It was a wild year, now what for goals?
This is the time of year many people make New Year’s resolutions. It was exactly one year ago in this column that I made the statement, “Do you have the courage to write your dream down on paper?” If we are serious about our resolutions and goals we need to write them down so that we can review them periodically and check our progress. It also puts our goals and dreams into our powerful subconscious mind that is always working. Writing a goal down turns it into a commitment rather than a whim or a wish.
I would never encourage you to do anything that I haven’t done or wouldn’t do. I have been writing my goals, personal and business, down for years. My goals deal with all areas of my life. For example, my goal was to run at least 3 half marathons and have one personal record (PR). I actually ran 4 half marathons but I didn’t achieve a PR. I also had a weight goal. I missed that one and will reset it for next year. I did succeed in spending more quality time with my wife, another goal. Last year at this time Shale Crescent USA had one lead and one foreign prospect that was looking to expand somewhere in the USA. We had discussed expansion with some local companies but we didn’t have much hard data to give them.
My written goal for Shale Crescent USA, one year ago, was to have 3 major leads and 2 local companies expanding or 2 companies moving to the Ohio Valley. I thought this was aiming high. We focused on this goal as a Team. Today, Shale Crescent USA has a total of 36 leads, expansions and prospects. Twelve of these are prospects, we are directly working with to come here or expand. Two local companies are expanding others are in process. One foreign company is coming to our Region. They are deciding on a site in Ohio or West Virginia. We had another company visit earlier this month. They liked what they saw. Written goals work.
In March, the IHSMarkit study Shale Crescent USA commissioned was released to the world at the World Petrochemical Conference (WPC) in Houston, Texas. We had a media call prior to the Conference. The formal release of the study results, telling the world Shale Crescent USA is the most profitable place on earth to build a petrochemical plant, happened on the main stage at WPC in front of 1,400 executives from around the world. For the first time in many years our Region was featured on the main stage at WPC. This was a huge accomplishment. We spent the entire week taking to executive level decision makers.
Shortly after WPC our marketing exploded. Yahoo Finance picked up one of our articles, added to it and called our Region “A 2nd Petrochemical Hub”. It went global. Wally Kandel, Shale Crescent USA Executive Committee Member and Senior VP of Solvay, was interviewed by Bloomberg TV’s Commodities Edge. The interview went global. Wally was also interviewed by Chemical Week Magazine, read by Executives around the world in the petrochemical industry. We have had print, radio and TV interviews. We have done presentations at numerous meetings and conferences. The conferences we have attended since WPC in places like Chicago and Houston have all generated leads and prospects. Recently Shale Crescent USA was featured on Comcast’s Newsmakers. It reaches 22 million households. Here is the link to the 7- minute interview. Thought you might enjoy it.
https://comcastnewsmakers.com/Videos/2018/12/16/Shale-Crescent-USA?autoPlay
In addition to high wage jobs coming to our Region and the economic growth they will bring, what can this mean to you and your business? Here are my thoughts;
Written goals are powerful. It takes courage to make a firm commitment because we have added the risk of failure.
Aim high. Even if you fall short you will be better off than setting low goals and achieving them.
Take action. Goals are worthless unless we do something to make them happen.
You can’t do it alone. Develop a Team. Shale Crescent USA’s success is a Team effort. People with different skills all working toward a common goal.
Find your passion. The entire Shale Crescent USA Executive Committee spends countless volunteer hours because they are passionate about bringing high wage jobs back to our Region and raising the standard of living for people here. We see this as a once in a generation opportunity.
My weight goal is hard for me to get passionate about and it is a struggle. I can get excited about running races with my daughter, spending quality time with my wife and seeing the Shale Crescent USA vision being achieved. These are the goals I met or exceeded.
As a high school coach and from years in corporate America I know that no matter how good the current year is, on January 1st no one cares about last year. My high school soccer team had a good season this year but next fall we are 0-0. Shale Crescent USA is already working on Study 2.0 for this year’s WPC. We are planning to attend some new conferences. Our marketing has brought us prospects. We are now a sales organization. One of my personal goals is to have at least 3 companies announce plans to expand or locate in The Crescent in 2019 and one company to start construction.
Success and the achievement of a big Dream doesn’t happen in a day. It happens by what we all do day by day. Have a Happy, Healthy, Safe and Successful 2019!
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Greg Kozera is the Director of Marketing for Shale Crescent USA www.shalecrescentusa.com. He has over 40 years of experience in the energy industry. He is a leadership expert with a Masters in Environmental Engineering and the author of four books and numerous published articles.