Vote!

At Steadfast we're proud to be a company made up of individual free thinkers that are respectful of differing opinions and viewpoints. We value the perspective and experiences of our entire staff knowing they all add up to make Steadfast the fantastic company it is today.

This was recently sent to our employees but we wanted to share it with you as well. In light of some companies trying to influence their staff to vote in certain ways by threatening changes in company direction based on this year's election outcome, we wanted to be sure our staff knew they had the freedom to vote however they wanted and that they had nothing to fear. Karl Zimmerman, our CEO sent the following out:

Vote

Next week Tuesday is Election Day, but don’t wait until then to vote.

Take advantage of Illinois early voting, which is open right now. Here’s a list of early voting locations: http://www.elections.state.il.us/votinginformation/earlyvotinglocations....

You can also visit https://www.google.com/elections/ed/us/vote to get early voting locations, your Election Day polling place, and a ballot summary outlining the races you can vote for. If you did not already register to vote, you can still register and vote up through November 3rd, read more at http://www.chicagoelections.com/page.php?id=14

We would encourage all of our employees to vote, no matter which way you’re voting. As a company, we will not tell you how to vote, the company’s best interest is that the will of our employees be heard at the voting booth, whatever that is. This is an important election, the policies that are set by our government impact each of us personally as individuals, but it has little to no affect as to how Steadfast does business.

Whoever gets elected, it will not matter to Steadfast (Does it matter to me personally? Yes, but I have my own vote). If our taxes are increased, it will do absolutely nothing to affect our future plans, our hiring practices, or employee salaries. If our taxes go down, that doesn’t mean our plans will change and we’ll begin hiring more people or expanding significantly. No matter what happens to health care legislation, we will provide all of our employees with quality health care, whether or not it is required or subsidized. Our business is not run on the whims of politicians, it is built on you, our team. Politics will not dictate how we care for our team and customers and that is what we have built our business around.

We've made it over the hump of the economic downturn, it wasn't always easy, but we're here, stronger than ever. That helped prove the tenacity, agility, and flexibility of this company. If legislators want to change the business landscape, bring it on, we’re ready. We have our plans and goals set for years to come, minor changes in tax law or legislation will not change that. I am confident in the strength and growth of this company, no matter who is President, who controls Congress, or who runs the state legislature.

Now go out and vote for your own self-interests, don’t worry about Steadfast, we’re fine either way.

Karl Zimmerman