‘New normal?’
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Kurt Johnson
Is this the “new normal?”
A combination of supply chain disruptions, workforce shortages, extreme wind and bizarre weather patterns are challenging business owners, managers and front-line workers all across our state and nation, creating day-to-day scenarios on the farm and in businesses large and small for which there is no established plan of action on how to respond.
That reality will become visible in the Aurora News-Register in the coming weeks as we face a dilemma unlike anything I’ve seen or heard about in a lifetime devoted to this industry. As of next week’s edition, we will not be able to print ANR pages, or any of the newspapers printed at our central print plant, in full color, due to a severe shortage of newsprint.
Long story short, the semi-load of product I ordered from a Chicago newsprint broker several months ago for delivery in early May is late. In fact, it may or may not arrive at our dock by early to mid-July, though we are projected to run out of the 2,000-pound rolls by the end of June. You do the math.
We have a pretty creative group of employees at the News-Register, confirmed by another strong showing last month in the Nebraska Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, but what we cannot do is print a newspaper without paper to roll through the press. We’re taking every step we can, which means tighter news holes and no full-color runs that typically waste newsprint as pressmen dial in the registration, a luxury we no longer have.
The answer I get when pressing for details defies logic, but in essence I and other publishers around the country are being told that there are production issues throughout mills in Canada and the United States which have created an “unprecedented market.” This situation is reportedly not a “supply chain issue” that’s been linked to everything from employee shortages to severe weather to COVID-19. It’s also apparently not delayed fallout from the blockade at the Canadian border we all watched on the news a few weeks back as truckers jammed bridges in protest of vaccine mandates.
The only answer given is that mills faced production issues several months ago and simply have not been able to catch up. The old-school mentality of hire more employees, run longer hours and do what you have to do to get the job done no longer applies, apparently, though again no-one seems able to answer the question as to why.
Worst-case scenario, if we aren’t able to get our shipment on time or find a short-term supply to carry us over, we’ll have no choice but to remove the paywall on our website and deliver the News-Register in digital format only. That’s an attractive, easy-to-use format many subscribers prefer in today’s world, but that should be a reader’s choice, not a sign of our times.
Unlike young mothers now desperate to find a reliable supply of formula to feed their babies, this is not a life-threatening issue, to be sure. But, it does reflect many, many conversations I’ve had in recent weeks with car dealers, construction workers and acquaintences from seemingly all walks of life. Such disruptions are simply unacceptable in the business world, though some would dismiss it as another symptom of the “new normal.”
I’m just not buying it.
Kurt Johnson
