March 17, 2020
Brainerd, MN—CJK Group is committed to protecting our employees and responding to updates from Federal, State, and Local officials. We have consulted multiple organizations and experts to ensure we are developing recommended procedures and communications policies with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. First and most importantly, we are maintaining a vigilant watch on the situation as it spreads across the U.S. and in other countries, and are taking the appropriate actions to continue providing our employees with a safe and healthy working environment. We have made the decision to cancel non-essential travel for our team members, to limit in-person meetings to small groups where adequate distance between people can be maintained, and we have allowed remote working when possible.
The spread of COVID-19 has not yet impacted our production facilities, workforce, supply chain, or logistics. We have taken steps to monitor the situation at each of our locations and continue to educate our workforce by directly communicating prevention measures to our employees and posting updates from the CDC, the World Health Organization, and other regulatory agencies related to the COVID-19 outbreak. In the event that any one of our sites is impacted by COVID-19, we will take advantage of the full breadth of CJK Group’s print facilities across the U.S. to ensure that all client production expectations are met. Our manufacturing platform includes redundant print and bindery capacity. The teams across the country meet virtually on a daily basis to review load planning, capacity bottlenecks, and specific delivery requirements at each facility.
With regard to our content services and online hosting business, we have been preparing for the possibility of 100% of the Sheridan Journal Services and Sheridan PubFactory operations to move to full telecommuting and operate as virtual businesses. Subsequently, based on announcements last week regarding a state of emergency for both Vermont and Massachusetts, recommendations from local government for businesses to work remotely if possible, and our desire to protect the health of our employees, both business units will operate with 100% of our employees working from home as of March 17th. We are also working closely with our business partners in the U.S. and overseas to provide similar remote working environments for some or all of their staff in order to ensure there will be no disruption to the delivery of publications across the organizations.
Due to the scale and scope of this pandemic, our focus remains on the health and safety of our employees. It is important to note that CJK Group has a national manufacturing footprint to facilitate continued production of its print products in a situation such as this and can leverage the virtual business capabilities of its content divisions to further ensure the ongoing delivery of digital products and services. We remain committed to providing the superior service and support that our customers have come to expect of our companies throughout this situation.
As more information becomes available our plans may change. However, please know that our governing principles are protecting the health and safety of our employees and their loved ones, in addition to maintaining the continuity of the business.