Memorandum
July 1, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: COVID-19 Update
What’s new?
The number of coronavirus cases, unfortunately, keeps rising. All associates are encouraged to wear facemasks when moving outside of their normal work areas. Each branch manager should make the determination as to whether the branch associates are required to wear facemasks. This decision shall be based on the branch associates’ input and be in accordance with local guidelines and directives.
Trying harder
We have gotten a bit relaxed in two areas. Social distancing should continue to be strongly encouraged. More visitors seem to be entering our buildings, and limiting the number of visitors would be prudent. All visitors must have a specific purpose for entering, which could not be accomplished without an in-person visit. All visitors should be invited to wear facemasks if they need to enter.
Continuing policy
All those who have been working from home should continue to do so. All associates working in the field should try to stay away from our buildings as much as possible in order to practice social distancing.
Comfort level
No one should be made to feel uncomfortable for following the branch manager’s guidelines, whether or not the guidelines include mandatory use of facemasks. Every associate has their own comfort level. Some associates have certain concerns or circumstances that may not be known to others. Please be courteous and, above all, stay safe.
Travel
We strongly suggest that travel be kept to a minimum. We realize some travel is necessary. Managers are in the best position to determine the need for any travel and all travel should be approved by a manager.
Memorandum
May 4, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: COVID-19 Weekly Update
What’s new
An associate in Salt Lake came in contact with a third party who tested positive for the coronavirus. Out of an abundance of caution, the associate went home. Through testing procedures, it was determined that the associate did not have the coronavirus. A portion of the Salt Lake facility had shut down on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. The next day, the entire facility was open.
Donations
During an MH division manager meeting of April 28, several associates suggested that the entire company should be made aware of some donations made by the Company. Though it is typically not the Company practice to broadcast its charitable giving, an exception will be made in this case. Donations have been given to the food banks in Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, and Colorado.
Results
Last week sales for the month of April 2020 were provided. All of the April financial information is now available. Arnold made a profit, but the profit was less than plan and last year. However, in the current circumstances, it was a solid performance.
Thank you
As we are all aware, many states are in the process of reopening during the month of May 2020. Arnold will continue its current best practices to prevent the spread of the virus. Remember, continue to be diligent. Keep washing your hands frequently, practice social distancing, and wear masks and gloves, if you desire. Stay safe!
Memorandum
April 27, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: COVID-19 Weekly Update
What’s new
One associate and the spouse of a second associate have undergone coronavirus testing. The results were negative. In an abundance of caution and prior to obtaining the results, the lobby in the construction equipment building in Phoenix and the lobby and central area of the mining equipment building in Elko were closed and were thoroughly cleaned and sanitized.
Update
The Phoenix CE branch re-opened last Thursday. Our Elko building should fully re-open today.
New guy
Just last week Danny McGaugh started working for Arnold. He is the new branch manager for the Mining Equipment Division in Tucson. When he learned that the construction equipment associates in Tucson were fielding questions from Phoenix CE customers, he decided to get involved. He was so pleased with the good work of four of our associates (Ken Tachick, Brianna Torres, Ashley Kingston, and Wendy Jenkins), that he provided gift certificates to them. That is SILVER SERVICE® all around.
Re-openings
Some states are beginning to re-open. Arnold wants to continue the safe practices that are currently in place and will not re-open its lobbies right now.
Sales results
Under the current circumstances, gross sales for the month of April were solid. The sales exceeded last year’s, but were below budget and the mid-month estimates.
Thank you
Our safety procedures are working. Please continue to be diligent. Wash your hands, remain 6 feet apart, wear your gloves and facemasks, if you desire, and above all, stay safe. The CDC cautioned this weekend that in addition to fever, coughing, and fatigue, the following could also be signs of the coronavirus: chills, repeated shaking with chills, headache, sore throat, and a loss of taste or smell.
Please contact Dan Bletzacker if you need any cleaning supplies, gloves, or
Memorandum
April 20, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: COVID-19 Weekly Update
What’s new
We don’t have anything new to report to you that you haven’t heard recently so we’ll keep this short this week. We have still been very fortunate. To the best of our knowledge, no one at Arnold has tested positive for the coronavirus. We do need to inform you that the office and sales area of an Arnold branch was closed down for deep cleaning this morning. The spouse of one associate is being tested. The associates is self-isolating.
We are seeing a slowdown in the business. We have had some customers postpone or even cancel orders. The manufacturers have been impacted by some temporary shutdowns and it is taking time for those facilities to ramp back up to full production. It appears that the recovery will be slow and gradual rather than a quick bounce back. It is expected that there will be periods of increased cases of the virus.
Think Safety
Our greatest desire is for the safety of every associate and her or his family. We need to continue to do all the things that will keep us safe. Included in that are social distancing, frequent handwashing, covering you mouth when coughing and sneezing, cleaning and disinfecting all around you, wearing face masks as appropriate, etc.
THANK YOU!
Thank you for practicing SILVER SERVICE®. Thank you again for your great support of our customers, vendors, communities, and company.
Memorandum
April 13, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: COVID-19 Weekly Update
THANK YOU!
We would like to start by giving you all a big THANK YOU for all you are doing during this challenging time.
To the best of our knowledge, we’ve gotten through another week without anyone in the company testing positive for coronavirus. As some of you may know, last Friday Kayden awoke with a bit of a dry throat. He went through his normal morning routine and when he arrived at the office at the company, his throat was still feeling a little dry. He then decided he needed to follow the advice we have been giving all of you. He left the building before anyone else arrived and worked from home for the day. He is feeling fine today and at work in the office.
Think Safety
There has been a lot of discussion and information about the benefit of using facemasks. The company is not requiring facemasks but they are certainly allowed. We have included some information from the CDC and others about facemasks, their use and care (see below and attached). We hope this will be helpful.
Please contact Dan Bletzacker if you have a need for any cleaning supplies and he will attempt to help you source them.
Summary
Thank you again for your great support of our customers, vendors, and communities. Thank you for practicing SILVER SERVICE®
Our greatest desire is that all the Arnold Machinery Company associates and family members remain safe.
Facemask information
While the CDC still does not recommend wearing N95 masks or surgical face masks because those masks are in short supply and need to be left for hospital staff members and first responders, they do recommend wearing cloth face coverings in public settings when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
What is a facemask used for:
Facemasks help limit the spread of germs. When someone talks, coughs, or sneezes, they may release tiny drops into the air that can infect others. A facemask also protects the wearer’s nose and mouth from splashes or sprays of body fluids.
How to put on a facemask:
Clean your hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer before touching the mask
Remove mask from the box and be sure there are no obvious tears or holes in either side of the mask
Determine which side of the mask is the top.
Determine which side of the mask is the front.
Face Mask with Ear Loops: Hold the mask by the ear loops. Place a loop around each ear. Face Mask with Ties: Bring the mask to your nose level and place the ties over the crown of your head and secure with a bow.
How to remove a facemask:
Clean your hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer before touching the mask. Avoid touching the front of the mask. The front of the mask is contaminated. Only touch the ear loops/ties/band.
Throw the mask away if disposable; throw the mask in the washer if not disposable.
Clean your hands with soap and water or hand sanitizer.
How should I clean my mask?
It is suggested that homemade face coverings should be washed with soap and water, just like any other piece of clothing. There are no special recommendations for laundering fabric masks, but it is recommended to wash homemade masks in a regular washing machine with detergent and warm water before drying the masks in a dryer on a high setting, if possible. Masks can also be air-dried in sunlight.
How often should I clean my mask?
It is recommended to wash face coverings at least once a day or have two face coverings on hand, so that one can be worn while the other is being washed. It is important to dry your mask thoroughly before reuse. If a mask is wet or soiled, it should not be worn.
The CDC says that homemade face coverings can help prevent asymptomatic people from inadvertently transmitting COVID-19 to others. Masks should not be used as a replacement for other social distancing measures and people should remain at home, whenever possible.
The best way to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to keep following the strict social distancing guidelines. When you’re in public for essential activities stay six feet away from other people. Continue to wash your hands and properly cover your coughs and sneezes.”
Memorandum
April 6, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: COVID-19 Weekly Update
THANK YOU!
We would like to start by giving you all a big THANK YOU! You have all stepped up in amazing ways to support our customers during this very trying and frightening time. We can’t say thank you enough. Our field service technicians have had additional challenges as they visit job sights. They have no idea the environment they are entering. The associates in the buildings at the parts counters and receptionists are also in constant contact with a wide variety of customers and others and are feeling concern.
It is not easy to continue working when things are so uncertain.
Think Safety
We continue to strongly encourage you be very careful. We all need to practice social distancing whenever possible. Please wash your hands frequently. Please clean around your work areas. That goes for every associate. Technicians need to clean the machine before and after performing the work. Remember to clean common areas such as door handles, light switches, the controls on the photocopiers, scanners, printers and telephones. Be sure to wipe down you cell phone frequently. Additional suggestions can be found at this link.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
Here is also a link to a video with additional explanation about the virus and how it may affect someone.
//www.businessinsider.com/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-symptoms-day-by-day-2020-3
The company does not require anyone to self-quarantine just because an associate has crossed state lines. We believe that most every state in which Arnold does business has some quarantine order in place. For that reason, we feel that crossing state lines does not add any significant risk for our associates.
It appears that it the coronavirus will be with us for quite a while. We have recently seen estimates that there will be a second wave in the fall and throughout the next winter. It is estimated that 60% of the US population will become infected.
So far, there are not any confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the company. There have been a number of scares and several associates have been tested.
We have worked with the branch managers to put plans in place in the event that someone in a branch tests positive. We just want to be prepared.
Manufacture Update
There have been some supply chain disruptions. Most of the manufactures have had plant closings. The parts availability doesn’t appear to have been as negatively impacted. Most all the Volvo manufacturing plants have been shut down. The delays are from one to four months. Hyster/Yale products for the most part are not delayed more than a few weeks, thought the big trucks from Europe will be delayed longer. There still aren’t many mining machines available from Hitachi for the North American market. Sandvik has also had some plant shutdowns.
Change and Adapt
We are continuing to learn how to operate in this environment. We continue to change and adapt as we learn new ways to do business.
The company remains strong financially. We are closely watching this. We have been working to strengthen our borrowing relationships. We are anticipating that customers will begin paying us more slowly but we haven’t seen much of that yet. We also expect some softening in sales. We are very focused on controlling expenses. The company had a strong quarter and year to date. We were having a strong quarter before the outbreak. We will discuss this more in the quarterly newsletter that will be issued in a couple of weeks.
Congress passed another bill called, CARES for Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. It will be beneficial for many if not most of the Arnold associates on a personal level. However, as a company Arnold does not qualify for any of the helps that are included in the bill. As we have said before, Arnold is too big to be small and too small to be big.
Thank you again for your great support of our customers, vendors, and communities. Thank you for practicing SILVER SERVICE®
Our greatest desire is that all the Arnold Machinery Company associates and family members remain safe.
Memorandum
March 30, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: COVID-19 Weekly Update
There are a few things to report this week. Communications have been coming out frequently as we implement changes and processes. Much of this has been led by the Material Handling Division. Thank you.
Arnold Machinery Company continues to be identified as an essential business and continues to stay open to support our customers. We have provided the appropriate associates with a letter from the company stating that. The product support and rental fleet business continues to be strong although we have seen a slowdown in unit sales in March.
We have greatly reduced the traffic in and out of the buildings.
On March 18, 2020, congress passed a tax law called “Families First Coronavirus Response Act”. There have been many questions about how the law effects Arnold Machinery Company. The law was intended to assist small businesses. It applies only to businesses with less than 500 employees. Arnold Machinery Company is currently considered a large business because we have about 560 associates. For this reason, the law does not currently apply to the company.
The company is adjusting the PAID SICK LEAVE policy for the balance of calendar year 2020 only.
All associates who were employed by the company on January 1, 2020 will receive 40 hours of additional paid sick leave. For associates who started after January 1, 2020, the first year accrual rules will apply with the only change being that you will accrue 2 hours for every 30 hours straight time worked until you reach a maximum of 96 hours. All other guidelines for PAID SICK LEAVE will remain in place.
As a reminder, here is an outline of those rules.
Paid sick leave is a benefit provided by Arnold Machinery Company for those who have a need to be off work because of injury or illness to you or a close family member. Misuse of Paid Sick Leave is in violation of our ethics policy and will be subject to discipline up to and including termination. Unused sick leave will not carry over into the next year.
And
Emergency Paid Sick Leave – 2 weeks of paid leave due to quarantine order, quarantine recommendation, to seek diagnosis, care for family member or child related to COVID-19. This would be available for all associates who have been employed at Arnold for at least 30 days.
Al taught us,
“I run Arnold Machinery Company on the belief that 98% of the people we deal with are honest, rather than worry about the 2% who are not.”
That is the position we are taking by increasing the paid sick leave for the balance of this year.
We will continue to communicate as additional information becomes available or it becomes necessary. Please feel free to contact us with questions or concerns.
We close this communication to all our associates with a quote from Al Richer found on page 30 of his book.
“All of the associates understand that the company’s success depends on the customer’s conviction that they will receive better service from Arnold Machinery than from their competitors.”
Please always remember to practice SILVER SERVICE®
Thank you for your continued support and efforts
Memorandum
March 23, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: Time off due to COVID-19
First and foremost, we hope that all our associates are healthy and well. We are committed to doing the right thing for the health and safety of our associates, customers, vendors and the communities where we do business. With that in mind, we strongly encourage all associates to be as careful on their off hours as they are at work. Personal contact while not at work should be carefully monitored and travel should be reduced to necessary travel only. We reserve the right to send you home without pay, if we believe that you have been careless in off work activities, which then makes you more of a risk to others.
We ask that you meet all outside visitors outside of the building. This would include vendors, suppliers, etc. if possible, and friends and relatives. These visits should be kept to a minimum.
It is our intent to communicate at least weekly as we all work thru the COVID-19 and related issues. In the last week, there have been several significate events. We won’t try to list all of them but they include an earthquake in the Salt Lake City area, the price of oil continuing to fall, the closure of non-essential business, the closure of some cities and states to all but essential services, and extreme stress on the economy. Speaking of extreme stress, we believe that many, if not all, Arnold associates are feeling some stress as well. We wish there was a way to calm everyone’s fears and concerns but that is not possible.
Our current understanding is that Arnold Machinery Company provides essential services and so remains open in all locations. To the best of our knowledge, no Arnold associates have contracted the coronavirus. A few have been tested with negative results. We will take appropriate corrective action if and when someone either tests positive or is quarantined because of some official directive as a result of COVID-19. We are encouraging all appropriate safety measures to prevent the spread of any illnesses including the virus. At the end of this memo are some guidelines for protecting yourself.
Many of our customers are still operating and counting on Arnold for continued support. Please be sure the customer is expecting you before you visit the customer. That would include visits for sales calls, PM’s, other repairs and maintenance and any other purpose for a visit. Most vendors are also operating and we are able to get the products needed to continue customer support.
There has been a lot of information and some misinformation as well related to COVID-19. We try to act on accurate information as it becomes available and is pertinent to our situation. There was a bill passed by Congress and the Senate earlier this week and has now been signed into law. It goes into effect in about two weeks. It currently does not apply to Arnold Machinery Company because we have more than 500 associates. Because we can’t possibly identify all possible concerns and events that may happen, we are dealing with each event as it is presented to us. There isn’t a solution to cover every situation. The answer to many questions currently being asked is, “We don’t know”.
We will continue to communicate as additional information becomes available or it becomes necessary. Please feel free to contact either Sam Luna, Jacob Remy or me with questions or concerns.
Thank you for your continued support and efforts
We have developed these guidelines as a beginning for controlling the virus risk.
Memorandum
March 16, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Kayden Bell and Arnie Richer
Re: Time off due to COVID-19
We recognize the COVID-19 issue is very fluid at this time and we are all concerned. Arnold Machinery Company will remain open until further notice. We continue to have customers that require support and we will provide it to the best of our ability. Some customers may not allow Arnold associates on the jobsite. That is the customer’s choice and therefore we may not be able to provide the level of support required in those cases.
Some associates may feel they need time off to deal with issues related to the virus. This may include not currently feeling well, concern of contacting the virus, family members needing support including children home from school, care and support for other family members, as we as other related issues. We will allow any associate to take whatever time off that may be necessary to work thru these issues. Any associate who is sick with a cold, flu, or other illness that can easily be transferred to others by close contact are strongly encouraged to stay home until you are no longer contagious. You will need to work out the details of the time off with your supervisor. Those associates will be required to first use any available sick time. They will then be required to use any available vacation time. Once sick and vacation time has been used the balance of the time off will be unpaid. Once the immediate threat of the virus has passed, we will expect most all associates to return to work.
We ask that all associates who are able and comfortable working to continue to work. The type of work we perform does not allow for many of our associates to work from home. There may be a need to try allowing some support staff to work from home but currently that is not the plan.
We are all anxious for this to pass as quickly as possible. We will continue to communicate as additional information becomes available or it becomes necessary. Please feel free to contact either Sam Luna, Jacob Remy or me with questions or concerns.
Thank you for your continued support and efforts
Memorandum
March 12, 2020
To: All Arnold Associates
From: Arnie Richer and Kayden Bell
Re: Travel Restrictions
In light of the current Coronavirus concern here in our country, the company is changing its travel guidelines. These changes are effective immediately or when you are back home from your current air travel. No one in the company should travel by airlines for company business unless it is approved in advance by your division president. If you currently have air travel booked beyond returning home, please contact your division president to discuss the purpose and make a decision to proceed or cancel. If you see a need to travel by air, discuss it with your division president and obtain approval before you book travel.
There are several reasons for this change.
We need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. It became very clear during my travel yesterday that the value of the trip was not worth the risk to others and the company. If we had to send everyone home at a location and try to work from home, it would adversely affect many people including other Arnold associates, our customers and vendors.
We certainly anticipate getting back to normal soon and appreciate your support in this matter.
Thanks
