Contrary to popular belief, economic turndowns can produce significant benefits. From a business standpoint (and nonprofit organizations like TRP are businesses), recessions accomplish at least two things. First, leaders are forced to focus on core competencies and eliminate less important activities. Second, recessions tend to get rid of the incompetent, dishonest or marginal operators who clutter up the landscape with unrealistic offers that distort and often negate the efforts of solid, customer-focused organizations. Recently three deconstruction contractors closed their doors--two in California and one in Kansas City. They undercut the prices of reputable contractors and promised their clients the moon. In the end they could not pay their employees, subcontractors and vendors. Their existence over the final few years was based, not on providing excellent service at reasonable prices, but solely on strong demand. The strong economy kept them in business because legitimate operators could not fully meet the demand.

Strong, healthy businesses will weather this downturn and in the process become even more successful by focusing on their core competencies, improving efficiencies, cutting extraneous costs, hiring competent people and delivering better products and services to their customers.

Unfortunately, during good times most of us (me included) tend to focus externally, getting more business and taking advantage of new but often questionable opportunities. Only when markets turn down do we look inward and ask the tough questions: Who are our customers and what do they really want? What are we trying to do better that we should not be doing at all? What departments are not contributing? What assets are expendable? Which managers are true leaders and which are just along for the ride? What systems do we have that are obsolete or inefficient?

In November 2009, TRP held a planning session with its board of directors, advisors and managers. Rather than develop finite objectives for 2010, as we have done in the past, we established three committees to develop plans that address the questions posed above. The results of this work will come later. In the meantime, I can report that in addition to ongoing deconstruction training sessions in several parts of the U.S. and appearances at AltBuild and West Coast Green, TRP will focus on providing extraordinary customer service. As part of that effort, we are getting ready to launch a Kitchen Removal Program that targets homeowners and kitchen remodelers and will provide a level of service unheard of in the reuse business. For more information, contact Diana Pell at 510.385.5786.

For TRP, this will be a great year. Am I an optimist? Absolutely! But history has shown that recessions produce stronger companies with better, less expensive products and services. We plan to be among them!

2010 Reuse Contest
Our 2008 and 2009 reuse contests were so successful that we've decided to sponsor the competition annually. Every entrant receives a $25 gift certificate, and winners receive additional gift certificates worth up to $225 at TRP warehouses. Click here for more information and contest rules.

• AltBuild (Alternative Building Materials & Design Expo) May 7-8, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Ted Reiff will be speaking at one of the sessions. Stop by the TRP booth and sign up to participate in an astounding contest, the details of which are top secret for now. www.altbuildexpo.com
• West Coast Green. October 1-3, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco. This is one of the big Northern California green shows. TRP has participated for several years and will be there again this year. www.westcoastgreen.com