Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

One of the things we enjoy at Red Wing Software is the extremely low turnover of team members. To illustrate that point, the average tenure of our entire staff is slightly over 20 years. I attribute this longevity to the fact that we have an amazing group of people working together focusing on “Creating the Best Management Software Experience” for our customers. The downside to all of this is when someone reaches the point they want to retire; they take with them a vast amount of institutional knowledge.
One such retirement will take place at the end of the year. Jim Long, our CEO/CFO, has decided it is time to move on to other passions. Jim started with the company in September of 1990, so he has over 30 years of guiding Red Wing Software and making it the company it is today.
I have always learned a lot from everyone I have ever worked with, and in Jim’s case, I could write a book on the knowledge he has shared with me. Anytime I was at the point of jumping off a cliff, I could count on Jim to talk me off the ledge and help keep me grounded.
In addition to Jim’s high-level leadership of the company, as CFO and a CPA, he was a valuable resource for anything financial. He also helped determine the direction for new software products and enhancements to existing programs. While he has done a great job of transferring knowledge to the next generation of team members, they will greatly miss his leadership.
We wish Jim the best in his new stage of life, playing golf, enjoying his grandkids, and doing whatever he likes in his newly found free time. When the country gets back to normal, and travel becomes a little easier, we hope to see Jim and his wife back in Red Wing for some golf and comradery. Please join me in thanking Jim for his leadership over the last 30 years.
With the holidays in full swing, now is a good time to remember all the important people in our lives. On behalf of Red Wing Software, I want to wish a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and prosperous New Year to our families, customers, co-workers, partners, vendors, friends, and especially all the people that help keep us safe and free.

Behind the Scenes - October 2020

Matt (Sales Consultant) and his wife Lizz spent a week visiting friends in Long Beach, MS.
Carole (Staff Accountant) enjoyed a beautiful fall ride with friends.
Ashley (Accounting Software Support Specialist) had an opportunity to try out her new snowblower earlier than expected and enjoyed a birthday manicure with daughter Paytin.
Katrina (Customer Service Representative) surprised her friend Sheila in Arizona after not seeing each other for five years! She then went to a wedding in Las Vegas for her friends.

Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

Every day, we all make important decisions that affect how our business will operate, and those decisions determine the path we want the business to follow. The same holds true for our local, state, and national elections. You get to determine your community, region, and country’s direction by exercising your right and responsibility to vote.
These decisions can be difficult because of all the confusing messages we hear, but we need to sift through the noise and try to get to the facts. We must look past the bumper sticker messages and look at the underlying philosophy of the candidates. What direction do they want to take the community, country, and world? We need to ignore the pundits that try to tell us what a candidate means from their perspective. After an interview, speech, or debate, one way to do this is, change the channel to something non-political, and decide for yourself whether the candidate is the kind of leader you would like to see guiding their respective geographic area.
Remember, whether your candidate wins his/her race, or the opposition comes out victorious, know that you will get another chance to vote in two more years. However things turn out, there is not a better place in the world to call home.

Notes from the President

Check all available information. One of the first things I learned when I started taking flying lessons was to “check all available information” pertaining to the flight you are about to take. This is obviously a good idea since once you leave the ground, it’s not easy to pull over and fix something you forgot to check before you left, like how much gas you have, or the conditions at your destination airport (Is the runway closed?).

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

Whenever you make any large decision that could affect your business success or other life-changing events, it is always good to check all available information. As an example, with the recently issued presidential memorandum about the payroll tax holiday, make sure you, and all employees, understand the real implications of deferring the withholding of the payroll tax. At the time of this writing, there are many unanswered questions regarding this memorandum, so while we all may have opinions on the topic, we need to make sure we have all available information before deciding whether to implement this deferral.
There are numerous examples of decisions that we regularly make that warrant checking all available information before making a final choice: What is the best brand of equipment to do the job? Is this new applicant the best person for the job? Who is the best choice to cast my vote for in the upcoming elections? Checking all available information before making those important decisions will help ensure the best outcome.

Notes from the President

Ken Hilton - President Red Wing Software

Cautious, but not fearful. I was having a conversation recently with our Red Wing Software CEO, Jim, and as often happens during these times, the subject of the pandemic came up. We discussed how we felt about the risk of contracting the virus and what steps we were taking to protect ourselves and others.
His response was he was “cautious but not fearful.” I thought that was a great attitude toward the pandemic, and many other things in life and business. When thinking about personal purchasing decisions and or major life-changing decisions, after doing the appropriate research, and making your decision, be cautious, but not fearful of your choice.
When making business decisions, such as taking on a new venture, investing in new modern equipment, or deciding when it’s time to hire additional employees, again, after doing the appropriate budgeting for the new project, evaluations of the new equipment, and interviewing and selecting the right people, move forward, and be cautious but not fearful.