December 1, 2020 – Aveka Group, Woodbury, MN 

This year has not been like any year in my life or in the life of the AVEKA Group.  Obviously, we have all struggled to get through a pandemic, social unrest, economic chaos, and a very divisive national election.  Earlier this year, I joked that we still have time for a meteor strike or an alien invasion to put the cap on the year.  

The issues I mentioned above relate to the world that we live in outside of our workplaces, but this year, these events did have a direct impact on the company and how we operate.  We have seen many of our customers slow down or pull back on their orders; many of us have worked from home; not an occasional day, but as a regular daily practice; and we have seen, most recently, that many of us have contracted COVID-19 and have quarantined for days at home prior to returning to work.

We have all been stressed by this pandemic, but I sense that we have found some solace in the fact that our jobs have not been curtailed and we do get the opportunity to interact with our fellow coworkers on a daily basis.  I also have seen quite a bit of resilience within the company as we continue to come to work and get the job done.  We have not been mentioned on the nightly news as heroes of the pandemic like our health care professionals or the grocery store employees, but we have been no less steadfast in doing our jobs.  Actually, we have been doing more than just our jobs this year, we have been exceeding in our jobs this year.  For instance, during the month of October, we had the highest sales for a month in the company’s history.  Even more encouraging, we have started to put together sales and budget projections for 2021 and we see the real possibility of record yearly sales for 2021 (almost 15% greater than any other year.)  

Some other highlights for the year have been the highest monthly sales for the research group, highest monthly sales for characterization, and for the first time a plant in Iowa has had over $1,000,000 in sales for a month.  All of these numbers would be cause for celebration in any economic environment and are almost astounding for one of the toughest economies in the past 100 years. 

Clearly, the big news for the world is the pandemic, but at AVEKA, this year, the big news is becoming a 100% ESOP and having our first full year as employee owners.  While we were somewhat distracted with the pandemic, we have started the ESOP adventure and did get our first valuation of the company and each of us received our first statement with our share allotment.  I was not disappointed with the first valuation and share price since I was sure that the share price would be lower due to the debt that we took on to buy out the founding shareholders.  I know that next year we will probably get a lower share price since our sales were down for the year and we installed a new spray dryer in Waukon!  What I am encouraged about for the future is the large increase in sales that we are projecting in 2021 that will positively affect our valuation and share price in 2022.  That darn brass ring is always a bit farther out than any of us immediate gratification junkies would like.  Still, an ESOP is not a sprint, but rather a marathon and an ESOP marathon is not run by any one individual, but must be run by everyone in the company.   This year we have added three outside Board Members to our Board of Directors to help us make sure that the company is working towards increasing company value for you, the Employee Shareholders.  This newsletter is also part of our ESOP journey and I hope that you find this newsletter informative and valuable.

I want to thank each of you for being an Employee Owner and I do hope that you catch the excitement of being a member of an ESOP company and can see how your contribution can benefit you and your fellow Employee Shareholders.  Please have a safe and happy holiday and never hesitate to contact me or any of the AVEKA Group management with comments, suggestions or questions.  

  ~Willie Hendrickson, CEO and Founder