What were you doing this week four years ago right before we went into pandemic lockdown?

Lynnda and I attended the Marietta Chamber of Commerce dinner where Shale Crescent USA had an exhibit booth.

This past Monday we attended the Marietta Chamber of Commerce’s 109th annual dinner. Attendance is back to normal. The dinner is a huge local event with attendance of around 600 people. I was told only the Columbus Chamber has a larger event in Ohio.

Marietta usually has an excellent keynote speaker. This year Kerry Sanders, NBC News correspondent recently retired after 32 years, was the keynote speaker.

We watch NBC News periodically and watched the Today Show for years where many of his stories ran. Kerry imbedded with our troops on the front line in the Iraq War. He is known for his human-interest stories. Kerry reported honestly and told a great story. He was a positive voice in a sea of negativity.

Kerry made the point, our local TV, radio and newspapers are struggling and are still putting reporters in the field to get the story to us versus us getting all our news from the internet. He said local media need our support. Kerry made me think. It is easy to take local media for granted. In the morning the first thing Lynnda and I watch is the local news. We want to know what happened overnight and what the weather today will be. Are there accidents that will block our trip into town? How did our local and state sports teams do? Is there a special event at the civic center? We can’t get accurate local news on the internet in the detail we need. When local media report national and world news we tend to get reporting not opinion. Give us the news. Report and tell the truth. We can figure out the rest.

News is available on the internet. How do we know how accurate it is? We have no idea who wrote the story. On local news we know who the reporter is and can look them in the eye? In local newspapers we know who the reporter is and can even reach out to them. Local media people understand our region and the people who live here.

We didn’t spend much time watching election results on super Tuesday. Lynnda was flipping channels. On one network a “talking head” was upset Americans thought the poor economy was a major issue. He claimed we didn’t understand how good the economy is remarking, Inflation is down, unemployment is down, wages and the stock market are up. He accused Americans of having a poor memory who can’t remember how “bad” it was 4 years ago or understand how “good” things are now. Apparently, he doesn’t leave Washington, DC, do grocery shopping, pay bills or talk to real people in the heartland. He doesn’t understand how high interest rates impact Americans with debt or who want to buy a home. Vacations cost more. This talking head lives in a different world than we do and makes more money than most of us peons. His comments upset me and probably many other Americans, the “customers” or maybe now former customers of his network.

There is the economy and there is our personal economy. My memory is very good. My checkbook is not so good. Water, sewage, trash, electricity and grocery bills have increased. Services like haircuts have increased. Our electric bill is up over $100 per month. Four years ago, in March I paid $1.99 a gallon for gasoline. Today I paid $3.39 per gallon. Energy prices impact everything, especially food. This TV talking head should do what successful leaders do, get out of the office, talk to people and find reality. If he is sincere and keeps an open mind, visiting with people around the country will tell him how the economy really is instead of sitting in DC and insulting most American voters.

As a corporate manager I learned how important it is for a leader to spend time with their people instead of staying in the office looking at numbers. Then, one of the biggest challenges we had was getting

equipment from Houston that would work in the mountains and sometimes narrow roads of our region. Houston couldn’t understand why large tractor trailers wouldn’t work here like in Texas.

After losing the battle with my boss and Houston we got their new equipment. The boss showed up unexpectedly for breakfast where our field crews ate. Our field people were direct and honest. They didn’t know my boss. When he asked, “What do you think of the new equipment?” The supervisor gave him an ear full, “I would like to meet the idiot who designed it.” My boss responded, “You’re looking at him.” To his credit my boss wanted the truth and was willing to get out of the office to find it. After breakfast he showed up at my office to say, “I’m sorry. You were right.” We got the changes we needed. My boss was willing to get out and talk to people in the field. He earned our respect.

Text messages, email and phones are all useful tools. In most business and personal relationships, face to face communication with our spouse, children, customers, employees and co-workers are essential. Plastic News annually recognizes the Top 10 Best Places to Work. In-person regular communication between employees and leadership is a common factor with all of these companies. Recently, I met with a plant manager who had only a 1% turnover rate. Spending time out of the office with employees at all levels is his secret.

Understanding customers and employees through effective communication is essential for business success as is understanding our family members for relational success. Our local media understand our region and people who live here better than national media and the internet. They deserve our support.

Greg Kozera, gkozera@shalecrescentusa.com, is the director of marketing and sales for Shale Crescent USA, www.shalecrescentusa.com. He is a professional engineer with a master’s in environmental engineering and over 40 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is a professional speaker and author of four books and numerous published articles.