Innovation is often talked about as something that starts at the top; a new strategy, technology or leadership directive that asks an organization to change.
At Border States, we believe it starts somewhere much broader: With ownership.
As an employee-owned company, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of what generations of employee-owners have built. Yet in order for us to scale, our stewardship doesn’t mean protecting the status quo, it means continuing to strengthen our company so we can compete and serve our customers well into the future.
Innovation
That difference makes innovation part of ownership. When you own the outcome, you look at problems differently. Instead of asking, “Who is going to fix this?” you begin asking, “How can we make this better?”
Across Border States, that mindset can take many forms. It can be improving a process within our distribution network, using automation to eliminate repetitive work, advancing digital tools or finding a better way to connect our customers with the information and expertise they need.
Meaningful progress
Not every innovation has to be transformational. Often, meaningful progress comes from hundreds of improvements made by employee-owners who understand the work and recognize an opportunity to do it better.
As Border States grows, that becomes increasingly important. Scale cannot simply mean doing more. We must continually find ways to work smarter, create consistency where it matters and use technology and data to make our people more effective.
That requires us to balance stewardship with progress.
Shared outcome
We care deeply about the decisions we make today because we share in the outcome. But our responsibility isn’t simply to protect today’s value. It’s to help create tomorrow’s.
That means investing. Experimenting. Challenging processes that may have worked for years. And continuing to ask how we can make Border States stronger, more capable and easier to do business with.
Innovation doesn’t belong to one department or group of leaders. Our employee-owners are closest to our customers, our processes and the everyday challenges of our business. Each of us has an opportunity to recognize where something could be better and an ownership mindset gives us a reason to act.
Owners don’t wait for someone else to solve problems. Because when we improve Border States, we aren’t simply improving the company we work for. We’re building the company we own.
Together, We Move America Forward.