Written by: John Phair, President & CEO
Part 4: 2012 and beyond, by John Phair
Holladay Properties is a great company.
It is great because we enjoy strong leadership at many levels and have long-term values intact. These values include:
- We never pay off or mistreat government officials or vendors although in almost every area, we work with them every single day.
- We don’t lie to each other or to outsiders.
- We treat others the way we want and expect to be treated.
Believe me, these principles are not easy to live by, but they permeate our company.
2012 was a transition year. Like “Survive to ”˜95” which was the 6th year of a real estate depression, I believe 2012 was the 5th year of this “survival cycle” dating back to late 2007. It has been tough.
But Holladay Properties is a survivor and we will thrive again. Maybe even a little in 2013. 2012 was the first year in the last five years that we have ended the year with more employees that we started. We have six new projects under construction. Our third party management continues on a steady growth curve. Our construction company had its fifth profitable year in a row. And we have started to retrain ourselves more aggressively by attending educational seminars, classes and continuing education in nearly all areas. I truly believe, our team is stronger at the end of this year than ever before — by making some really key personnel additions, but by mostly existing employees getting better — using technology, tools and experience to our advantage.
Sixty years! Six decades! That puts us in rare company — especially in the real estate development and management business. Why have we survived? Long-term relationships with capital sources remain a key — and we have many. Strategic decision making that has been mostly correct and our partners have a strong impetus to do it right — and change when necessary. We are no stranger to tough decision making. We have a few fumbles along the way that we have had to fix. And we will try not to make the same mistakes again.
Thanks to all for a good 2012.
Number 60 — something to be mighty proud of, but as our founder and mentor Wallace F. Holladay often said, “You are only as good as yesterday. The past is a stepping stone to the future.” And we are likely to be here another 60 years if we stick to our values and experience. And we will.