The new year is upon us, and it feels a little different this year compared to years past. I believe we can all say with some degree of certainty that we are going into 2021 with a great deal of reservation, along with our usual optimism. I am ever the optimist and 2020 tested the limits of my optimism daily, and I am happy to say that it is still in place. I am always excited about ushering in the new year, but this is the first time I can also say I am happy to usher last year out the door.
We cannot successfully move into this new year if we do not take a moment to reflect on what we learned and overcame in 2020. In business, we now have invisible threats to deal with. We found we need to be able to work from home, not share space, wear masks, use sanitizer constantly, not hoard toilet paper, and the list goes on. The obstacles of last year have opened our eyes and forced us to become more flexible and to prepare as best as we can for the unknown. We cannot move on from 2020 without understanding the value of employees, customers, and suppliers in our business who have toiled and triumphed alongside us through an unprecedented time as well.
2021 promises to be an exciting year for Mankato Packaging, and not just because we hope the pandemic gets behind us. We are working on many things to improve and get back on track, both internally as a company and with our many customers. We have hired new management and staff and are setting new directions for the company. We are looking at investing in new equipment, software, and ourselves. We are preparing for things we have never needed to do or have been capable of accomplishing in the past. We are also looking forward to improving our service levels every day going forward. We are using all the challenges from the past year as a tool to make for a stronger future in our business.
We at Mankato Packaging honestly love what we do. We look forward to starting this new year and seeing what changes come, to acquiring new technologies and capabilities, further current customer partnerships, serving new clients, and discovering ways that we can better ourselves as a team. The world of packaging is changing rapidly, and we are looking forward to changing with it.
Sincerely,
Doug Haynes, President
