2021 – A Year of Accomplishments

2021 was an interesting year, to say the absolute least! Despite the craziness we’ve all faced, 2021 has been an amazing year at Conner Industries. What’s made 2021 unique, however, is that our accomplishments have come in many different forms.

These accomplishments have come through success, but also through overcoming. Everyone knows that 2021 had a lot of unique hurdles! Rather than bunching these accomplishments together in a simple package, we’ll take the time today to go through 2021 chronologically. It was a whirlwind of a year – we think it’ll do us all some good if we go over all of the things we’ve done.

Out of everything that we did in 2021, four of our accomplishments stand above the rest. In the Spring of 2021, we moved to a brand new facility in Panama City, Florida. After this, the entire lumber industry saw its highest lumber prices in history, yet we continued to grow! In the Fall, and continuing today, we overcame the supply chain crisis. Lastly, Conner Industries turned 40, seeing amazing growth in an unpredictable year!

In May of 2021 Conner proudly moved to a new facility in Panama City, Florida. This new facility boasts improved technologies, 23,000 square feet of office and assembly area, and 16,000 additional square feet of enclosed storage. A huge upgrade from our previous facility! We’re extremely fortunate that this new facility provides both a fantastic work environment for our employees, as well as improved functionality across all fronts.

The biggest benefit of this facility isn’t improved technology or more space, however, its biggest improvement is in the ability to better serve our customers. With a new plant, our capability to serve our customers in Florida has drastically increased.

As our customers’ demands grow, so will we.

2021 was many things, kind to the lumber market was not one of them. During the same time as we moved to our new Panama City location, the price of lumber skyrocketed to its highest point in recorded history… WOW.

Thanks to quick and decisive decisions made by our executive team at Conner, we were able to navigate this tough market and continue to serve our customers. Although this proved to be a challenge to everyone in the lumber market, and to anyone trying to get their hands on lumber for that matter, these quick decisions by our executive team and tenacity from our sales team made this seemingly impossible situation something that Conner can look back on proudly.

Just when we thought we’d get a break… we didn’t. Rather than returning to normalcy, if anything can truly be called normal nowadays, we encountered the 2021 Supply Chain Crisis. What was unique about this challenge was that it wasn’t isolated to the lumber industry… we all got to go through it together!

Navigating a diminished transportation industry has been a challenge for all of us. Thankfully, our transportation team and sales assistants were consistently monitoring the situation. That being said, it definitely wasn’t a cakewalk. In fact, it was one of the toughest challenges of the year… We can proudly say today that despite these disruptions, business has never been better!

For many, the supply chain crisis has brought a halt to, or a significant drop in, business. We’re so fortunate to say that this hasn’t been the case for us. Continuing to grow despite an international crisis is nothing to laugh at. We consider it an amazing accomplishment.

Forty years for a business isn’t just a lot of time, it’s rare! In 2021, we were fortunate enough to celebrate FOUR DECADES of business at Conner.

Not only did this occasion mark a huge milestone, but it also marked the end of a very productive fiscal year! In FY21 Conner was able to convert $25 million of convertible debt into equity! These massive gains would be an amazing thing in any year, but to happen in 2021 is amazing (at least we think so).

Through these positive gains, we’ve come to realize something truly amazing. Based on our accomplishments through 2021, we’re projected to grow 12-15% through 2022! Many businesses have struggled to stay above water the last few years – We’re growing, and we’re very grateful.

We all knew going in that 2021 was never going to be a typical year, and it wasn’t! Conner had many successes, both in business and in overcoming challenges. Moving to a new facility, overcoming lumber prices, succeeding during the supply chain crisis, and turning 40 are all pretty big accomplishments.

There’s no doubt, this year was challenging, but we’re always up for a challenge. In 2022, we hope to overcome the challenges we can’t see quite yet and grow even more!