Eli Whitney here ... 3:00 in the a.m. and just in from a long, long delayed flight from Chicago O'Hare. So please don't expect depth and insight. I just have a quick thought for you and I'm on my way to dreaming of closed orders and happy customers.

We have three good outside sales people ... Jorge, Dave and Kenny. And we have three good inside sales people ... Dale, Marla and Jen ... and I do my best at a little of both. We have associations and relationships with many good distributor salespeople and, for this, we are blessed. They are good because they apply themselves to their profession and go at each day with enthusiasm and a solid work ethic.

There was an article in Thursday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (from whence I just came) about the 10 hardest-to-fill jobs in the U.S. in 2007. Any guesses? Yep, the #1 hardest-to-fill job is the Sales Representative. The article quotes a job search company executive who maintains, "The good people are always going to be busy working, which makes them harder to find." The article discusses a talent gap and the necessity for digging deeper in the skilled worker pool to find the best candidates for openings.

We just finished the process of recruiting and training Kenny Roberge, with Midwest introductions this week in the Chicago and Milwaukee areas. It is good to be done with it and we are pleased with our success. He recognizes, and I'm sure that each of you do, that your value as a professional sales representative is huge to your company. Give yourself a pat on the back ... and have a great Friday.