Simulation software by CX Technologies (www.cx-technologies.com)

“Geoff Forester photograph, courtesy of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund”.

Graphicast will be one of the presenting companies at this year’s spring conference of  New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility. We will be in a session entitled “What lessons has the recession taught us about business sustainability?” Graphicast was asked to participate in this conference based, in part, on how we dealt with the impact of the recession on our business.

We developed an action plan which we communicated to our employees early in 2009. In this plan, we indicated the steps we would follow  if certain situations occurred during the recession. These steps included cuts in discretionary spending, salary reductions, hour reductions, and temporary furloughs. As with many other manufacturing companies, by the spring of 2009 we were at the last step. We did have some voluntary furloughs late in the in the spring, but by mid summer everyone was back on the job. During the furlough period, Graphicast paid 100% of the health insurance costs of our furloughed employees. This allowed them to more easily sustain themselves while they were not working. As it turned out, many of the furloughed employees took advantage of this time to develop stronger relationships with their families and friends. They made the best of a difficult situation.

Several of our employees captured their thoughts and impressions of the furlough during a video interview conducted by Heartwood Media. This video was shown at the “Breakfast with the Best” celebration in February 2010. Take a look at what they had to say about their experiences with the recession.

Watch Val’s Presentation here.

Simulation software provided by CX Technologies (www.cx-technologies.com)