WisBusiness: Madison business owners offer advice for surviving ‘depression’

By Tracy Will

For WisBusiness.com

Property values are “too lousy to sell and too lousy to buy” for Madison developer Terrence Wall, who joined a panel of business officials at Edgewood College on Tuesday to describe how they are faring in what Wall termed the current “depression.”

“Nationally, we entered the recession deep and fast. This is a depression because of declining asset values,” Wall said. “Don’t be fooled by the recent blips in the stock and housing market. It’s part of the bottoming out process.”

Ray Riddle, co-owner of the high-tech firm Standard Imaging Inc, said his most important task in the recession was keeping staff engaged and leading by example.

“Employees can see where we are going. We also want to lead with science. We find value and truth that technology can solve a lot of the issues. Right now we are not trying to grow the business too quickly,” he said. “Not taking on too much debt has served us well.”

 

Madison planner and author Kay Plantes asked what the economy will look like when the recession is over.

Dave Boyer, CEO and co-owner of graphic arts printer MCD Inc., said,  “My vision is that when the economy begins to turn, it will be slow growth toward a new set point. A lot of the fast-paced economy is going to be gone. It will not be the same thing when it’s over.”

Developer Wall was pessimistic about government handling of the crisis and the long-term outlook.

“We have problems that will be with us for years to come. Government debt will tie up private lending. That has scared capital to the sidelines. Companies are terrified the government will wipe them out. The administration and Congress are not helping things; they are vilifying industry after industry. Business people are thinking, ‘Will my sector be next?’” Wall said, adding his solution was to have cash reserves sufficient to last for three years in preparation for riding out the storm.

Greg Dombrowski, president of Johnson Bank-Madison, said his FDIC assessments were helping to pay the cost of failed banks.

“The taxpayers are not the only ones bearing the cost of the government rescue. Our FDIC assessment has gone up. Other banks paying higher FDIC assessments are paying to bail out the other banks,” Dombrowski said.