Blog/News

This year has been one like no other for us at Complemar.  In the past, when employees asked if they could work from home, we would wring our hands carefully weighing all the pros and cons, and then develop a strict set of rules by which to operate.   When the Pandemic hit this year, we simply asked all our office employees to work from home, without thought of rules.  Keeping all our associates safe became our primary objective; especially those who were working in our facilities doing the receiving, picking, packing, and shipping of our customers’ orders.  We physically divided associates into small teams with separate lunch and restroom facilities limiting their exposure to the rest of us in the company as much as possible.  Anyone who could work from home, including me, started doing so immediately. Our offices are mostly empty.

Surprise, surprise, no one skipped a beat.  Everything is getting done, maybe even better and more efficiently and employee morale is up. Thanks to our great IT team, our technology is working well. Most meetings are now conducted virtually, and we ask our team members to turn on their cameras to help us stay socially connected.

Office employees now working from home have seen increased efficiencies and we are much better with on-time attendance for meetings. Live meetings have been put on hold until this is over.  Instead, we are sending out regular video updates to keep everyone informed. When we were notified of COVID positive cases at our OKC and Sparks facilities, there were no other associates who tested positive.  We believe this lack of transmission was the result of careful adherence to the CDC guidelines (Watch your distance, Wear a mask and Wash your hands) and to temperature taking and rigorous cleaning protocols.

Fortunately, many of our existing customers are growing and new customers are signing up for our fulfillment services in response to the growth of their e-commerce businesses. Thankfully we have been able to expand our hours of operation to accommodate this increased demand. 

Nothing compares to the COVID-19 pandemic since the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918 that killed 675,000 Americans. We could learn from history; it came in waves just like we are experiencing now. People were asked to wash their hands, socially distance, and wear their masks.  There was resistance to following those simple rules and the result was 50 Million deaths over 2 years.

I know how very tired everyone is with the stringent rules we are being asked to follow, but the recent news of vaccines should give us all hope that the end is in sight. The steps that were taken early on to keep us safe have paid off on multiple fronts.  Most importantly, our employees and their family are healthy.  Additionally, our company has been able to receive, pick, pack, and ship our customers’ products throughout this pandemic and that keeps our company healthy.  Finally, shipping our customers’ products on time and accurately has resulted in the survival and health of their businesses.  There is much to be thankful for, our heroic health care workers, our brilliant scientists, our loyal essential workers all doing double duty to help the world get back to the “New Normal”.  We are all in this together. Stay safe.