Media coverage

As we've been busy preparing to leave, we've had some great positive coverage from the media. It's nice to see our company get some well deserved kudos on all the good efforts its done in our global communities. If you didn't see the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Article yesterday, here's a link http://www.jsonline.com/business/94983129.html.

Also, our local WTMJ Channel 4 was at our corporate office earlier today and will be airing a segment on the news at 4pm and 10pm this evening in Milwaukee. Hopefully I'll be able to find a link after the airing to share with those outside the Milwaukee area.

I've received a great deal of well wishes from my colleagues over the last few days. I am honored to work with each and every one of them.

Introduction - Changing the lives of others

On January 12, 2010 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti at 4:53pm. Over 100,000 people lost their lives. Approximately 3 million people were in need of emergency aid after the earthquake. As I write this, these statistics seem impossible to comprehend.

In the weeks and months following this devastating earthquake, our company and its employees watched in awe as more details unfolded. There were calls and emails from so many at Briggs & Stratton wanting to know what we could do to help, from production workers, to office personnel and senior management. What was clear from the beginning is that we wanted to help and we would help, but we would need to wait until some of the incredible challenges Haiti faced were dealt with, like transportation and humanitarian efforts.

Even though I shouldn’t be surprised by the attention the earthquake received, I was incredibly touched by the outpouring of emotion from my coworkers. I remember 9/11. My phone never stopped ringing from folks wanting to help. In the end, the Company and our employees donated over $40,000 to the Red Cross Disaster Relief efforts. I remember Hurricane Katrina. Again, my phone didn’t stop ringing. We sent over 100 generators to help with those efforts. There are too many examples over the years to mention, but I have never been more proud to work for Briggs & Stratton than I am by this recent heartfelt willingness to help.

Now, it’s Haiti’s turn. We CAN help. In February 2010, Todd Teske and Harold Redman decided to donate an entire semi-trailer full of generators. That’s 240 units. Wow. So I began to think about how we get them to Haiti, and how we get them to those that need them most. I quickly realized that we could not do this alone and we would need to partner with an organization that is experienced with these types of efforts and is also located in Haiti. Bill Reitman came to the rescue on this one. Bill serves on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters, and recalled serving previously with a gentleman named Allan Klotsche, who had left corporate America 10 years ago to join Haiti Partners.. Bill connected me with Allan and I shared the news of our donation. Allan was speechless.

We began to work tirelessly to figure out logistics. We shipped the generators to our warehouse in Miami, which we lease from a company called Ceva. Ceva graciously donated the storage charge for the units. We then identified a carrier to donate the cost of transporting these units by boat to Port Au Prince, Haiti. It was nothing shy of incredible how much everyone wanted to help.

The units have been in customs in Port Au Prince for some time. The government in Haiti is far from recovered and these things take time. Patience has been key. The generators are slated to be released any day now. We have worked with Haiti Partners and the Pan American Development Foundation to identify the 240 recipients of these units, which consist of schools, clinics, churches and educational institutions. It is a labor of love to get these units distributed, as transportation is still difficult in Haiti.

I reached out to our service team here in Milwaukee to see if we had any service support in Haiti. We did not. In a matter of 24 hours, however, our team has put together a solution, and graciously donated all the service parts they felt would be needed and are working to identify a service provider in Haiti. It continually amazes me how great our people are.

Haiti Partners has graciously invited me to Haiti to represent Briggs & Stratton at a press conference, where they will recognize our donation. We will also visit with some of the recipients of our generators. I am humbled and honored to make this trip on behalf of our company. I will travel to Ft. Lauderdale on Monday, May 31 and depart for Port Au Prince Haiti on Tuesday, June 1 at 6am. I will return from Haiti on Friday, June 4.

This experience will be so incredible that I want to share it with everyone here at B&S so we can all know the difference we are making in the lives of others. I hope you will join me on my journey.

To learn more about Haiti Partners, go to http://www.haitipartners.org/.