Hello again. Thank you for spending a few minutes here so that I may share some thoughts on our current circumstances.
The challenges of 2021 seem to continue without interruption. Finding enough workers is a significant problem that is only exceeded by our customers inability to get enough parts to keep their lines running. Chip shortages that are the result of limited capacity due to COVID shutdowns, combined with other critical part shortages, have some portion of our customers shutting down production on a near-weekly basis.
The result for the NAL team is a large negative impact to sales revenue. Accordingly, we are continually tightening our belts in an effort to weather the current storms. I greatly appreciate your patience as we closely manage expenses during this challenging time. The good news is that we know strong sales are on the horizon in the near term as the OEM’s will be looking to replenish their near-empty dealer lots throughout the country.
Finally, COVID and the accompanying delta variant are currently taking a toll on our Team Members and most of the communities where we work. We have seen COVID cases rise from essentially zero in June to over 250 cases in the last two months. You have likely heard that COVID has now become the “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Our recent experience seems to bear that out. In looking closely at the NAL Team Members positive cases, we see that out of the 256 cases during July and August only 33 were people who have been vaccinated. None of those vaccinated Team Members required hospitalization. Tragically, one of our unvaccinated co-workers who was hospitalized passed away recently. His family shared the following message while he was still in intensive care:
“Please keep praying and positive thoughts flowing. And if you’re still thinking about the vaccine then take a moment and give thought to your family members that may have to be in my shoes and not even really have a chance to say goodbye or have to make such hard decisions.”
I sincerely hope that none of your families go through anything remotely like this. As I have said numerous times before, the choice to be vaccinated is a personal one. There are people who seek to make this a political issue and there is a lot of misinformation and half-truths out there. Please don’t make your choice based on internet news, be it MSNBC, CNN, FOX or any of the others. Don’t make it based on what your friends, neighbors, or coworkers did. Please, make your decision based on your beliefs with significant input from your doctor. If you have not sought medical advice about vaccination, I encourage you in the strongest terms possible to consult with your physician and make a well-informed decision concerning the vaccine.
Thanks again for spending your time with me. I wish you all continued health and safety.
-Kirk Gadberry