Letter from the CEO

For decades, we have found that working with the future in mind creates a better present.

This sentiment became more popular for business at the 2019 Business Roundtable. Members of Fortune 500 companies agreed that the greatest business success will come from delivering long-term value, which requires support to the whole-customers, shareholders, employees, community, and the planet.

At Promega, we are experiencing the strength of that approach, and that’s been particularly clear in the COVID-19 climate. Our future-minded approach made a significant difference in our ability to deliver a strong and immediate response to a world that changed over a few weeks.

We’ve been able to respond to the unforeseen needs of the day-our research scientists immediately engaged our technologies in exploration of a COVID-19 antibody test, the operations team increased production exponentially and hundreds of our employees transitioned to working from home. All of this happened without sacrificing customer service or product delivery.

There are a multitude of practices that successfully enabled this enormous shift: investing in an infrastructure that accommodates at least 10–20 years of future planning; creating efficiencies and design in manufacturing that permits flexibility in both manual and automated systems; developing an emotional and social intelligence sensibility to keep us strong as the days become challenging; and cultivating a company culture where all individuals know their contributions truly matter.

But even with all of this, we could not have found success if not for one thing. This all took time and a willingness to do what we believed best for long-term business vs a short-term bottom line. We integrated this approach decades ago. Today, we benefit from deep institutional knowledge, sincere relationships and a belief that providing high-quality materials and systems is the most efficient (and effective) approach to business.

COVID-19 made us acutely aware of capability and connections of which we are tremendously grateful… and if anyone thinks a long-term approach doesn’t matter in the here and now…well, please reconsider!