Corridors To Capital
Business and community leaders could be forgiven
for thinking that the sky is falling in, in 2009; that we are in the midst of
unprecedented economic calamity and the worst economic slump since 1929. All the
news fit to print focuses on the negative and gloom rather than on the
principles that made America great.
Everyone from conservative Republicans to Ayn Rand
activists are bemoaning the current level of government intervention in the
economy, yet government intervention is necessary to restart the economy and the
partnership with business leaders will be critical to an early turnaround. It
cannot be achieved by the private sector alone; after all, the government was a
major component to creating the chaos in the first place. It is critical that
all economic stakeholders: business, government and community, work together to
support our new President and restore America’s prosperity as quickly as
possible.
We think that recent public comments from Jeffrey
Immelt, CEO of GE, an American icon, perfectly capture the essence of what we
need to do as a country to turnaround the American economy towards prosperity
again as quickly as possible.
Mr. Immelt opined that the current economic crisis
was a "reset," not a standard business cycle, and said he see’s three outcomes:
• specific industries will be restructured within
the next 6-12 months. For example, the financial services industry
• the intersection with government and business in
the U.S. and Europe will change for at least a generation; and
• we are now in an era of transparency that is
profoundly different than even six months ago. "That companies need to stand for
something beyond the bottom line is profound….. We are in an emotional, social
and economic reset".
Immelt also said, “people are afraid, especially
regarding financing and credit. We need strong leadership now to re-instill
confidence in people. It is critical to turn the fear, via strong leadership,
into self confidence”.
We, at Dartmouth Associates, fully subscribe to an
optimistic view of the American economy. Now is the time for smart, tough people
to be decisive, and they will flourish. The handwringers and harbingers of doom
shall not. There will be restructuring of inefficient, over-leveraged and
unprofitable businesses, but these will be opportunities for new entrants and
competitors to build stronger market presence and be well positioned for the
inevitable economic upturn. Now is the time for effective leadership to step
forward in political, business and community circles and work together to
instill optimism and confidence and see a major turnaround in the American
economy.
It is incisive analysis and rational thinking
resulting from the calm hands of experience, which will see businesses through
the current turmoil to a new bright future, just as it has always succeeded.
Becoming flustered or panicked into action will fail, just as it has always
failed. Whether the needs are capital solutions or calm experienced management
to navigate the corridor to capital, that is the difference that Dartmouth
Associates delivers to its clients.
We hope that you enjoyed reading this and we would
welcome any introductions to companies and their legal, accounting or banking
advisors where our deep expertise in capital structuring, operating turnarounds
and strategic business development may be mutually beneficial.