วันพุธที่ 19 กันยายน พ.ศ. 2555

Ramey Kemp: Danger lurks at recession's end - bizjournals:

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But Ramey Kemp, the chairman of the transportation engineeriny firm that bears his has a message of caution forthosre folks: Counterintuitive as it may seem, the end of a recessiob can be as dangerous – or even more so for a company’s cash flow as the beginninf of a downturn. Here’s why: At the stary of an economic slowdown, revenue may still be flowint in from projects that were completedmonthsz ago. If entrepreneurs realizes that lean daysare ahead, they have time to start cutting costs while money is still cominb into the business.
Yet the opposite is true in a A revenue-starved company that suddenly beginw getting more work may have to expand its capacith by hiring more employees and buyinyg new equipment and inventory. That mean s money will be going out the door even though it likely would be months before clientxs start paying the bills forthat “In an upswing, it’s pretty exhaustinv to keep up with the cash flow on thesd things,” says Kemp. “Some firms get foolesd with this.” That’s one of the importantf lessons that Kemp has learned since he startedd in a home office inAugustf 1991.
Back then, his only othedr ”employee” was a skittish Persiamn cat named “Bonnie” – in honoer of Rhett Butler’s daughter in “Gonwe With the Wind.” Bonnie still prefers to work from home, thoughu the firm has long since moved into itsown headquarters. Kemp stilkl has plenty of companyu atthe office, though, thanks to the firm’ds 28 employees. They perform traffixc impact studies, signal design work and othee types of transportation design services for clients in both the publidc andprivate sectors. The firm generated $4.8 millionj in revenue last year, though Kemp projects that numberf to decline toaround $3.
5 million in 2009 due to the The company recently cut its expenses by layingy off about half-dozen employees. Ramey Kemp Associates has four offices and does work for clients inseveral states. Customers include commercial andresidential developers, schools and municipalities such as Wake Forest and Smithfield. “We’v e historically been more of a private-sector firm,” says Presidengt and Chief Executive Officer Montell About 60 percent ofthe company’s business comes from private-sector cliente – but that’s changing due to the and Kemp expects the public sector work to increas to about 60 percent next year.
Paul the director of the planning department for the townof Smithfield, says Rameuy Kemp does “excellent” work. The firm’s prices are “vergy competitive,” and Embler likes the fact that Kemp is conscientiousa about keeping the lines of communicationm open between the company andthe town. “That help s the project move along quicker,” Embler says. who joined the company full-time in assumed the title of president at the beginninf ofthis year. In additionm to serving as the firm’s chairman, Kemp also is its directodr ofbusiness development. Kemp is the majoritty owner ofthe company, while Irvin is the secondc largest stock holder.
Many other company employees own smallefr shares in the firm through its employes stockownership plan.

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