Note from Steve

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.  So wrote Charles Dickens in the opening of his book  A Tale of Two Cities.  He could have been describing the global economic situation and more closer to home, the wild swing in our industry.  From a robust, fully employed economy, with Wall Street at all time highs and a historic run up in the real estate market to a meltdown in our financial and real estate markets coupled with a doubling of our unemployment rate and a near collapse of the U.S. auto manufacturers, what a ride we have experienced.  Our industry typically immune to recessions and the swings of the economy unfortunately felt the pain of the downturn no different than the rest of the economy.  There are strong signs things have finally stabilized and we are now on our way to recovery but this year has been trying times to say the least.

At Vigon we certainly felt the pain of the downturn in business like everyone else.  Friends and family were hurt with layoffs and job cutbacks that made it painful for our families and worrisome for us.  However as a team we “weathered the storm” with our usual up-beat, make it happen attitudes.  We kept our spirits up and as a team continued to believe in each other, aggressively pursued change and innovation to continue to bring additional value to our customers, found ways to do more with less, and met the challenges that were put before us.  While we felt the pain of declining sales, we witnessed at the same time so many looking to figure out new and better ways of doings things.  It is these kinds of challenges that get us up every day excited about what the day ahead will bring as we relish the new and different.  It has been exciting to have so many of these opportunities to pursue.

If there is one thing that the last year has taught us is the same no longer works.  All businesses, even those successful,  now realize the challenges at hand and are looking to figure out better ways of delivering improved value to their market.  Whether that means better price, quality, service, systems or  whatever, it must be changed and it must be improved.  I believe Vigon is poised to do meet these challenges in our business as this is the culture we have at Vigon, one of change.  I am confident we are positioned to assist our customers to meet these challenges as well as it has been these abilities to do so in the past that has resulted in our unprecedented growth and being selected two years running to the INC Magazines  5000 Fastest Growing Companies .  Our continued improvement in our systems and recent upgrades in our logistics capabilities enabling us to offer as STANDARD SERVICE to ship in stock items same day, any pack size, with no minimum order as well as support sample fulfillment at the same level certainly proved advantageous to our customers during this time as mandated inventory cutbacks warranted just –in-time customer support.  Vigon’s breadth of product offering which was unprecedented prior, continued to expand with a new partnership established during this time with the French Manufacturing Company DRT and the marketing of their terpene derived products.  I believe we have maintained our usual friendly customer service and sales support during this time and attempted to cheer many of our customers up with our YIPPPEEE button and shouts of James Brown “I FEEL GOOD”.  We are Vigon felt good and we wished to share our feelings as well as some humor during a period where the News Reports and general persona of family and friends certainly wasn’t.

Well at the end of the day, we all survived as we always do unfortunately with some damage along the way with loss of jobs and financial damage to Wall Street and elsewhere.  Hopefully we have learned a lesson from the errors of our ways and the Tale of Two Cities we witnessed in such a short time so as to prevent the same from happening again.  Certainly the evils of Greed and Power of Wall Street is one we are more conscious of and will be vigilant to monitor in the future.  In the meantime, don’t forget to continue to use your YIPPPEEE button even as things improve as we know at Vigon the importance of the YIPPPEEE magic and the critical part it plays in keeping us smiling and happy and at the same time productive and successful.  So next time you need a little cheer or just need a smile ,do what we do at Vigon, think YIPPPEEE, think happy, think James Brown and Vigon, and say “YIPPPEEE, I FEEL GOOD” and let out a laugh and smile.  Life is too short not too.   

Vigon Partners with DRT

We are extremely pleased to announce that Vigon has established a strategic partnership with DRT, for the management and supply of the of their resin and terpene products in North America.

The Vigon/DRT partnership has been established in order to maximize the level of service that customers receive for the procurement of DRT resins and terpene products.  As part of this partnership, Vigon will be managing the sales, customer service, warehousing, and shipping of DRT resins and terpene products to customers in the North American market. 

Of the partnership, Steve Somers comments “We are confident that our customers will experience the value of working with Vigon on the DRT products as they do with our current product line such as our range of packaging options and same-day shipments.  Additionally, the addition of the DRT product line to our existing line of over 1,800 products further demonstrates our commitment to provide the flavor and fragrance industry with the broadest range of products possible”. 

Vigon Makes Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Companies in America, AGAIN!

For the second year in a row, Vigon has been included on the Inc. 5000 Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country.  The Inc. 5000 represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy today - America’s entrepreneurs and all of us at Vigon are pleased and honored to be a part of it again this year. “The Inc. 5000 is the best place to find out about young companies that are achieving success through a wide variety of unprecedented business models” said Inc. 5000 project manager Jim Melloan. “That’s why our list is so eagerly anticipated every year.”

“We are all extremely proud to have made the Inc. 5000 again, especially during these challenging economic times that we are all facing” said Steve Somers.  “I believe our growth is directly related to Vigon’s dedication and commitment to delivering a truly added-value product and service to the market.  We are honored to be a part of the Inc. 5000 and we thank our customers and partners for their belief in the value that Vigon provides”.

Summer Barbeque Enjoyed by All

It was a beautiful July day, sunny, warm, and the smell of grilled burgers and dogs was in the air!  We all took turns at the grill and everyone enjoyed some great food during our annual summer barbeque lunch.

Tammi Strunk and Dennis Dittrick enjoying a good burger.

The Chef's of the day.

Kick’n Bass was a Bass Kick’n for Us

The morning of our annual Kick’n Bass fishing trip started out rainy and gloomy as we left the dock but we all had smiles on our faces in anticipation of another fun fishing trip.  The fish didn’t seem too crazy about the rainy weather as we weren’t getting any bites in the bay, so the captain made the decision to move out into the Atlantic toward Long Island.  This was a good decision as we did wind up finding some fish but a bad decision for a few stomachs on board as we also found nine foot rolling waves!  Despite the rough seas (or because of them), many of us found that the best thing to do was to throw back a few cold beverages in order to counteract the swaying of the boat and wound up having a extremely good time.  Even those that were feeling a little under the weather managed to have a good time with all of the good cheer on board.  After many years of calm seas and sunshine, we were bound to have a day like this!

Larry Janowski caught the Largest Fish

Larry Zakreski caught the First Fish

New Hotbox Installed in Manufacturing

We recently installed a new and highly efficient high energy hot box in our manufacturing area.  This new hot box has an eight drum capacity and was collaboratively designed by our VP Operations Dennis Dittrick and an industrial oven manufacturer.  The unit utilizes a high temperature oven design to minimize energy losses and maximize heating performance.

Mike Loughlin loading a drum in the new hot box.

What I Did During My Summer Vacation

 Well, it’s that time of year again when everybody is talking about (or writing about if you are in 3^rd Grade) what they did during their summer vacation so we thought it would be fun to share with you some of the things that a few of the members of  the Yipppeee! Team did this summer.

Laura Campos, Tom McKain, Madision, Reilly, Madison and Cameron in South Carolina

Joe, Joe Jr. and Jeanessa Walsh in Times Square, NY.

Lucy, Mira, Miranda Wilcha in Washington DC.

Mike Biel in Las Vegas

 
Service Milestones

Since the previous issue of “What’s in the Air” and through November 2009, the following team members will reach milestones in their careers with Vigon.

Profile:

Todd Hearsey

We always say that we can have the best quality material at the best price, and market and sell it better than anyone, but if we can’t get it out the door to the customer when the customer needs it, none of it matters.  So did you ever wonder how we can get our high quality, well priced, uniquely marketed product out the door so quickly?   Well, a lot of it has to do with Todd Hearsey and his logistics team doing their magic!  Todd is Vigon’s Logistics Manager and in his position he is responsible for the flow of material within the the Vigon facility, including receiving the incoming material, moving it between the warehouse, production, the QC lab, and finally out the door via shipping - a huge responsibility, but one that is expertly handled by Todd and his team. 

Todd has been with Vigon for four years now coming to us from APR Supply, a plumbing, heating and air conditioning supply house where he was in charge of their Logistics operation.  Before he began his career
in logistics, Todd had been a Seventh Grade Social Studies teacher for three years after graduating from Ursinus College.

Todd moved from the Hershey PA area four years ago to join the Vigon team and now he and his wife Becky and two children Andrew 8, and Emma 6, live nearby in Effort PA.  When he is not managing the flow of material here at Vigon, Todd likes to spend time with his family camping, biking, hiking, and passing on his love of sports to his children by coaching Andrew’s baseball and Emma’s soccer team. Todd pitched and played third base on his college baseball team and his love of sports continues today through playing as much golf as possible (in order to get back down to his previous 6 handicap) and cheering on his beloved Phillies and his Eagles!

When asked what he likes most about working at Vigon, Todd answers “The challenges.  I love working hard with my team each day meeting the needs of the customers. I especially enjoyed working on the transition to our new distribution center this past year and seeing the benefits of the new building and systems providing such great value to our customers”.  Todd also enjoys the interaction that he has with the customers whether meeting them when they visit our facility or speaking with on the phone while helping them with a logistics issue.  He also comments on how much he enjoys the interaction with team members here at Vigon “another important and unique thing about working at Vigon is the openness and sharing of opinions that exists between the departments here.  I really believe that Vigon’s success is based on our ability to work so well as a team, and I truly enjoy being a part of that team”!

Employee News:

New Hires

We have a few new faces here at Vigon.  We would like to introduce you to the newest members of the team

Patrick Kunz
Production Specialist

Gerard Ross
Production Specialist

Robert Conlon
DRT Sales

Willy Izappi
Senior IT Specialist

Derrick Bommarito
Junior IT Specialist

Amin Chaudhry
Lab Technician

www.vigoninternational.com is Getting an Update!

Since we launched our website ten years ago, more and more of you are using it on a daily basis.  As always we appreciate the feedback that you have given us over the years and we are happy that so many of you are finding it to be a useful tool in your daily work by placing orders, ordering samples, or downloading documentation.  In an effort to make our site an even more useful and efficient tool for you, we are pleased to announce that we have recently updated the site including a brand new graphic design as well as a completely redesigned search and cart platform.  Based on your input, we have maintained much of the same content however we have improved the efficiency of the search and cart functionality.  Be sure to visit our newly redesigned site and let us know what you think.

www.vigoninternational.com

Vigon International Now on Facebook

If you haven’t already visited the Vigon Facebook page, make sure to do so soon and become a Fan!  We have photos posted of all current happenings and we’d love see some of you post some comments. Log on and become a fan!

Vigon International, Inc located in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania is a privately owned ISO 9001:2000 certified manufacturer and supplier of high quality flavors, fragrances and ingredients. The company also develops and maintains unique strategic partnerships with larger ingredient suppliers providing ingredients and servicing customers in select flavor and fragrance market segments. Vigon’s products encompass over 1,800 items including essential oils, oleoresins, botanical extracts, and natural and synthetic aroma chemicals. The company’s comprehensive manufacturing capabilities coupled with their ability to successfully partner with major multinational flavor and fragrance houses has firmly established Vigon as one of the most progressive companies in the industry. If you’re interested in partnering with a flavor and fragrance company that is focused on your success, contact us at:

Tel:1-877-VIGON-39

Fax:1-877-VIGON-14

E-Mail:sales@vigoninternational.com

Web Site:www.vigoninternational.com