Dear readers and partners,
In times like these, information is our most valuable resource.
I write these words from my dining room table. I do so, of course, as the COVID-19 outbreak has turned our business worlds and our personal worlds on their proverbial ears.
No matter where we work, please know Rubber & Plastics News editors and reporters remain hard at work providing timely, accurate news and data to help you operate your business. This always is our mission. It doesn't waver today in the wake of the obstacles put before us all.
I expect much of the news in the coming days will not be positive. The stock market whipsaws. Spending tightens. But news is news. We can't hide from the negativity and wish it away even though we'd prefer the bull markets of just two weeks ago. No, the transparency we provide and the hard questions we will ask our sources ultimately serve you and your business partners.
This week, the Rubber & Plastics News editorial team worked remotely to bring you all of the breaking news as it happened on our website at rubbernews.com. We simultaneously put together our March 23 print issue to bring perspective to the coronavirus pandemic and what its impact will be on our industry, along with the other pertinent news of the rubber and tire industry. We were aided in this effort by the resources of our sister publications within our parent Crain Communications and its Global Polymer Group.
Last week, RPN Online Content Editor Erin Pustay Beaven and Rhoda Miel, the assistant managing editor for our sister publication, Plastics News, and Erin Sloan, a web producer at Plastics News, created an ever-changing online listing of global industry events that have been rescheduled or postponed. You can expect more of this type of relevant effort from our team throughout this ordeal.
In the meantime, please reach out to me and our team at Rubber & Plastics News if you have news to share or a story you'd like us to pursue. Perhaps you have a story idea you think could benefit the industry at large that you'd like us to pursue. Give us a call, email or text.
Together is how we're going to get through this. Together and well informed.
Thank you for reading,
Brennan Lafferty
Group Publisher
Rubber & Plastics News
313-446-6768