Thoughts on the end of summer

The past 9 months have brought a number of challenges, not the least of which was moving our fabrication to Metalforms while at the same time finalizing the Matrix series of products. Though more work needs to be done to improve the overall operation of the business I at this point feel pretty good about things. Metalforms is now doing a great job on the fabrication end of things, Superlift is shipping products without too many issues, and 4xGuard sales are far ahead of last year despite the nation's economy. In addition we continue to hear from customers how much they like the products and service, and we have even gotten "press release" articles in Four Wheeler and 4 Wheel Drive and Sport Utility magazines as well as a nice editorial statement and our first advertisement in JP Freek magazine. We count ourselves very fortunate for these and many other reasons.

The summer also brought the loss of an old friend and companion, our trusty 2005 Grand Cherokee Limited. It was the acquisition of this vehicle, and subsequent desire to improve its off-road performance with custom skid plates that launched 4xGuard over 3 years ago. It was very sad to see it in the hands of another, but it was time to move on. In its place is a 2008 CRD Overland that is still undergoing modifications to bring it up to the level of the 2005. Overall we are very pleased with the towing capability of the CRD and creature comforts of the Overland model. Time will tell if we become as attached to it as we were with "big red".