A west Texas politician name Billy Clayton said that those from Texas have a mindset of “no retreat and no surrender” and he lamented the fact that more people around the world didn’t share that mindset. I agree with Mr. Clayton’s sentiments. That being said, I would say that Mr. Clayton has never met the employees of ESCO MFG. 2020 was a tough year all around, not only facing a global pandemic that has claimed more American lives than both the Pacific and European theaters in WWII but having to navigate and still be successful in an economy that is also ailing because of the disease.

I was reminded recently that it’s not when things are easy that we make our mark. It’s not when clients are coming to us with orders and the phones are ringing off the hook that we can show our dominating mindset. It’s times like this when things are difficult that we rise to the occasion, tell our friends to “hold our beer”, and we get done what needs to get done. Through three challenging quarters of 2020, we have shown as a company our dominating spirit. We will not be defeated by COVID, economic recession, or anything else because we will not retreat. We will keep pushing forward as a company. But where did that effort get us?

As a company 2019-2020 FY was our most successful year to date.  And despite facing these challenges, we are still in the hunt to achieve similar success.  ESCO is still going strong and that is thanks to the undying spirit of its hardworking employees and leadership that would never allow us to get into a negative mindset. Thanks 2020 for tempering us and helping us to not take for granted what we have. But now we move on, and look to a future that could be the brightest yet!