I have seen lots of people walking their dogs during recent months. I have noticed that all these people have little white objects in their hands. They are white plastic bags. Some are filled with sh–, some are still empty. It gives a whole new meaning to true love. Dogs owners are willing to endure a “little sh–” for companionship. Yes, I still love cute little puppies.
When I was with the cookie company in Ripon, my office faced east and I could see a warehouse building with “Speed Queen” on it. Speed Queen for years employed hundreds (maybe a thousand) people at the peak of it’s business producing “washers and dryers”. The equipment was used in both residential and commercial establilshments. When the market got ugly in the late 1990’s, Speed Queen was losing money. There were layoffs and the parent company, Raytheon put the washer/dryer business up for sale.
The management of Speed Queen still believed in the business but it needed to be aggressive in the marketplace including buying of competitive lines and offering wider selections. Management had the skills and the entrepreneurial spirit. It needed money. It found Bain Capital in 1998. Bain invested $358 million and provided the impetus for launching forward believing in the management staff. The results are impressive. Today the company is known as Alliance Laundry Systems. It has over $500 million in annual sales and employs over 1600 people worldwide.
Who was the Chairman and CEO of Bain Capital? Yep, Mitt Romney. Romney made some money (shame on him), management made some money for taking major risk, employees benefited with more and better jobs and the property tax rates dropped in Ripon because the population of the city grew. So you might conclude that private equity investment can be “a good thing”?
Young people need to believe anything is possible and dreams can come true. It was across the street from my office.
Love,
Dad