People ...

On June 21, 2010 I attended the Marion County Economic Outlook Luncheon in Marion SC.

Quotes from the program:

• “The Beneteau USA Marion workforce has accomplished a truly exceptional feat in the past six months; a complete plant transformation to result in the only facility in the world with everything under one roof, from a CNC driven woodshop linked to a single-line, continuous flow, lean manufacturing machine. This major achievement proves that our team of creators of floating dreams is truly world class.”


Wayne Burdick, President, Beneteau USA

• “I believe that success begins and ends with the people on your team. Some people believe that the quality of the processes you put in place in your business determines whether or not you will be successful. I agree that effective processes are very important; but, it takes great people to establish great processes. Great people put great processes in place; then, they execute and continuously improve those processes every day. I believe our workforce at ArvinMeritor Mullins – our team – wants to succeed. I am grateful for them every day.”


Steve Mount, Site Manager, ArvinMeritor

• “Marion County has a State-wide reputation for having a skilled workforce. This reputation is earned. In less than six months, the skill, commitment, and learning curve of our workforce in Mullins has allowed us to go from installing our first machine to producing 10 million diapers monthly.”


Colin Brown, III, President, Supremes, LLC

The emphasis on people - workforce by the speakers gives me a chance to share one of the Metaphors for 21st Century (M21C). In the ISCORPIO diagram the southwest petal identifies people as one of the facets that are essential to a healthy paradigm. The various facets are identified at http://www.bcswonline.com/new/m21c_rotatingbanner_described/4C.htm.  Note People align with the Northeast Spirit facet. People and Spirit combine to raise everything to its highest potential. These along with the concept of “Quality” as defined below are the intangibles that create a healthy paradigm.

“Quality comes from Ownership and Integrity with appropriate Resources in a healthy Paradigm – lhb”

The emphasis on great People aligns with the concept of Ownership and Integrity. Mr. Mount discussed the findings of Ford Motor Company research which found it was not the processes but the commitment of the people to execute the processes that set them apart from others. This research strengthens the concept of Quality above. He went on to point out that “winning team” is Dedicated, Resourceful and Effective.

I was impressed with the positive vibes from this Marion County Progress session and the new companies emphasizing the quality of the Marion County Workforce. Even though Marion County is the leader in un-employment in SC, there is a Quality Workforce available; potential companies take note!
I hope this blog confirms the importance of people and other concepts discussed in my blogs and website.