Written by SpringfieldMay 5, 2014 
Springfield employees and family members celebrate at Short’s Brewing Company’s 10 year anniversary party. Thanks Joe for creating over 90 jobs in northern Michigan! Thanks, too, for hiring a local contractor (that would be Springfield) to take care of your roofing, lighting, and fall protection needs.
Written by SpringfieldDecember 30, 2013 Springfield welcomes our 7 newest employees and is happy to contribute, in part, to the job creation statistics in Northern Michigan.
Employers were hard at work hiring in November, signaling the labor market’s gradual healing continues.
U.S. payrolls expanded by 203,000, the Labor Department reported on Friday, a total well above the gain of 180,000 economists had forecast.
The jobless rate, meanwhile, dropped to a five-year low of 7.0%. It had been expected to tick down to 7.2% from 7.3% in October.
The report also showed about 8,000 more jobs were added to […] Read More
Written by SpringfieldJune 27, 2013 Common Misconceptions……
I was told at a recent economic group function…….“You work at a roofing company specializing in flat roofs? Flat roofs are nothing but trouble in northern Michigan.”
To which I replied, “Flat roofing in Northern Michigan is alive and doing well, thanks to the Springfield SmartRoof™. Springfield has been repairing and re-roofing flat and low slope roofs for decades in and around the Traverse City and Cadillac Areas. Not a problem to have a flat roof if your project is in the hands of Springfield!!
Give us a call – we can help! Our reference list is long and outstanding!! 231-263-5300
Written by SpringfieldMay 28, 2013 Attention – all college grads looking for that all-star job:
Is being super smart and talented enough to land you that all-star job? Probably. Is being super smart and talented enough to allow you to keep that all-star job? NOPE. You also need to work harder than everyone else, read and research, and find a mentor who will be honest with you about your shortcomings…..
Find more here:
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/05/14/tips-for-new-grads-deloitte/
Written by SpringfieldAugust 29, 2012 We enjoy meeting and working with our clients in Grand Traverse, Wexford, and surrounding counties in Michigan. In the process of providing services, we do our best to get to know you – the business owner, as well as the products and services you represent. That way we can give you well deserved referrals to our friends and neighbors that we also do business with. We know that our clients in turn refer their friends to us and we truly appreciate the opportunity to serve more customers in beautiful northern Michigan.
It’s just another example of the dynamics of small businesses in Michigan. Together we can help each other survive and thrive.
Written by SpringfieldDecember 8, 2011 Bob Schultz, President and CEO of Bob Schultz and the New Home Sales Specialists, has this to say about surviving the construction downturn.
“No builder or sales organization has ever successfully navigated through difficult times by relying on hope. Recognizing that hope is not a strategy, wishing is not an action plan, and success in today’s market is not an accident is the first big step out of the cycle……..The sooner you get into the stage of proactive transformation, the more quickly you will take control of your business destiny and establish a foundation from which to navigate successfully through what lies ahead.”
For more on this topic, see Professional Builder, November 2011 page 50. http://editiondigital.net/publication/?i=88137
Written by SpringfieldNovember 23, 2011 Any small companies out there use the construction company version of QuickBooks Pro? We would love to hear your feedback.
Thank you so much!
Written by SpringfieldOctober 21, 2011 Starting a business? Already have your own business? Either way, these questions are good ones to ask yourself. Found this article in the NRCA SmartBrief which is referenced a lot by our company. We wanted to share our findings with you. http://www.openforum.com/articles/10-most-crucial-business-questions?extlink=em-openf-SBdaily
Written by SpringfieldOctober 5, 2011 Leading Through Uncertainty: Lessons in Managing From the U.S. Military
Lessons small business owners can learn from the Military: Seize every opportunity – even when things don’t go as planned – – focus and adapt.
http://www.inc.com/articles/201109/chad-storlie-on-managing-with-commanders-intent.html
In times of uncertainty or crisis, does your leadership style step up to the challenge? What strategies do you use in your company when you encounter times of uncertainty? We would like to hear from you!
Written by SpringfieldSeptember 22, 2011 Edward Lowe Foundation is a Michigan foundation that develops educational programs for entrepreneurs including Economic Gardening. Economic Gardening is a bit of a buzz word in Michigan these days. It’s an effort to help second-stage businesses with success. Springfield Commercial Roofing is considered a second stage business. Past the start-up stage, a second stage business faces many challenges including recruiting and training individuals for management positions. Many times in a second stage business, the owner or company CEO realizes he or she has to “let go” of some of the responsibilities and form departments with managers who help run the company. Terry Umlor, CEO of Springfield Inc. has participated in retreats and CEO round tables at the Edward Lowe Foundation in Cassopolis, Michigan. Managers at Springfield have also attended leadership retreats.
The reason for the emphasis on helping small, second stage business growth: they produced more jobs in the 15 year period between 1993 and 2007 than any other business segment in the state (per Edward Lowe Foundation statistics). Here is another interesting statistic from Edward Lowe Foundation: in the 15 year period between 1993 and 2007 small second state companies (those that employ between 10 and 100 workers) added 137,249 jobs in Michigan while large companies (those that employ 500 or more workers) shed 257,585 jobs in the same time period.
I urge everyone reading this blog to go change the way you look at your neighborhood small business owners and support them whenever possible. Thank you!
Click on the link for more detailed information on Economic Gardening. http://www.edwardlowe.org/secondStage/economicGardening.elf
Sources for this article: Rich Haglund, Michigan Business Journal
