b'Presidents MessageMRCAs Bright FutureUpdate of our Strategic Plan and Journey to the FutureLarry Marshall, MRCA PresidentT he early 1970s had been a time for growth and change at our family roofing and sheet metal business. A company culture of preparation and persistence had taken advantage of opportunity resulting in growing pains for ownership.I remember The Meeting was scheduled for 8:00 pm on Monday night two days before my father was to meet with The Bank. My brothers and sister finished dinner, cleaned the kitchen and went off to do the homework. Our family kitchen was about to be transformed to the company boardroom. The business meeting between my dad and mom was called to order.Dad was well prepared. He brought the financial reports, customer lists, past project data, inventory of materials and equipment, marketing/sales reports and information regarding our staff.Should we pursue significantly more complicated and challenging commercial roofing and architectural sheet metal projects? Do we have the leadership talent within our company to meet the expectations of the new customers? Is our sheet metal facility adequate to allow us to efficiently fabricate and compete? Do we have the financial strength to grow in a responsible manner? Can we grow and uphold our company heritage of providing top quality workmanship through our team of journeyman who feel appreciated and take pride in every project?Mom was an excellent listener and an outstanding judge of attitude and aptitude. She agreed with him that our small construction company had developed a solid reputation for being able to take on difficult projects and deliver exceptional results. She respected the key roofing and sheet metal tradesman that worked with dad.She acknowledged that the business, while profitable, would be stressed if we were to expand our capabilities. Her feeling was, if we followed a slow but steady strategy for controlled growth, the apparent weaknesses would become a strength.Mom agreed with dad that opportunity for growth had been earned by the consistent company commitment to quality workmanship performed in a safe and productive manner by crews that felt appreciated.The threats of our competition, need for a significant financial investment and the fear of the unknown did not intimidate her.The Meeting concluded with her informing dad that she believed in their American Dream vision. She told dad that our company could achieve success by continuing to work hard and smart. Mom agreed to sign the papers putting their home up as collateral to purchase a new facility, to invest in additional trucks/equipment and to guarantee payment on an expanded line-of-credit. Their journey to the future was moving forward.My mother, Elizabeth Anne Bette Marshall passed away from this life on March 8, 2015. She was our first woman in roofing. She was the Mother to our staff, the top Advisor to our President and the company Leader who pushed management to plan for the future, define our company mission and develop our strategic thinking process for the future.Your present MRCA Board of Directors, like our company in 1974, has recently conducted two sessions and developed a formal strategic planning document that answers the question What will MRCA look like over the next 10 years? The Board collectively articulated a vision and mission statement based on a SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats) analysis and developed an action plan that supports a strategy that supports growth based on a commitment to provide a return-on-investment focused on being ever relevant to our membership. Continued on page 54 www.mrca.orgMidwest Roofer'