ARC MAGAZINE

Obstacles and Opportunities

It’s only early June as I write these words, but I’d already bet that 2020 will go on record as one of the most unusual and challenging years of the past century.

We all know the story because we’ve all been living it in some way or another. A global pandemic prompted statewide lockdowns throughout much of the country and the world during the spring, creating economic and operational challenges to small businesses and major industries alike.

But we here at Lincoln Electric – and welders, fabricators and related trades and industries around the country – have risen to the challenge. We’ve demonstrated that we are essential businesses by providing powered air purifying respirators and other PPE to help promote clean air and safety in the workplace. Many companies and organizations have used our equipment to build impromptu hospitals and medical facilities in areas experiencing high rates of infection. Together we’ve kept the manufacturing sector – and the economy in general – moving forward at a time when other business were at a standstill.

Even on an individual level, we’ve dug deep and found some good in all this. Many of us have enjoyed a rare opportunity to spend more time in our homes with our families. Maybe we’re reflecting a bit on who we are and what we’re about – as individuals and as part of a larger community. Maybe we’re finding ways to reconnect with the things that are important – and let go of some of the things that aren’t.

And yes, maybe this seemingly upside-down moment in time has prompted some of us to find meaning by tapping into our creative side and pursuing some of those projects we’d been putting off for the last several months – or maybe the last several years

The second half of 2020 will likely present continued challenges, and the end game to all of this may not be clear at the moment, but one thing is certain: we will endure. We’ll weather the storm and get through it, not just as individuals but as a nation and as citizens of an interconnected world. And we will be stronger and better for it on the other side.

We here at ARC are ready to help in any way we can. We’re scaling back our publication schedule to two issues a year – and you might occasionally see us revisit some high-quality content from five years’ worth of archives – but we’ll continue to bring you stories about people and organizations that face challenges head-on and push the limits of what’s possible. One of those people is gold miner Emily Riedel, the subject of this issue’s cover story, who headed north to the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska in 2011 in search of a summer job. She overcame some tough obstacles, and in the process, she turned that summer job into a high-profile and profitable career that continues nine years later.

Riedel’s story is a perfect example of what discipline, patience and persistence can accomplish in the midst of seemingly overwhelming adversity. What better life lesson at a time like this? We can’t promise that there will be gold waiting on the other side of the current struggle, but we’re confident that better days are ahead.

Hang in there.