Mike Johnson, Cox CEO
Next year will mark 60 years since the earliest days of what is now Cox Industries. What are the rules to insure a business, a marriage or even a life will last for 60 years? Do you think when my Grandmother’s father, Arthur Powell, decided to begin preserving wood in Columbia, South Carolina, in 1950, he pulled out the handbook and drafted the rules?
Of course not, in fact, little did he know his fledgling business would expand to Orangeburg in 1952 and two years later God would call him home. When Grandad and Great Uncle Coco moved to Orangeburg to stake their claim in this world, little did they know the business would have family members two generations later preserving their legacy.
In the latest edition of our company newsletter, we highlight our fifth strategy of “Sustainability”. When most of us hear the word, we think of recycling receptacles, the ‘Sustainable Forestry Initiative’, global warming or ‘Cap and Trade’ Legislation. In the vein of clarity, allow me to offer this definition, “providing stewardship to the world around you so that it is as good or better for future generations.” This stewardship certainly includes our environment, but it also includes so many other areas of humanity. For example, on Saturday, October 31st, we erected the wall on a Habitat for Humanity home that will forever improve the lives of three children. On an entirely different level, just a few weeks ago, we began a lean initiative program to save energy both improving our environment as well as securing jobs for the future. These examples probably do not seem, on the surface, how one would initially define ‘Sustainability.”
In the simplest form, when we drill down to the essence of decision-making, every decision is about the sustainability of one thing or another. It could be the life of a business, the preservation of humanity, the length of a marriage or one’s personal health and well-being.
There is no rulebook for this decision process. If there was, it would be thicker than the U.S. Tax Code and the proposed health care bill put together. It would be thicker than all the rule books ever written. As I see it, sustainability is about constantly preparing for the ever-changing rules that life presents us. Consider the difficulties of the last two years. The last two years have presented countless changes in our business, family and personal lives. We have faced trying economic events, political climate changes, shrinking retirement plans and untold internal stress. We are truly living in interesting times. Times in which decisions today will affect many future generations to come. This journey is yours. Reflect on the decisions you have made and take ownership in them. Now, prepare yourselves for the decisions you will have to make tomorrow and the next day.
Thanks to all of those that preceded us in ‘sustaining’ Cox for 60 years. Thanks for 60 years of sustainable decisions. Thanks Great-Granddad Powell for setting us off on this great journey.
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