However, quite the opposite continues to happen every day. The entrepreneurs and the senior management teams continue to find ways to beat the odds. (I always call it “defying gravity”.)

So, as the year ends, we welcome with open arms renewed interest in parts being manufactured in North America rather than Europe and Asia. We also look forward to the ingenuity that allows these companies to find ways to protect their product lines and American jobs. Finally, we salute those companies who have found a way to identify and create new “barrier to entry” product lines, open new markets, innovate new processes and to just plain keep on beating the odds!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ode to Deer Hunters

Am I that lousy a driver or is the ever-migrating deep population a really big problem? I have collided with, I believe although I may have lost count, eight different deer in my driving career. This always happens at dusk or dawn when I’m venturing to an airport or a meeting and before it’s fully light outside. Sometimes the damage was very heavy and other times it was very light, but it’s always and annoying and scary.

I just want to go on record that, although I don’t personally care to hunt and never had much of an appetite for guns, I truly appreciate and respect the deer hunters. If it were not for them, we probably would not be able to drive our vehicles at all because we would be so overrun with deer. And that doesn’t even mention the damage they do to shrubs, lawns, farms, etc.

In our neck of the woods “deer day” and deer hunting are more than something one does on an occasional Saturday afternoon. It is a culture and a tradition that those who hunt look forward to eagerly every fall. Just “deer camp” by itself is a tremendous ritual and right of passage. The Monday after Thanksgiving is an “informal holiday” in our region and the deer hunters simply won’t come to work. No questions asked! On the other hand, if you live the woods as I do and don’t hunt, as I don’t, it’s a good day to go to the mall or to take in a movie because the bullets are whizzing around everywhere. (Believe it or not, people have been shot while sitting in their homes.)

So, I just wanted to say thank you, safe hunting and good luck to all of those in the woods this hunting season and I hope you all bag a big one to keep my driving a little bit safer.

A Couple of Relaxing Days on Old Cape Cod

Marne, my wife, and I have established a tradition of taking a few days off every fall to drive around New England/Cape Cod or to visit Nantucket. We didn’t get around to it as early this year as usual but thought that we had lucked out because the weather forecast showed the week of November 1st through 7th to be perfect “Indian summer” (or is that now Native American summer?) with high 50’s to low 60’s and sunny days. So we took off on the morning after Halloween to visit my cousins Frank in Olde Lyme Connecticut and Peter in Harwich Massachusetts and to just drive around to see the foliage, shop a bit, eat some great seafood and just kick back and relax. (This might not seem relaxing to everyone but driving is very relaxing for us.) We took our very good friends, Susie and Jack McAlister of Erie with us for great company and some laughs.

The trip started out very well with a relaxing evening at the Bee & Thistle Inn in Olde Lyme Connecticut and a reunion with cousin Frank and wife Nancy Roche. From there we proceeded up I-95 with the thought of getting onto Cape Cod by early afternoon and driving out to Provincetown on the tip of Cape Cod so we could spend the next two days working our way back at a leisurely pace. Our morning stop at Essex Connecticut made us a little late but a violent tank truck accident on I-95 turned the entire interstate into a parking lot. Thanks to my new Garmin GPS navigator, I was able to go cross country in ever-widening circles until we finally drove around the mess, but it cost us most of the afternoon and got us to Cape Cod late.

Strangely, since it hadn’t been predicted on weather.com, the sunny days turned into some pretty strong rainstorms! Little did we know that Hurricane Noel had taken a sudden turn from the Tropics and was working its way up the Atlantic coast with its target lower Massachusetts and Cape Cod. Over the next few days we got to experience a full-blown hurricane in an unexpected location; Harwich Massachusetts where my other cousin Peter and his wife Joan live. We did have a great room there, watched another (typical these days) lousy Notre Dame game, including Navy’s first win over Notre Dame in 44 years. The shopping and the touring were curtailed by 40-50 mile per hour winds, 70 or 80 mile per hour gusts, large amounts of rain and including cottages being washed into the ocean. Ironically, Harwich/Chatham, where we were, was also the eye of the storm.

Even more strangely, the next day as we toured Provincetown the weather was gorgeous and I was back to wearing shorts – go figure. As we worked our way back home over Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, we got the Indian summer that we had been hoping for and had a wonderful time with the stopovers in Provincetown, Harwich and Worcester Massachusetts (near our Massachusetts plant location).

The final blow was an early winter storm as we approached Buffalo with multiple cars in the ditch on both sides of the highway, emergency vehicles, heavy slush, lousy traction and big fat snowflakes blowing sideways. After the GPS system, detoured us down to Ellicottville, NY, we got into Corry late Tuesday night barely in time to vote, which we did.

I don’t think there’s a moral to this story……….but if there were one it would be; when you live where we do don’t ever count on the weather doing what you expect it to do.

Comeuppance

Notre Dame still arguably has a football team. And…..statistically speaking it is the worst football team in Division I at this point in the season. The comeuppance is that we have occasionally been the best in college football (observe numerous national championships), often great, routinely very good, and occasionally lousy but this year the most terrible in our history. The comeuppance is that it gives our many “haters” ample opportunity to gloat and they are milking it for every drop and will continue to for the rest of the season!

Personally, I have made the mistake of discovering college football fan blogs. They are very interesting and addictive. Some of my favorite recent ones are “The 800-Year Contract” (a parody on the questionable decision made by Notre Dame’s administration to extend Charlie’s contract midway in his first season to an unprecedented 10-year. The other one that caught my attention most recently is “Charlie Weis: The Worst Football Coach in the Universe” (according to any identifiable statistical index our football team is 119th out of the 119 teams in Division I). So – you get my drift – as a football team we suck at an unprecedented level.

But the interesting thing is that our Coach, some of our coaching staff, some of our fans still think this is just temporary and will soon be great.

The question I am now being asked constantly (other than “are you okay?”) is “what’s going to happen to Charlie and the Irish football program?” As I see it, there are three possible outcomes:

1. Things continue to go in the wrong direction or maybe even deteriorate and he does the right thing and resigns or the administration does the right thing and asks him to leave.*
2. This program starts to turn around and becomes mediocre or better than mediocre. Perhaps we win six to eight games a year and occasionally get to a BCS Bowl and that’s as good as it gets and he finishes out a couple more years before he gets asked to leave.
3. This is the one I’m secretly hoping for, by the way. Charlie figures out how to coach college kids, motivates them, mentors them (not abuses them), gets a personality transplant and turns things around with his highly acclaimed new recruiting classes. Then we go back to the old model where we win ten plus games per year, go to one of the better Bowls, remain in the top 25 most of the time and in the top ten from time to time and win the odd National Championship here and there.

The next two games and the next twelve months are going to be absolutely critical to decide which of the three happen.

*The asterisk above describes the dilemma in which the Notre Dame administration now finds itself. This situation becomes more than just a matter of losing games or our reputation being tarnished. This is a “business” problem with extraordinary ramifications. Think about:
· An NBC TV contract worth about $10 million a year.
· Contributions (“seat licenses”) mandatory for season ticket purchase – these are being levied in order to pay for the next $50 million stadium renovation.
· Licensing, merchandising and royalty revenues from the bookstore, Internet sales, etc., etc. for the number one brand in college football.
· Loss of contributions from our heavyweight benefactors.
· Loss of multi-million dollar Bowl game revenues.
· The unthinkable – ticket sales themselves. We haven’t had a game that wasn’t a sellout for more than 20 years, but it could happen one of these days (ugghhhh).

The point is that Charlie’s $5 million per year/seven-year remaining contract might start to seem cheap compared to all of the above. If you were the Notre Dame Board of Trustees what would you be doing one of these days? I’m willing to bet that the question is already being bantered about behind closed doors.

So you see, fellow fans, this has gone beyond good clean sports and fun for the alums to a deadly serious business with far-reaching implications.

Stay tuned……………………..

Saturday, June 16, 2007

When some of us were in bed early last night, Brian took Rob and Jim out for “lunkers”. Well, they had quite a night – caught 16 big lake trout and actually landed 12 – all in 35-42” range and 35 pounds or more each. They were pretty pumped at breakfast.
Mark had predicted that everyone would slow down by day five and no one fished before 10:00 am today. I thought these guys would never get enough, but they are close to fishing saturation.
The only success for catching the really large lakers is by being with Brian. So, our tour coordinator (Mark) decides that we will split Brian into the two remaining afternoons and evenings – two in his boat each time. There are still nine who have not yet gone with Brian – someone (me?) will draw a short straw. That little issue will be Mark’s to solve tomorrow – the last day.
Amazingly, everyone comes in for lunch and Sharon does a wonderful wienie roast. This writer opts not to fish in the afternoon as my morning boat mate fishes with Brian for the afternoon. He and Eric “only” catch three lunkers. I luxuriously loaf, read, nap and sunbathe. I’m happy to learn that the fishing is very slow and I did not miss much.
There are two signs that this journal will end soon – guys (Rob) are starting to ask what I’m writing about them and my bottle of Jameson (“journal fuel”) is nearly gone.
Tonight Bob and Brent go out with Brian. Sadly, the wind comes up, the temperature drops and it’s too rough to fish. We go to the hot tub instead and it feels terrific.
Let me tell you about the “Veneer Guys” - six including Mark. It’s cool how well they get along and enjoy each other’s company. I think it’s unusual for co-workers and nice to see. The ball busting is 24/7. They usually sit together at the dining table. Here they are:

Jim – The party guy and most die-hard fisherman. Always laughing, likes a beer or two but definitely the father figure. He wears well. Also, catches lots of fish!

Rob – Very even temper, always good natured and friendly. He could be a truly nice guy if he wasn’t a Penn State fan. My guess is at Allegheny Veneer he cracks the whip and keeps them organized and (mostly) out of trouble. Likes to fish too.

Brent – The most agreeable out of an agreeable group. Very friendly, talks to everyone and easily fits in. Ready to go back on the lake 24/7. Likes to fish too.

Teddy – Strong silent type but also quite friendly. Never without a smile. Always bright sunburn and happy. Probably does all the work in West Virginia. Likes to fish too.

Kenton – Fascinating guy to talk to. Deeply religious – no swearing, gambling, etc. You can get an earful from the others, but not around Ken. From a huge family and lives in Pottsdam, New York. Fun to spend time with. Loves sports and loves to fish too.

Enough for tonight – tomorrow (or Monday) the rest of the bunch!
Whoops – almost forgot one very important detail (David would never forgive). Mark’s younger son, David, caught a world record whitefish for the 14-year-old category. This is technical stuff but basically on light tackle the record was 2 pounds, 3 ounces. His fish is 3 pounds, 8 ounces and 22” long. He is so excited that he badgers Brian about how to make sure he is properly entered into the record book. Pictures are taken and all details chronicled. Hopefully, his record certification will be on the lodge wall next year. Dude, he is really stoked!!!!!

Brent and his best catch

Kenton's turn

Nice Pike Rob

Eric, Mark and Ed in front of our cabin

The Veneer Gold Guys table

Eric and a sudden 2 inch hailstorm

Brian traps wolverines & cougars in the off season (for sale @ $1650.00 each)

Friday, June 15, 2007

If I had not seen photos, it truly would have been “the biggest fish story”. On top of that, Brian claims this to be the earliest he has seen fish this big caught. The lake trout (several) were in the 40”/35-37# range. These fish are 40-50 years old and fragile so Brian does not allow them out of the water long enough to weigh or measure (“don’t fall in love”), so the photos speak for themselves. Bart and Mark caught two each but you will have to ask them yourself whose was the biggest.
Now the bad news…..they were so proud and full of shots of “fireball” that they carried on loudly at the fire pit outside my door very late/very loud/very long ‘til the wee hours (can you blame them?).
Fishing in the middle of the night is routine here and boats sometimes leave the dock as late as 9:00 or 10:00 pm.
The smart eat a lighter breakfast today because we have a “shore lunch” again. We are instructed to bring three trout and three pike to be cooked. The lake is strangely quiet, glassy, beautiful and no fish biting. Several boats come in empty at noon – very unusual. Katie the maid, housekeeper, assistant cook and basic charmer, humbles us (again) by catching pike from shore for us to consume. Terrific chow as usual.
The afternoon also yields fewer fish than usual but it picks up later and I have my best day starting about 4:00 pm – 1 trout/14 pike. Go figure.
Tonight’s excitement is arm wrestling. Brian beats David, Mark beats Brian, Mark beats David and no one else will take on Mark. In my opinion, they are all in trouble when David grows all the way. He takes lots of abuse with good humor and unusual maturity for a 14-year old. (Everyone has expressed admiration for how well both boys turned out despite being related to Mark and raised on Tennessee propaganda.)
More boats going out as we older guys head to bed – don’t they ever get enough? (We had already been out there about 10 hours today…….)

Bart’s lake trout

Mark did your brother get a bigger trout?

Shore Lunch… Life is good

The eagles watched our shore luncheon

Brent plans his day while Marvin shops for the best lure

We caught a fish that swallowed a fish

“A Double” (AKA Two trout on at the same time)

Thursday, June 14 2007

Loren and I sat at the Allegheny Veneer table for breakfast so they wouldn’t be “their own clan”. These guys are fun – laughing at each other and Mark nonstop. I think I notice everyone moving a step slower every day but we are still all to the boats before 8:30. My partner today is Marvin, a Tennessee/Texas gentleman and great conversationalist, and the day passes quickly. We are the only boat back at the lodge for lunch which is a shame because we have huge hotdogs cooked over an open campfire. In the afternoon I catch a pike so large and lively that it breaks my rod in two (well at least it was true that my rod broke).
The Fighting Irish resurface for dinner when Katie serves Mark his dinner wearing a pretty green ND t-shirt with a beautiful shamrock on the front. I actually think I got the upper hand for a moment there. She actually is Irish and privately told me she looks much better in green than orange.
Most of the guys do want to go fishing again after dinner but wait for a sudden rainstorm to let up. Little rainstorms move around and over the lake at random – sometimes they go away and sometimes they just sit and threaten very unpredictably.
Mark and Ed claim they saw a white horse by the shore on the far side today. No one believes them although Bart does suggest maybe it was a unicorn (?). I suspect they stole my bottle of Jameson this afternoon and, being unable to handle good Irish whiskey, got hallucinations. (Brian later admitted that there is an albino moose in the region –be skeptical – Brian, after all, is a veteran ball buster too.)
While I was writing tonight, David paid me to write that he caught 27 trout and 81 pike today but later admitted it was really three and four. (See, David, you should have paid more – I am not that easy.)
Shooting pool, napping and beer are the sports of choice tonight. Ed is working on the award for longest and most naps.
Oh yeah…..Brent sucked Jim into opening the mousetrap booby-trapped little outhouse after dinner and he jumps so high he almost needs a real outhouse.
As I quit writing for the night at 9:00, Brian is taking the entire Lea clan out to teach them the right way to fish. Tempting, but bed looks more appealing to most of us. We’ll hear what, if anything, they catch at breakfast.

Katie dresses up for dinner

Mark tries unsucessfully to mask true beauty

Home away from home

Another exausting day of fishing

My favorite shot, water so glassy you need the boat to tell sky from lake surface