Notes from the President

07 October 2019 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

I seem to be writing about this month’s subject way too often this year. One of our Accounting Software Support Specialists, Ron Delaney, retired at the end of September. Ron was an employee early in the company’s history and started his second tenure with Red Wing Software in 2006. Many of you have likely talked to Ron as you migrated from our legacy products to CenterPoint, or when needing a little help using our products. I’m certain Ron will stay busy in his retirement attending his granddaughter’s soccer games and other activities. I hope to continue to see Ron at our regular Tuesday golf outings, and I know he’s been brushing up on his game as he’s won enough this summer to have to give up his amateur status. We wish Ron the best in his retirement, and he will certainly be missed.
On a related note, many of you have probably talked to Renae, the newest member of our Support team. Renae comes to us with accounting, payroll, business, and industry knowledge, and is quickly learning CenterPoint to help our customers get the most out of their software. We’re excited to have Renae as part of our team.

Notes from the President

05 September 2019 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

It’s hard to believe, but summer is almost over. While we’re busy year-round at Red Wing Software, it does seem to let up a little in late summer. This gives many of our dedicated employees a chance to take a few, well-earned, days off, travel a little, and get ready for a busy winter. Based on the number of calls we get on our support lines, many of our customers are also not spending as much time on their recordkeeping and financial analysis.
Now that many of us have had a chance to rejuvenate, it’s time to get back focused on our business. Let’s take some time to make sure all information is up to date. Check inventory and verify that accounts receivable are not getting old. It’s a great time to check actual financial information compared to the budget for the year. Are we on track with revenue, and are expenses in line with projections? If numbers are a little off, there may still be time left in the year to get things back on track.
I hope everyone has had a chance to have a little down time, and if you’ve had that opportunity, now is a great time to get back focused on the business.

Notes from the President

07 August 2019 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

As I write this article, my wife, Pam, and I are halfway through a road trip. We haven’t been on a long road trip for some time, and now I remember why, but that’s a story for another time. We decided to drive to a meeting of the Farm Financial Standards Council in Durham, NC so we could stop near Dayton, OH to visit some customers, and tour the Airforce Museum, and then circle back through Michigan’s upper peninsula and stop by to see some relatives near Detroit.
We have several customers in the Dayton area, and because of time constraints, we were only able to visit two. Our first stop was Bowman and Landes Turkeys. I had earlier contacted long-time customer Stan Landes to see if we could get a quick tour of the operation. He was out of town during our visit and had arranged for Drew Bowman to show us around. While we expected a quick tour, Drew spent about two and a half hours with us, showing us the entire impressive operation. They raise turkeys from two days old and are vertically integrated all the way to selling whole turkeys and numerous deli products in their on-farm retail store. Bowman and Landes Turkeys is a real success story now, having their fourth generation of family involved in the business. If you live in the area or just passing through, you need to stop and get some of their awesome products.
Our second visit was with Lavy Enterprises. They started using our software in 1982, one of our first customers ever. They have used many products before the release of CenterPoint and have used CenterPoint Accounting for Agriculture for their crop operation and sod farm, CenterPoint Accounting for their equipment repair business, and CenterPoint Fund Accounting to keep track of financial records for their church. Ivan showed us around their operation, Lisa explained how they use CenterPoint in their business (and had a couple suggestions on how we could improve their user experience, which we always welcome), and Gary showed us the small but high-tech and very capable airplane they use to travel the country. We were honored to share dinner with the Lavys at a popular small-town eatery and enjoyed time reminiscing about all the changes we have been through over the years.
One thing that we noticed about both operations, and we believe all successful long-term businesses, is the great people that own, manage, and work at these companies. At Red Wing Software, we too take pride in hiring the best people, and are proud to be known as “the friendliest software company on the planet”.

Notes from the President

02 July 2019 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

As I write this, we are approaching a very important date in the history of the United States. This may sound a little strange at first, but I choose not to celebrate the Fourth of July. Don’t get me wrong, our offices will be closed and I will be taking the day off. However, I will be celebrating Independence Day; it happens to be on July 4th.
I feel we have developed a tendency to recognize, observe, and celebrate dates rather than the events that made the dates important to us. So, while I think it is important to remember the special events that happened on a date, it is even more important to recognize why that date matters.
These thoughts can carry into your business management as well. Every day, week, month, and year we run a variety of financial reports to track how our business is operating. We look at a Balance Sheet and get a snapshot of the financial health of our business, but do we dig into it and determine what actually caused the changes on this report? We run an Income Statement, P&L, Statement of Farming Activities, or Statement of Revenue and Expenditures (depending on your type of organization), but, do we take the time to drill down and determine why the business is heading in the direction it is?
Every country and business has events and reports that they recognize and review at certain times of the year. Let’s make it a point to remember the reason we are running these reports, and especially the reason we are celebrating these dates.

Notes from the President

10 June 2019 khilton Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

This year the employees at Red Wing Software are celebrating forty years of providing software and related services to our customers. There have been an amazing number of changes over the years, and a few of the people that make Red Wing Software what it is, have seen virtually all of these changes. While we constantly look for new, talented people to join our team, we have been fortunate to have retained many of the people that had the vision to start this journey and help get our company off the ground forty years ago.
Throughout the year we will be organizing events that our employees, customers, and local community will have an opportunity to get involved in. One thing you may notice is a change in our logo for this year. You will see it on our website, advertising, and other places we use the logo. We have also asked our employees and customers to relate stories of how things have changed over the last forty years. We will share stories in our newsletters throughout the year.
We consider all of our customers and employees (past and present) a part of the history and success of Red Wing Software and wish to thank every one of you for the many years of support and service that you have given us.