?Vision? program numbers impress Amerijet president

æVisionÆ program numbers impress Amerijet president When Amerijet President Dave Bassett decided that ongoing international growth held both promise and peril for the corporate culture of his Fort Lauderdale-based transportation services company, he started to examine a variety of programs aimed at improving motivational philosophies for major companies.
   He first hired a corporate efficiency coaching company, but concluded the effects did not match up with the considerable expense. So Bassett turned to the motivational author and radio personality Kandee G, who covers both life coaching and corporate coaching in her quest to help others on the path to success.
   'KG,' as she is known, even has a transportation-oriented title for her book, Now Boarding: Next Stop'Your Remarkable Life. But that was just a coincidence for Amerijet, which has a primary market base in Latin America and the Caribbean, but has been expanding into other global markets. Amerijet operates as both an air freight company and a non-vessel-operating common carrier for ocean freight.
   Kandee G's 'Vision' program asked individuals within a company to determine what kind of company they want to have, and how to gain the focus to get there. The program started with Amerijet's senior management and board of directors.
   'We as a company had to determine, both collectively and individually, what was our focus; or what did we want to create?' Bassett recalled. 'In essence, if we wanted to be a billion-dollar company with profit sharing, creating opportunities and possibilities for employees and customers alike, then we had to think about those concrete steps at the forefront of our daily efforts which would ultimately create our end vision.'
   After selling the company leadership, Kandee G got the green light to take her ideas on corporate philosophy into the rest of the company. She uses a breakdown of job-specific groups of 50 people each, involving managers, sales, pilots, customer service, cargo receiving, outstations, major hubs and mini hubs.
   About 300 of Amerijet's 800 employees have now completed the basic program, which also includes ongoing follow-up activities.
   According to Bassett, the results are already showing in Amerijet's financial results.
   'There's been a huge difference. The organization is fired up now,' he said. 'It may seem subjective, but financially Amerijet had its best first half ever (in fiscal year 2007). In the July-September first quarter we were budgeted to lose $200,000, but by the end of September we were in the black $2.4 million.'
   By the end of the first half, he added, Amerijet had surpassed its projections for the entire year.
   Amerijet ranks fourth in the total number of international cargo flights from Miami International Airport, and is 11th in total tonnage, according to the April air cargo statistics from the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.