A Letter from Teresa Russell – Happy New Year
Happy New Year!
Once upon a time, 90 years ago, a business was started by a thoughtful, reliable, humble man who knew how to build and sustain relationships. He knew how to listen to customers and to hear about their business and its needs. He knew how to listen to suppliers too. And with both, he built friendships and trust. The suppliers asked for his help to ensure their survival in spite of the looming Great Depression. With his knowledge of products and a bit about how to manage money in a business, he helped customers to buy the products they needed to run their business in a way that generated the cash to pay for the products. In turn, he paid the suppliers for their goods. He didn’t attempt to go it all alone; he asked a colleague to join he and his wife. Together they figured out what they could promise to both suppliers and customers and they kept those commitments. They said what they would do, then did it. They built trust. They built relationships. They built the foundations of WCP Solutions.
On March 1, 2020 we celebrate WCP Solution’s 90th anniversary and its founding by Richard (“RA”) and Amelia Abrams, my grandparents, as West Coast Paper Company. We celebrate our WCP “Family” of employees, our customers, and our suppliers for propelling our simple start as a supplier of packaging materials to merchants in Seattle to the success we are today across fourteen locations in six states!
At WCP, we believe in the power of relationships. While the winds of change blow stronger, disrupting industries, fueling start-up businesses, driving demands for social and governmental shifts, relationships and the conversations they require calm the storm, build resilience, and inform and drive change. People and their relationships enable success.
At WCP, we believe in the power of knowledge. While anyone can find just about anything on the internet, it takes time and knowledge. We believe that by offering expertise about products and their application within and across our chosen customers and industries, we save time for our customers. We believe that by gathering knowledge about customers and industries and the challenges and opportunities they face; we can collaborate to build solutions. People, their curiosity, and their knowledge enable success.
At WCP, we believe in the necessity of change and keeping up with, if not getting ahead of, the times. We believe in adopting technologies that improve our ability to serve customers, streamline operations, and create opportunities. We believe in encouraging and supporting our employees in every role as they push themselves to use the new technologies and put old ones to rest. We believe people, their desire for taking part in solutions and their belief in the future enable transformation, growth, and success.
At WCP, we believe in the future, in our customers, in our suppliers, in our WCP “Family”.
A lot has changed since we began in the “small” town of Seattle, in the scope of WCP’s geography, in the technology we use to conduct business, and in so many other ways. But the basics remain the same – we serve customers with a smile and in a way that benefits both them and us and do so with enthusiasm for and with a team of great co-workers.
Thank you for bringing us this far!
I believe you will take us further, to 100 years and beyond.
Sincerely,
Teresa Russell
Customer Enthusiast, Believer
Board Chairperson
