We all understand that business is tough and the economy will bring more business bankruptcies and closures. It’s simply part of everyday life. One thing to consider if it comes to that for your firm is the way you go about closing the facility. The common courtesies of life apply to business as well as personal relationships.

To be open for the first two shifts of the day and have the third shift show up to find a notice saying the shift is canceled and the plant is closed is not a kindly gesture. On top of that, not even answering the phone or providing a statement of any sort leaves so many questions unanswered.

Such action creates the feeling that something is or was amiss in the company – for surely providing no answers means there is something to hide. That kind of thinking is all too prevalent from the public with this type of closure. They might think that perhaps the owner is in legal trouble and is trying to escape the clutches of the law. You are also setting yourself up for future failure if people remember the way you handled things before. And with the internet, that is all too likely now.

Here are a couple of suggestions which would turn the situation less ugly. First, take the time and make the effort to call all the employees and inform them of the closure so they don’t make the commute only to find their drive in vain. Better yet, bring the employees in on the situation way beforehand, letting them know of the possible closure on a particular date if a way isn’t found to keep it open. Enlist their help. You’d be surprised at what employees will do to keep from losing their jobs if they know they have a chance.

Next, supply a simple notice to the press that things have been really tough and the firm can no longer stay open and you wish you had more to say but that’s all there is. And then have a live person to at least let callers know there is no further comment. It’s better than an answering machine to which everybody knows you have no plans for response. Better yet is to be open with the press – grant interviews and tell your story. People are a lot more forgiving and understanding when you use frankness and candor. Too many people today are quick to remember the past and make that the focus of their thoughts about you, even if you have changed for the better. So, giving them at least some positiveness to recall later serves both them now and you later.

This might make you wonder if Congress will get upset at losing their status as the main producer of manure. If this technology catches on, we might see farmers and ranchers getting in the business of “producing” manure in order to ensure they have enough to feed their anaerobic digestors. Who would have thought 50 years ago that farmers would also be in the power industry?

So let’s say you used to sell shoelaces to a shoe company. They told you just exactly how they wanted the laces made including out of a very strong material and very long. Many years later, as your company continues to make shoelaces, the fact surfaces that those laces you sold to the now defunct shoe company are the perfect length and strength for committing suicide. Now, loved-ones of people who have committed suicide are upset that someone could make a shoelace so perfect for committing suicide. You just made them how they were ordered and had no clue of the harmful nature of the laces but now you are being sued.

Does this scenario make sense to you? Yet it is eerily similar to a government lawsuit being brought against some scrap recycling companies that sold mercury to the Port Refinery many years ago. The Port Refinery was closed so now let’s sue those who sold the substance even though they sold it completely legally. What’s next? Is somebody going to sue the descendants of George Washington because they missed out on cherries that could have grown had he not chopped down the legendary cherry tree?

But such is the way with our runaway government. They seem bound and determined to squeeze out any possible cent from US businesses, even if it costs them more to do so than what they collect. Do you want to know why more companies are not finding ways to recycle electronics? Nobody wants to pay the price years from now when somebody determines the process used was in some way dangerous. So now companies send the electronics overseas – which might also get you into trouble.

There have been plenty of signals that the US economy is in recovery mode. Housing prices seem to have stabilized, the stock market has regained a lot of ground, some companies have reported better than expected earnings, some steel companies are starting some operations back up – yet amongst all this, unemployment is still way up, other industries such as paper mills continue to close up shops, thousands more workers are being laid off and the expected key point of President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight will be job creation. So, are we truly in a recovery? Or is this just a temporary upswing to be followed by another crash? Compared to recessions in the past few decades, this one seems to be clouded in unprecedented ways. So many conflicting indicators and opinions – which seem to prolong skepticism, becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

There is a lot of talk about how the US economy will emerge from recession. One thing is sure, the manufacturing sector in the US is still sluggish. The question is, will it continue to crawl along, fall back into recession or bounce out quickly? According to an article in Recycling Today, over a third of manufacturers and steel service centers surveyed believe we will see a fall back before we see full recovery. So, what are your thoughts?