TASC CEO Blog

I don’t claim to be an economist, but I will use this space to relate and comment on what I hear and read regarding the economy.  At a recent United Way of Dane County Board Meeting I was fortunate to participate in a discussion with Dennis Winters, Chief Labor Economist for the State of Wisconsin regarding the current and near future status of our economy.

My takeaways from this discussion were as follows:

• Many of the Government’s economic measurements indicate that this is the worst recession since the 1930’s and the longest in duration in the post-war era.
• Many economic experts says we are at or near the bottom of this recession.  While there is always a risk of another dip, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.  And no, the light isn’t another train coming at us.
• Consumer confidence is climbing; however, industry is taking longer to turn around.
• Consensus among economists forecasts an upturn in the economy to occur in the late summer or early fall of 2009.  However, unemployment rates are not most likely to improve significantly until six to twelve months after the upturn occurs.
• A wild card in the recovery effort will be the banking situation.  Access to cash from banks must be available to businesses if they are to ramp up production, otherwise the slope of the expected upward trend will flatten.
• Now is the time to invest in human capital.  Increasing the level of competency in your organization pays off in any economy, but the current state of the economy makes it possible to invest at a lesser cost.
• Employees should be investing in themselves as well.  Employees making more than $30,000 annually are expected to have or pursue a secondary education along with specialized skills.

Thanks to continued strong growth in our revenue, TASC is weathering the economic storm just fine.  As always, we are focusing on operational effectiveness and efficiency.  Increasing “cash available to invest” is important for a company like TASC, a company which relies on its own resources and traditional banking to fund our growth (not a public company with no venture capital or private equity, etc.).  We are already making small operational adjustments that won’t reduce overall customer satisfaction, and we’re doing so to be best positioned for the short-term moves necessary to ensure long-term stability while enhancing TASC’s customer relationships.