Letter to the Shareholders:
Why did the President of A Billion-Dollar International Company Become President/CEO of e-DOCS.net?
. . . a letter to e-DOCS.net shareholders from Eric A. Black, President & CEO
September 9, 1999
Since my appointment as CEO August 3, 1999, I have been asked many times why I chose e-DOCS.net after a 23 year career with Browning-Ferris Industries, Inc. (BFI), with my most recent responsibilities being President and COO of Browning-Ferris International, Inc., a $1.6 billion business with over 11,000 employees.
During my 23 years with BFI, my responsibilities were both national and international in scope, providing me with a unique perspective concerning the growth of companies.
As you may know, BFI began in 1969 and was developed through acquiring and consolidating small and medium size waste companies into a national/international network of operating companies with revenues of approximately $6.5 billion.
The fact that the waste industry was highly fragmented gave BFI the opportunity to acquire companies and integrate them into its network with a common platform in accounting, maintenance, operations, compliance, and human relations.
It also allowed BFI and the management (in many cases, the previous owners) to share in the future success of the company, through "shareholder value" driven incentive programs that covered areas such as business retention, growth, customer satisfaction and profit/cash flow.
On the first of April 1998, Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux (SITA) acquired BFI's international business for $1.45 billion. On July 31, 1999, Allied Waste acquired, for $9.2 billion, BFI's domestic business and at that time I made a decision to pursue another career.
The medical transcription industry shares many of the same traits as the waste industry. There are approximately 1,500 medical transcription companies, many of them small companies, serving a $6-7 billion industry which is growing at a rate in excess of 20% annually. In my opinion, the medical transcription industry is an excellent roll-up opportunity.
At e-DOCS.net, we have not only the opportunity to grow the company through acquisitions where we would implement procedures such as performance measurement, best practices, benchmarking, capacity utilization, to name a few, but also to grow the business through organic/internal growth driven by the district companies we presently operate as well as the companies we acquire in the future.
e-DOCS.net has the growth opportunity, the district structure, the technology developed by e-DOCS.net, the off-shore (company owned) transcription capacity and a dedicated, knowledgeable group of employees.
This is why I came to e-DOCS.net (from trash to transcription!) and the initial focus of my work will be driving the profitability of the company and securing sufficient financing to enable us to capitalize on our opportunities. Ultimately, the focus is to make this company a long-term success for its shareholders. As time passes, I will communicate to you our progress in making e-DOCS.net a major factor in the $6-7 billion medical transcription industry.
Sincerely,
Eric A. Black
President & CEO
e-docs.net |
