By Jeff Pett, Fleetwood Group
What a difference a couple of months can make. Actually, just a couple of weeks. Is everyone in the educational supply/manufacturing community feeling the same June slow down that we are? Our shipments are actually up to last year same quarter, and through May our incoming orders were holding their own with no major year-over-year aberrations. However, this June has been a pretty unusual month for us.
Historically June is by far our biggest month of the year for incoming orders. And each June of the past three years has been better than the previous one. This June we are on track to see the lowest dollar amount for incoming orders of the past four. But, interestingly, we have been busier than normal this month quoting new work. So what’s up?!
I spent most of the past couple of weeks on the road in different regions of the country visiting schools and our dealers. What I am hearing is echoed by my sales team in all parts of the country. And that is that two primary things seem to be making a big difference THIS year as opposed to any previous year anyone can remember:
1. The economy is bad most everywhere (no big news there); and
2. Schools are VERY uncertain about where their funds are coming from for next year.
It seems that budgets for the new fiscal year, for many schools starting on July 1, are more in doubt this year than most due to the economy in general and their state funding in particular. The prospect of federal money being available cuts two ways: it is good to know the feds may help supply much needed funding, but the limitations, strings, and paperwork are very daunting to many school administrators and school boards. The result is that many school administrators have a white-knuckled grip on money with limited spending until budgets are fully approved and direction for school district spending has been set.
Will we see an overall down year in educational sales, or are we going to see a late rush of orders in July and August that get our sales volume back up but that create their own set of challenges? I am sure you, like me, are hoping for the latter.
What are you hearing?
